Business Wire

Esri Releases New App to Easily View and Analyze Global Land-Cover Changes

8.2.2023 16:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release

Share

Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) maps are an increasingly important tool for decision-makers at local, regional, and national government levels around the world. These maps help inform policy and land management decisions around issues like sustainability, by contextualizing and quantifying the impacts of earth processes and human activity on the environment.

Esri, the global leader in mapping and location intelligence, has now released a new online application, Sentinel-2 Land Cover Explorer. The app is structured around a web-based version of its own high-resolution global land-cover map, derived from European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-2 satellite imagery. The app is easy to access and leverages the same geographic information system (GIS) technology behind the land-cover map. The app, map, and source Sentinel-2 imagery are all part of the company's ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World.

"GIS not only provides the capabilities necessary to produce and share data and maps such as LULC, it also enables users to derive and disseminate insights from such data," said Sean Breyer, Esri program manager for ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World. "Generating this information is foundational, and Sentinel-2 Land Cover Explorer will be invaluable for helping decision-makers unlock critical insights about land use, particularly as sustainability becomes a pressing global concern."

Change analysis is fundamental to deeper understanding of LULC maps, and Sentinel-2 Land Cover Explorer provides various ways of detecting and reporting changes, including visual change analysis; statistical change analysis; visual change validation; and dynamic charts for percentage changes and trends over time. Other features offered by the app include the following:

  • Image services from ArcGIS Living Atlas
  • The ability to take data offline (download mode in the app)
  • Analysis tools in ArcGIS Online
  • ArcGIS developer tools and resources

In 2021, in partnership with Impact Observatory and Microsoft, Esri released the first artificial intelligence (AI)-generated global land-cover map. This subsequently evolved into the LULC annual time series map available today, which includes nine major land cover categories. Annual updates enable year-to-year comparisons for detecting shifts in vegetation and crops, forest extents, bare surfaces, and urban areas. With the recent addition of the 2022 update, the annual land cover time series now includes global coverage from 2017 through 2022.

Sentinel-2 Land Cover Explorer is a dynamic, ready-to-use application with an intuitive user experience. To explore the app online now, go to livingatlas.arcgis.com/landcoverexplorer.

About Esri

Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations globally and in over 200,000 institutions in the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Esri has partners and local distributors in over 100 countries on six continents, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofits, and universities. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. Visit us at esri.com.

Copyright © 2023 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcGIS, The Science of Where, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners.

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

Contact information

Jo Ann Pruchniewski
Public Relations, Esri
Mobile: 301-693-2643
Email: jpruchniewski@esri.com

About Business Wire

For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

NIKE, Inc. Announces Planned CFO Transition23.6.2026 23:17:00 EEST | Press release

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) today announced that David M. Denton will join the company as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective August 17. Matthew Friend will step down as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at that time and remain with the company through September 4 to support an orderly transition. Friend will participate in the company’s fourth quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call on June 30, as planned. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260623328558/en/ David M. Denton | Incoming Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, NIKE, Inc. Denton will lead Nike’s global finance organization, partnering with President and Chief Executive Officer Elliott Hill and the Senior Leadership Team to support disciplined execution, capital allocation, and long-term value creation. “Dave is a proven public-company CFO who knows how to help great consumer brands operate with disciplin

Grid Dynamics Hosted XT26, Convening Capital Markets Technology Leaders on the Volatility of AI in Financial Services23.6.2026 23:05:00 EEST | Press release

Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: GDYN) (“Grid Dynamics”), a premier AI transformation partner for the Fortune 1000, hosted XT26. The invite-only conference convened over 250 senior technology leaders from banking, hedge funds, and capital markets at Tower Hill, London. Now in its 10th year, the XT conference series has grown into one of financial services engineering's most respected peer forums in London, built on a single premise: pure thought leadership grounded in real-world experience, with no sales pitches, and no vendor presentations. Just practitioners who are actually doing the work. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260623112231/en/ Simone Steel speaking at XT26 The event included speakers and delegates from organizations including Bank of America, Citi, HSBC, UBS, RBC, Barclays, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, NatWest, Meta, FINOS, and Griffin Bank, among others. With a focus on the volatility of AI i

Thales Secures Significant U.S. Army LOCODA Radio Order Following Rapid Development Push23.6.2026 20:42:00 EEST | Press release

Delivering capability at mission speed, Thales subsidiary, Thales Defense & Security, Inc. (TDSI), has secured an order for up to 5,000 Low Cost Data Architecture (LOCODA) Radio Adaptable Transport (RAT) platforms. The Thales RAT solution, which was conceived, developed and field-ready less than four months, modernizes voice and data communications and integrates effortlessly into radio mounts across all current and future U.S. Army vehicle platforms. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260623043996/en/ Thales Radio Adaptable Transport (c)Thales The LOCODA RAT platform provides soldiers with a reliable, adaptable communications capability they can depend on across any mission and environment. By reusing existing vehicle radio mounts and supporting a wide range of radios and mission modules, it reduces setup time and simplifies integration in the field. Soldiers gain secure, flexible voice and data connectivity tha

Epicor Prism Launches Across European Markets, Bringing Embedded, Industry-Specific AI to Manufacturers23.6.2026 18:55:00 EEST | Press release

Epicor has expanded its AI-driven ERP strategy in the UK and select European markets with the general availability of Epicor Prism, a portfolio of vertical AI agents designed specifically for the supply chain industries. Embedded directly in Epicor Kinetic, Epicor Prism gives customers conversational access to live ERP data and related documents without needing specialised analytics skills or separate AI tools. The launch reflects a broader shift in ERP from systems of record to systems of outcomes that help users interpret data, make decisions and take action in real time — a transformation Epicor calls Cognitive ERP. Responding to pressure on productivity and skills European manufacturers are under growing pressure to raise productivity, strengthen supply chain resilience and remain globally competitive despite workforce constraints and ongoing digital skills shortages. While many organisations continue to invest heavily in ERP, turning operational data into timely insight at the poi

Airship Appoints Laura Zwahlen as Chief Revenue Officer23.6.2026 18:00:00 EEST | Press release

Airship, the mobile-first customer experience company, today announced the appointment of Laura Zwahlen as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Zwahlen will oversee all global revenue-generating activities, driving the alignment, execution, and strategy across Airship’s sales, account management, and customer success teams to accelerate the company’s market leadership and customer impact. She will report directly to CEO Brett Caine. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260623145620/en/ Laura Zwahlen, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of Airship Zwahlen brings more than 20 years of go-to-market and revenue leadership experience, with a proven track record of guiding technology organizations through rapid growth, strategic acquisitions, and public offerings. Previously, she served as CRO at NextRoll (the parent company of AdRoll and AdRoll ABM) where she led global revenue teams and drove initiatives centered on sustainable growth

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye