Wildfire change year 1985-2022. Wildfire changes occurred from 1985 to 2022 displaying the year of greatest wildfire disturbance. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). The information outcomes represent 38 years of wildfires in Canada's forests, derived from a single, consistent, spatially explicit data source in a fully automated manner. Time series of Landsat data with 30 m spatial resolution were used to characterize national trends in stand replacing forest disturbances caused by wildfire for the period 1985-2022 for Canada's 650-million-hectare forested ecosystems. When using this data, please cite as: Hermosilla, T., M.A. Wulder, J.C. White, N.C. Coops, G.W. Hobart, L.B. Campbell, 2016. Mass data processing of time series Landsat imagery: pixels to data products for forest monitoring. International Journal of Digital Earth 9(11), 1035-1054. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538947.2016.1187673 (Hermosilla et al. 2016). See references below for an overview on the data processing, metric calculation, change attribution, and time series change detection methods applied, as well as information on independent accuracy assessment of the data.. Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M. A., White, J. C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., (2015). An integrated Landsat time series protocol for change detection and generation of annual gap-free surface reflectance composites. Remote Sensing of Environment 158, 220-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2014.11.005 (Hermosilla et al. 2015a). Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., (2015). Regional detection, characterization, and attribution of annual forest change from 1984 to 2012 using Landsat-derived time-series metrics. Remote Sensing of Environment 170, 121-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2015.09.004 (Hermosilla et al. 2015b). Hermosilla, T., M.A. Wulder, J.C. White, N.C. Coops, G. W. Hobart, (2017). Updating Landsat time series of surface-reflectance composites and forest change products with new observations. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 63,104-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2017.07.013 (Hermosilla et al. 2017).

Annual mapping of national level forest harvesting for Canada detected inclusive of 1985 to 2015 from Landsat satellite imagery. This dataset is composed of two layers: (1) binary harvest mask, and (2) year of harvest disturbance detection. The information outcomes represent 31 years of harvesting activity in Canada’s forests, derived from a single, consistent, spatially-explicit data source in an automated manner. Time series of Landsat data with 30-m spatial resolution were used to characterize national trends in stand replacing forest disturbances, including those attributed to harvest for the period 1985–2015 for Canada's 650 million hectare forested ecosystems (Hermosilla et al. 2016). See references below for an overview regarding the data, image processing, and time-series change detection methods applied, as well as information on independent accuracy assessment of the data. When using this data, please cite as: Hermosilla, T., M.A. Wulder, J.C. White, N.C. Coops, G.W. Hobart, L.B. Campbell, (2016). Mass data processing of time series Landsat imagery: pixels to data products for forest monitoring. International Journal of Digital Earth. 9(11), 1035-1054. ( Hermosilla et al. 2016) For additional resources on the data used and methods applied, please see: Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M. A., White, J. C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., (2015). An integrated Landsat time series protocol for change detection and generation of annual gap-free surface reflectance composites. Remote Sensing of Environment 158, 220-234. ( Hermosilla et al. 2015a) Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., (2015). Regional detection, characterization, and attribution of annual forest change from 1984 to 2012 using Landsat-derived time-series metrics. Remote Sensing of Environment 170, 121-132. ( Hermosilla et al. 2015b) Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W., 2017. Updating Landsat time series of surface-reflectance composites and forest change products with new observations. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 63, 104-111.( Hermosilla et al. 2017)

