The annual land cover data of Afghanistan (2000-2018) have been created through the National Land Cover Monitoring System (NLCMS) for Afghanistan. The system uses freely available remote-sensing data (Landsat) and a cloud-based machine learning architecture in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to generate land cover maps on an annual basis using a harmonized and consistent classification system.

The NLCMS is developed by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) together with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) and National Statistic and Information Authority (NSIA). The NLCMS system is customized from the Regional Land Cover Monitoring System (RLCMS) which is a collaborative effort between SERVIR-HKH at ICIMOD and SERVIR-Mekong at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), with co-development partners - the United States Forest Services (USFS), SilvaCarbon, and Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) group at the University of Maryland.

Afghanistan Land Cover: Bare Area: Permanent Snow and Ice data was reported at 3.158 sq km th in 2019. This stayed constant from the previous number of 3.158 sq km th for 2018. Afghanistan Land Cover: Bare Area: Permanent Snow and Ice data is updated yearly, averaging 3.158 sq km th from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2019, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.158 sq km th in 2019 and a record low of 3.158 sq km th in 2019. Afghanistan Land Cover: Bare Area: Permanent Snow and Ice data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.OECD.ESG: Environmental: Land Cover: Non OECD Member: Annual.

Afghanistan Land Cover: Inland Water: Water Bodies data was reported at 0.100 % in 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.099 % for 2018. Afghanistan Land Cover: Inland Water: Water Bodies data is updated yearly, averaging 0.100 % from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2019, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.405 % in 1992 and a record low of 0.099 % in 2015. Afghanistan Land Cover: Inland Water: Water Bodies data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.OECD.ESG: Environmental: Land Cover: Non OECD Member: Annual.

The Land Cover Database of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has been created as part of the land cover mapping component of the project on “Strengthening Agricultural Economics, Market Information and Statistics Services” formulated upon request from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and funded by the European Commission. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) provided technical assistance as the executing agency in close cooperation with all parties. The Land Cover database provides information on land cover distribution. It has been created using the FAO/GLCN methodology and tools. The main data sources include satellite imagery from SPOT-4 (2009-2011) and Global Land Survey (GLS-2011) Landsat satellites, high resolution satellite imagery and very hisgh resolution aerial photographs, ancillary data. The national legend was prepared using the Land Cover Classification System (LCCS). FAO’s Mapping Device Change Analysis Tools (MADCAT) software was used to create the database using object based classification methodology. The full resolution land cover legend has 25 classes. As result, more that 500,000 polygons were delineated. To refine the interpretation, high resolution images from various sources are used. The 25 original land cover classes were aggregated into 11 generalized and self-explicative classes as following: Built-Up (URB); Fruit Trees (AGT); Vineyard (AGV); Irrigated Agricultural Land (AGI); Rainfed Agricultural Land (AGR); Forest and Shrubs (NFS); Rangeland (NHS); Barren land (BRS); Sand Cover (BSD); Water Body and Marshland (WAT); Permanent Snow (SNW). The database is distributed in shapefile format in UTM zone 42 North WGS-84 datum. Each shapefile is included in a geodatabase. The tabular attributes contains 4 fields: -AGGCODE is the aggregated class name; -LCCSPERC is the percentage share of each code in the land cover unit as following:100 means that there is only one single land cover class present; 60/40 means that this is a mixed unit land cover class with two classes; the distribution of the land cover classes inside the land cover unit is 60 percent for the first class and 40 percent for the second class; 40/30/30 means that this is a mixed unit land cover class with three classes; the distribution of the land cover classes inside the land cover unit is 40 percent for the first class, 30 percent for the second class and 30 percent for the third class; -DIST_NAME is the second administrative unit level (District level) name based on the administrative layer provided by the Counterpart Agency in Afghanistan; -PROV_NAME is the first administrative unit level (Provincial level) name based on the administrative layer provided by the Counterpart Agency in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Land Cover: Sparse Vegetation: Tree, Shrub, Herbaceous Cover: Less than 15% data was reported at 42.319 sq km th in 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 42.012 sq km th for 2018. Afghanistan Land Cover: Sparse Vegetation: Tree, Shrub, Herbaceous Cover: Less than 15% data is updated yearly, averaging 42.012 sq km th from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2019, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 42.774 sq km th in 1992 and a record low of 40.701 sq km th in 2004. Afghanistan Land Cover: Sparse Vegetation: Tree, Shrub, Herbaceous Cover: Less than 15% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.OECD.ESG: Environmental: Land Cover: Non OECD Member: Annual.

