ESA WorldCover

The ESA WorldCover product provides global land cover maps for 2020 and 2021. By combining the strengths of both Sentinel-1 (SAR) and Sentinel-2 (optical), it achieves a more consistent global result than optical-only products. The 2020 version (v100) and 2021 version (v200) use slightly different algorithms, so users should exercise caution when performing direct change detection between the two years.

Data Availability & Collections

The WorldCover map is accessible via the Planet Insights Platform as a Bring Your Own COG (BYOC) collection.

Collection ID: 0b940c63-45dd-4e6b-8019-c3660b81b884
Update Frequency: Annual (2020 and 2021 currently available).

Basic Facts

Property	Value
Sensor	Sentinel-1 (C-SAR) and Sentinel-2 (MSI)
Spatial Resolution	10 m
Geographic Coverage	Global
Coordinate System	WGS 84 (EPSG:4326)
Data Format	Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG)
Temporal Coverage	2020, 2021
License	CC-BY 4.0
Provider	Planet

Band Information

The collection contains the main classification map and a multi-band quality layer.

Name	Description
Map	Main discrete classification according to FAO LCCS scheme (11 classes).
InputQuality	3-band layer indicating the number and quality of S1 and S2 inputs used per pixel.

Class Definitions

The Map band contains the following 11 land cover classes:

Value	Label	Color
10	Tree cover	`#006400`
20	Shrubland	`#ffbb22`
30	Grassland	`#ffff4c`
40	Cropland	`#f096ff`
50	Built-up	`#fa0000`
60	Bare / sparse vegetation	`#b4b4b4`
70	Snow and ice	`#f0f0f0`
80	Permanent water bodies	`#0064c8`
90	Herbaceous wetland	`#0096a0`
95	Mangroves	`#00cf75`
100	Moss and lichen	`#fae6a0`

Accessing the Data

Planet Insights Platform API

To access the data programmatically:

Endpoint: services.sentinel-hub.com
Collection Type: byoc-0b940c63-45dd-4e6b-8019-c3660b81b884

Visualization Script (Evalscript)

Use the following script to visualize the WorldCover map with its standard color palette:

// VERSION=3
// ESA WorldCover Visualization Script
const colormap = [
  [10, 0x006400], // Tree cover
  [20, 0xffbb22], // Shrubland
  [30, 0xffff4c], // Grassland
  [40, 0xf096ff], // Cropland
  [50, 0xfa0000], // Built-up
  [60, 0xb4b4b4], // Bare / sparse vegetation
  [70, 0xf0f0f0], // Snow and ice
  [80, 0x0064c8], // Permanent water bodies
  [90, 0x0096a0], // Herbaceous wetland
  [95, 0x00cf75], // Mangroves
  [100, 0xfae6a0], // Moss and lichen
];

const visualizer = new ColorMapVisualizer(colormap);

function setup() {
  return {
    input: ['Map', 'dataMask'],
    output: { bands: 3 },
  };
}

function evaluatePixel(samples) {
  return visualizer.process(samples.Map);
}

Data Availability & Collections​

Basic Facts​

Band Information​

Class Definitions​

Accessing the Data​

Planet Insights Platform API​

Visualization Script (Evalscript)​

Attribution​