The Forest Change Type data described here is an update to previously posted open data. The date range for this data is 2012 to 2015. The Forest Change Type data for the prior period from 1985 to 2011 can be found here: https://opendata.nfis.org/mapserver/nfis-change_eng.html or https://gcgeo.gc.ca/geonetwork/search/eng search for “Forest Change” but you must be logged in to see the data. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). The forest change data included in this product is national in scope (entire forested ecosystem) and represents the first wall-to-wall characterization of wildfire and harvest in Canada at a spatial resolution commensurate with human impacts. The information outcomes represent 25 years of stand replacing change in Canada’s forests, derived from a single, consistent spatially-explicit data source, derived in a fully automated manner. This demonstrated capacity to characterize forests at a resolution that captures human impacts is key to establishing a baseline for detailed monitoring of forested ecosystems from management and science perspectives. Time series of Landsat data were used to characterize national trends in stand replacing forest disturbances caused by wildfire and harvest for the period 1985–2010 for Canada's 650 million hectare forested ecosystems (https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0034425717301360 ). Landsat data has a 30m spatial resolution, so the change information is highly detailed and is commensurate with that of human impacts. These data represent annual stand replacing forest changes. The stand replacing disturbances types labeled are wildfire and harvest, with lower confidence wildfire and harvest, also shared. The distinction and sharing of lower class membership likelihoods is to indicate to users that some change events were more difficult to allocate to a change type, but are generally found to be in the correct category. For an overview on the data, image processing, and time series change detection methods applied, as well as information on independent accuracy assessment of the data, see Hermosilla et al. (2016; http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538947.2016.1187673). The data available is, 1. a binary change/no-change; 2. Change year; and, 3. Change type. When using this data, please cite as: Hermosilla, T.,Wulder, M. A.,White, J. C.,Coops, N. C.,Hobart, G. W., (2017). Updating Landsat time series of surface-reflectance composites and forest change products with new observations. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 63: 104-111. DOI: 10.1016/j.jag.2017.07.013 White, J.C., M.A. Wulder, T. Hermosilla, N.C. Coops, and G. Hobart. (2017). A nationwide annual characterization of 25 years of forest disturbance and recovery for Canada using Landsat time series. Remote Sensing of Environment. 192: 303-321. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2017.03.035.

The Forest Change Type data described here is an update to previously posted open data. The date range for this data is 2012 to 2015. The Forest Change Type data for the prior period from 1985 to 2011 can be found here: https://opendata.nfis.org/mapserver/nfis-change_eng.html or https://gcgeo.gc.ca/geonetwork/search/eng search for “Forest Change” but you must be logged in to see the data. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). The forest change data included in this product is national in scope (entire forested ecosystem) and represents the first wall-to-wall characterization of wildfire and harvest in Canada at a spatial resolution commensurate with human impacts. The information outcomes represent 25 years of stand replacing change in Canada’s forests, derived from a single, consistent spatially-explicit data source, derived in a fully automated manner. This demonstrated capacity to characterize forests at a resolution that captures human impacts is key to establishing a baseline for detailed monitoring of forested ecosystems from management and science perspectives. Time series of Landsat data were used to characterize national trends in stand replacing forest disturbances caused by wildfire and harvest for the period 1985–2010 for Canada's 650 million hectare forested ecosystems (https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0034425717301360). Landsat data has a 30m spatial resolution, so the change information is highly detailed and is commensurate with that of human impacts. These data represent annual stand replacing forest changes. The stand replacing disturbances types labeled are wildfire and harvest, with lower confidence wildfire and harvest, also shared. The distinction and sharing of lower class membership likelihoods is to indicate to users that some change events were more difficult to allocate to a change type, but are generally found to be in the correct category. For an overview on the data, image processing, and time series change detection methods applied, as well as information on independent accuracy assessment of the data, see Hermosilla et al. (2016; http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538947.2016.1187673). The data available is, 1. a binary change/no-change; 2. Change year; and, 3. Change type. When using this data, please cite as: Hermosilla, T.,Wulder, M. A.,White, J. C.,Coops, N. C.,Hobart, G. W., (2017). Updating Landsat time series of surface-reflectance composites and forest change products with new observations. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 63: 104-111. DOI: 10.1016/j.jag.2017.07.013 White, J.C., M.A. Wulder, T. Hermosilla, N.C. Coops, and G. Hobart. (2017). A nationwide annual characterization of 25 years of forest disturbance and recovery for Canada using Landsat time series. Remote Sensing of Environment. 192: 303-321. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2017.03.035.

