CoCliCo Services (Horizon 2020)
CoCliCo Platform
Land use planningCoastal flooding / storm surgeStep 2
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Environmental information systems
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EC Joint Research Centre
Global Surface Water Explorer
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre developed this water dataset in the framework of the Copernicus Programme. It maps the location and temporal distribution of water surfaces at the global scale over the past 3.8 decades (2021 update) and provides statistics on the extent and change of those water surfaces. The dataset, produced from Landsat imagery, will support applications including water resource management, climate modelling, biodiversity conservation and food security. The European Commission's Joint Research Centre, UN Environment and Google are partnering to provide free and open data on water extent in a way that is policy-friendly, so that citizens and governments can easily assess what is actually happening to the world's natural resources, starting with data on water extent as a priority environmental issue. For this purpose, a dedicated interface built on the top of the GSWE was jointly developed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, UN Environment and Google.
What you can do with it
Input
- Explore global water-surface extent and change using nearly 40 years of Landsat-derived data (2021 update)
- Examine statistics on the location and temporal distribution of water surfaces
Output
- Maps and datasets/indicators on global surface water extent and change
Use it to
- Track how surface water extent has changed globally over time
- Support water resource management, climate modelling, biodiversity conservation and food security
- Assess drought, flooding and coastal flooding/storm surge exposure through changes in water extent
Why is it relevant to climate adaptation
Offers one of the longest observational time series in the collection — nearly four decades of Landsat-derived global water data — well suited to detecting genuine long-term change. It is a joint, policy-friendly initiative between the JRC, UN Environment and Google specifically designed for open access, but provides no nature-based-solution, cost-benefit or just-resilience functionality.
Used in
- Global water resource management, climate modelling, biodiversity conservation and food security, led by the JRC, UN Environment and Google
- Land use planning and water management, at global, European, transnational, outermost-region, national and subnational level
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Exclusion of liability
This translation is generated by eTranslation, a machine translation tool provided by the European Commission.
Exclusion of liability
This translation is generated by eTranslation, a machine translation tool provided by the European Commission.