Mar 10, 2025
Version 1
ECOSYSTEM NATURAL CAPITAL ACCOUNT - LAND COVER ACCOUNT V.1
- 1INSTITUT ET OBSERVATOIRE DE GÉOPHYSIQUE D'ANTANANARIVO
Protocol Citation: Tony A. RAMIHANGIHAJASON 2025. ECOSYSTEM NATURAL CAPITAL ACCOUNT - LAND COVER ACCOUNT . protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.6qpvr914bvmk/v1
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it's working
Created: March 07, 2025
Last Modified: March 10, 2025
Protocol Integer ID: 123982
Abstract
Land cover is an observable image of the many processes taking place on the land surface. It reflects land occupation by various natural, modified or artificial systems, and, to some extent, the way land is used by such systems. Land-cover cartographic and statistical information therefore plays a central role in the description and quantification of the interactions between the economy and nature by providing
Extraction of gridded (raster, grid) land cover data
Extraction of gridded (raster, grid) land cover data
Defining the area of interest: Identify the boundaries of the target country
Spatial clipping: Extract only the data corresponding to the country using a geographic mask.
Exporting results: Save the extracted data in a usable format for further analysis
Production of the land cover change matrix
Production of the land cover change matrix
Data preparation : In gridded files (raster, grid), individual cells are assigned a number that can be either a code or a value. In the land cover raster/grid files produced in the previous steps, these numbers are explicit codes reflecting the hierarchical nomenclature used. This is convenient for visualization but not very practical for calculations. In particular, a different coding is required to produce the change matrix, simply replacing the explicit land cover (LC) codes with rank values.
Change Matrix create with cross-tabulation tools
Example of a confusion matrix for Moldova between 2000 and 2015 using ESA CCI data
Analysis of changes and production of the column table ("flat matrix") of land cover flows
Analysis of changes and production of the column table ("flat matrix") of land cover flows
About the land cover flow: With only 14 classes, the change matrix includes (14 × 14 = 196) - 14 = 182 possible transitions. With the 44 classes of the European CORINE Land Cover, it can include up to 1,892 transitions.
In order to summarize these large numbers of changes and to be able to name them more easily, the land cover account groups individual changes into land cover flows. Flows are defined according to land use processes and are further distinguished into Consumption (of land cover of the initial year) and Formation (of new land cover in the final year). As compared to the Matrix of change, for a given land cover type SUM of Flows of Consumption = SUM of Output (losses, negative changes…) while SUM of Flows of Formation = SUM of Inputs (gains, positive changes.)
The 7 land cover flows
The definition of land cover flow according to Weber 2014 : The ecosystem natural capital account a quick start package
- lf1 – Artificial development Artificial development includes sprawl or extension of urban and associated areas, transport infrastructures, economic activity areas, and associated areas such as green urban areas and sports facilities, and mines, quarries and waste landfills.
- lf2 - Agriculture extension Agriculture extension includes conversion of forests, and natural and semi-natural land to agriculture. Conversion from small-scale agriculture, with associations of crops, mosaics and small linear features, to homogeneous cropland (farmland restructuring).
- lf3 – Internal conversions and rotations Internal conversions and rotations (lf3) are changes which can be observed within land-cover classes: artificial, urban, forest and other types. They require observation of detailed land-cover classes.
- lf4 Management and alteration of forested land Forest management refers to long time-spans with a succession of steps. Depending on the frequency of accounting, all steps are described (annual accounts) or intermediate steps are consolidated. Also, forests are socio-ecological systems that include areas with foresttree cover (LCF06) and other areas that are managed by foresters and are considered as part of forests in a land-use sense. This distinction is reflected in land-cover accounts. Processes involving forests are recorded in all land-cover aggregated flows.
- lf5 – Restoration and development of habitats Restoration and development of habitat groups represents flows resulting from anthropogenic processes.
- lf6 - Changes of land cover due to natural and multiple causes In many cases, land-cover flows cannot be clearly allocated to a particular human activity. This is the case with change driven by climate change regarding temperature, rainfall regime and hazards such as storms. For managed forests, damage is classified as lf4 (management and alteration of forested land) and development as lf5 (restoration and development of habitats).
- lf7 Other land-cover changes not elsewhere classified (n.e.c.) and revaluation This class records unlikely changes such as conversion of urban areas, and permanent snow and glaciers to agriculture or forest. Revaluation is also recorded in lf7. It corresponds to changes in classification due to errors in the initial database. As long as the initial database is not revised and upgraded, such false change is recorded as revaluation. Once revision is done, revaluation will be reclassified, generally as no observed change.
The land-cover flow classification is produced from analysis of the transition matrix. Changes are grouped according to processes. It is important that the standard computation matrix produced by the GIS is modified slightly to produce the correct accounting matrix. In the standard computation matrix, the diagonal is devoted to no change, with the consequence that this amount varies according to the level of detail of the land-cover classifications used, increasing when aggregating. In the accounting matrix (cf. next fig.), actual no change is separated from changes which are internal to a given class. Technically, the solution is to extract no change (lf0) from the diagonal and record it as an additional item in rows and columns.
The transition matrix
Production of the cross-tabulation of LEAC stock and flow accounts for a country
Production of the cross-tabulation of LEAC stock and flow accounts for a country
The production of a complete LEAC can be carried out for any geographical division, such as regions, districts, river basins, or protected areas, as long as raster (grid) data is available.
Managing the land-cover accounts database can be done with the tools available in the organization in charge of accounting. Cloud computing is likely to be an option for the future – although there is as yet no experience.
To obtain the Consumption matrix : Land cover Y1 * land cover flow
The formation matrix : Land cover Y2 * land cover flow