This dataset provides treed area dynamics across Canada's 650 Mha forested ecosystems from 1984 to 2022, derived from Landsat-based annual land cover layers at a 30-m spatial resolution. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). This dataset identifies areas that remained treed, transitioned to treed (newly treed), or transitioned to other cover that is not treed vegetation (was-treed). The data enable national and regional assessments of long-term changes in treed area, capturing trends in treed area, post-disturbance recovery, and shifts in forest extent. When using this data, please cite as: Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Bater, C.W., Baral, S.K., Leach, J.A., 2025. Expansion of treed area over Canada’s forested ecosystems: spatial and temporal trends. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research 98(5) 786-799. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpaf015. (Hermosilla et al. 2025)

Post-disturbance forest recovery data for Canada's forested ecosystems, representing a total area of ~650 million ha, captures the return of forests following wildfire and harvest that occurred between 1986 and 2012. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). These spatially-explicit outputs represent the rate of spectral recovery: the rate at which a pixel returns to 80% of its pre-disturbance value (White et al. 2017) within the observation period (1985-2017) using the Y2R or Years-to-Recovery metric derived from Landsat times series data. Baseline rates of spectral recovery (Y2R) were defined for each of Canada's 12 forested ecozones. These baselines were then used to identify spatial clusters of recovering pixels on the landscape where Y2R were either significantly faster or slower than their ecozonal baseline. Finally, areas that were disturbed by wildfire and harvest (1986-2012), but which had not recovered by the end of the observation period (2017) are also provided. Note that these areas are still recovering, but they had not yet recovered according to our metric of spectral recovery, by the end of the time series in 2017. For an overview of the methods, the validation of the Y2R metric, and interpretation of the derived trends, see White et al. (2022) and White et al. (2017). White, J.C., Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., Coops, N.C., 2022. Mapping, validating, and interpreting spatio-temporal trends in post-disturbance forest recovery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 271, 112904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.112904 ( White et al. 2022) White, J.C., Wulder, M.A., Hermosilla, T., Coops, N.C., Hobart, G.W. 2017. A nationwide annual characterization of 25 years of forest disturbance and recovery for Canada using Landsat time series. Remote Sensing of Environment, 194, pp. 303-321. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2017.03.035 .( White et al. 2017)

High-resolution annual forest land cover maps for Canada's forested ecosystems (1984-2022). The annual time series of forest land cover maps are national in scope (entire 650 million hectare forested ecosystem) and represent a wall-to-wall land cover characterization yearly from 1984 to 2022. These time-series land cover maps were produced from annual time-series of Landsat image composites, forest change information, and ancillary topographic and hydrologic data following the framework described in Hermosilla et al. (2022), which builds upon the approach introduced in Hermosilla et al. (2018). The methodological innovations included (i) a refined training pool derived from existing land cover products using airborne and spaceborne measures of forest structure; (ii) selection of training samples proportionally to the land cover distribution using a distance-weighted approach; and (iii) generation of regional classification models using a 150x150 km tiling system. Maps are post-processed using disturbance information to ensure logical class transitions over time using a Hidden Markov Model. Hidden Markov Models assess individual year class likelihoods to reduce variability and possible noise in year-on-year class assignments (for instances when class likelihoods are similar). Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Coops, N.C., 2022. Land cover classification in an era of big and open data: Optimizing localized implementation and training data selection to improve mapping outcomes. Remote Sensing of Environment. Vol. 268, No. 112780. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112780. ( Hermosilla et al. 2022) Hermosilla, T., M.A. Wulder, J.C. White, N.C. Coops, G. W. Hobart, (2018). Disturbance-Informed Annual Land Cover Classification Maps of Canada's Forested Ecosystems for a 29-Year Landsat Time Series. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing. 44(1) 67-87.DOI: 10.1080/07038992.2018.1437719 ( Hermosilla et al. 2018).