Land cover Afghanistan

Afghanistan Land Cover: Grassland data was reported at 231.188 sq km th in 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 231.069 sq km th for 2018. Afghanistan Land Cover: Grassland data is updated yearly, averaging 231.069 sq km th from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2019, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 232.020 sq km th in 2015 and a record low of 223.919 sq km th in 1992. Afghanistan Land Cover: Grassland data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.OECD.ESG: Environmental: Land Cover: Non OECD Member: Annual.

Land cover change is a significant contributor to environmental change. The degradation of forests and conversion of natural areas, forests, and farmlands to other land use impact ecosystem services and biodiversity significantly. Using multiple methodologies and input data sources, national agencies in different countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region have conducted land cover mapping at various times. Due to the differences in classification schema, methodologies, and input data sources used, currently available land cover data is not suitable for analysis of land cover changes over time. ICIMOD collaborated with SERVIR-Mekong at Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Bangladesh’s Forest Department, Nepal’s Forest Research and Training Centre, Myanmar’s Forest Department, SilvaCarbon, the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory at the University of Maryland, and the United States Forest Services to develop the Regional Land Cover Monitoring System (RLCMS) for the HKH region. The system uses state-of-the-art remote sensing science and technology on the Google Earth Engine, and a standard set of input data sources to regularly generate high-quality land cover data at the regional level for the HKH, and at national levels for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Nepal. In developing the RLCMS, ICIMOD focused on collaboration and co-development with partner organizations to define different land cover typologies/classes, collect reference data samples, and validate results. Land cover maps for the HKH region spanning 2000–2022 have been produced under its SERVIR–HKH Initiative.

Afghanistan Land Cover: Shrubland data was reported at 3.434 % in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 3.434 % for 2018. Afghanistan Land Cover: Shrubland data is updated yearly, averaging 3.435 % from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2019, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.631 % in 1992 and a record low of 3.434 % in 2019. Afghanistan Land Cover: Shrubland data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.OECD.ESG: Environmental: Land Cover: Non OECD Member: Annual.

This polygon shapefile depicts nationwide rain fed crops, natural forests, permanent marshlands, seasonal marshlands, intensively cultivated, sand dunes, sand covered areas, rocks, outcrop/bare soil, fruit trees, vine yards, gardens, and pistachio, for the country of Afghanistan from 1997 to 2004. Data is mapped at 1:250,000 scale. The source of this layer is Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the date of the satellite is 1992.

Afghanistan Land Cover: Bare Area: Unconsolidated data was reported at 13.061 sq km th in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 13.103 sq km th for 2018. Afghanistan Land Cover: Bare Area: Unconsolidated data is updated yearly, averaging 13.101 sq km th from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2019, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.111 sq km th in 2015 and a record low of 12.382 sq km th in 1992. Afghanistan Land Cover: Bare Area: Unconsolidated data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.OECD.ESG: Environmental: Land Cover: Non OECD Member: Annual.

This polygon dataset depicts various types of land use in Kabul city. Categories of land use include:, airports, cemeteries, agriculture fields, lakes, parks, stadiums, as well as urban and rural areas. These data were digitized from IKONOS satellite imagery (2000-2002) at 1:5,000 scale with one meter resolution (most of Kabul) and 2.5 meter resolution (areas outside of Kabul). This layer is part of the Topographic Maps of Afghanistan and Kabul dataset which contains shapefiles relating to district and provincial boundaries, land use, transportation, buildings and structures, rivers, settlements and other specific city data.

Land cover of the Badghis province in Afghanistan

Population density per pixel at 100 metre resolution. WorldPop provides estimates of numbers of people residing in each 100x100m grid cell for every low and middle income country. Through ingegrating cencus, survey, satellite and GIS datasets in a flexible machine-learning framework, high resolution maps of population counts and densities for 2000-2020 are produced, along with accompanying metadata. DATASET: Alpha version 2010 and 2015 estimates of numbers of people per grid square, with national totals adjusted to match UN population division estimates (http://esa.un.org/wpp/) and remaining unadjusted. REGION: Central Asia SPATIAL RESOLUTION: 0.000833333 decimal degrees (approx 100m at the equator) PROJECTION: Geographic, WGS84 UNITS: Estimated persons per grid square MAPPING APPROACH: Land cover based, as described in: Linard, C., Gilbert, M., Snow, R.W., Noor, A.M. and Tatem, A.J., 2012, Population distribution, settlement patterns and accessibility across in 2010, PLoS ONE, 7(2): e31743. FORMAT: Geotiff (zipped using 7-zip (open access tool): www.7-zip.org) FILENAMES: Example - AGO10adjv4.tif = Angola (AGO) population count map for 2010 (10) adjusted to match UN national estimates (adj), version 4 (v4). Population maps are updated to new versions when improved census or other input data become available.

Afghanistan Land Cover: Tree Cover: Total data was reported at 8,200.350 sq km th in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 8,082.180 sq km th for 2020. Afghanistan Land Cover: Tree Cover: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 7,916.066 sq km th from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2022, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 8,200.350 sq km th in 2022 and a record low of 7,878.402 sq km th in 2010. Afghanistan Land Cover: Tree Cover: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.OECD.ESG: Environmental: Land Cover: Non OECD Member: Annual.

Surface groups for Afghanistan (years 1984 - 2021) as georeferenced TIF files.

Classified land cover (surface) of each pixel indicated as: 0 = built-up surfaces: surfaces with buildings of non-natural materials such as concrete, metal, and glass (e.g., residential buildings, industrial plants, roads) 1 = grassy surfaces: surfaces covered by grass or other plants with similar surface reflectance (e.g., natural grassland, city parks) 2 = surfaces with crop fields: surfaces with vegetation for agricultural purposes (e.g., hayfields, vineyards) 3 = forest-covered surfaces: surfaces covered by trees or other plants with similar surface reflectance (e.g., mixed forests, moors) 4 = surfaces without vegetation: surfaces with (almost) no vegetation or buildings (e.g., bare rock, sand plains) 5 = water surfaces: any type of water surface (e.g., rivers, lakes) 9 = missing surface classification, most likely due to cloud cover

If a TIF file for a given year within the observation period is missing, no valid satellite imagery was available for that year (e.g., due to constant cloud cover).

Table content - Year - Indicator - Field management - Value - FLAG - Unit Value assigned to No-data:m

Afghanistan Land Cover: Shrubland: Deciduous data was reported at 0.111 % in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.111 % for 2018. Afghanistan Land Cover: Shrubland: Deciduous data is updated yearly, averaging 0.111 % from Dec 1992 (Median) to 2019, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.111 % in 1992 and a record low of 0.110 % in 2004. Afghanistan Land Cover: Shrubland: Deciduous data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Afghanistan – Table AF.OECD.ESG: Environmental: Land Cover: Non OECD Member: Annual.

This polygon layer is a soil map of Afghanistan for 2005. This layer is part of the Topographic Maps of Afghanistan and Kabul dataset which contains shapefiles relating to district and provincial boundaries, land use, transportation, buildings and structures, rivers, settlements and other specific city data.

The Global Croplands data set represents the proportion of land areas used as cropland (land used for the cultivation of food) in the year 2000. Satellite data from Modetate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) Image Vegetation sensor were combined with agricultural inventory data to create a global data set. The visual presentation of this data demonstrates the extent to which human land use for agriculture has changed the Earth and in which areas this change is most intense. The data was compiled by Navin Ramankutty , et. al. (2008) and distributed by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).Source: SEDAC