Landsat-derived forest age for Canada 2022 Satellite-based forest age map for 2022 across Canada's forested ecozones at a 30-m spatial resolution, developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). Remotely sensed data from Landsat (disturbances, surface reflectance composites, forest structure) and MODIS (Gross Primary Production) are utilized to determine age. Age can be determined where disturbance can be identified directly (disturbance approach) or inferred using spectral information (recovery approach) or using inverted allometric equations to model age where there is no evidence of disturbance (allometric approach). The disturbance approach is based upon satellite data and mapped changes and is the most accurate. The recovery approach also avails upon satellite data plus logic regarding forest succession, with an accuracy that is greater than pure modeling. Given the lack of widespread recent disturbance over Canada's forests, the allometric approach is required over the greatest area (86.6%). Using information regarding realized heights and growth and yield modeling, ages are estimated where none are otherwise possible. Trees of all ages are mapped, with trees >150 years old combined in an - old tree - category. See Maltman et al. (2023) for an overview of the methods, data, image processing, as well as information on agreement assessment using Canada's National Inventory (NFI). Maltman, J.C., Hermosilla, T., Wulder, M.A., Coops, N.C., White, J.C., 2023. Estimating and mapping forest age across Canada's forested ecosystems. Remote Sensing of Environment 290, 113529. ( Maltman et al. 2023).

This data set provides the results of time-series analyses of Landsat imagery for 55 selected forested sites across the conterminous U.S.A. The output is a pair of disturbance data products for each site, one showing the first year of disturbance in the time series, the other showing the last year of disturbance. Each data pixel is labeled as either a static land class (persistent non-forest, persistent forest, or persistent water) or with the year of change for disturbed forest pixels. The time period analyzed is approximately 1984-2009.These forest disturbance data are distributed as a single band GeoTiff, with appropriate projection information defined within the file. The analyses were performed in three phases: 5 sites during the Prototype/Focal phase; 23 sites in Phase I; and 27 sites in Phase II. The spatial resolution of the Prototype/Focal and Phase I data is 28.5 meters. The spatial resolution of the Phase II data is 30 meters. The temporal resolution is nominally biennial. The mapped area for each forested site is approximately 185 km x 185 km. There are a total of 110 GeoTiff files - a first year and a last year disturbance file for each of the 55 sites.

High resolution forest change for Canada (Binary Change/No-change) The forest change data included in this product is national in scope (entire forested ecosystem) and represents the first wall-to-wall characterization of wildfire and harvest in Canada at a spatial resolution commensurate with human impacts. It is developed within the framework of Canada’s National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS). The information outcomes represent 25 years of stand replacing change in Canada’s forests, derived from a single, consistent spatially-explicit data source, derived in a fully automated manner. This demonstrated capacity to characterize forests at a resolution that captures human impacts is key to establishing a baseline for detailed monitoring of forested ecosystems from management and science perspectives. Time series of Landsat data were used to characterize national trends in stand replacing forest disturbances caused by wildfire and harvest for the period 1985–2010 for Canada's 650 million hectare forested ecosystems (https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0034425717301360 ). Landsat data has a 30m spatial resolution, so the change information is highly detailed and is commensurate with that of human impacts. These data represent annual stand replacing forest changes. The stand replacing disturbances types labeled are wildfire and harvest, with lower confidence wildfire and harvest, also shared. The distinction and sharing of lower class membership likelihoods is to indicate to users that some change events were more difficult to allocate to a change type, but are generally found to be in the correct category. For an overview on the data, image processing, and time series change detection methods applied, as well as information on independent accuracy assessment of the data, see Hermosilla et al. (2016; http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538947.2016.1187673). The data available is, 1. a binary change/no-change; 2. Change year; and, 3. Change type. When using this data, please cite as: White, J.C., M.A. Wulder, T. Hermosilla, N.C. Coops, and G. Hobart. (2017). A nationwide annual characterization of 25 years of forest disturbance and recovery for Canada using Landsat time series. Remote Sensing of Environment. 192: 303-321. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2017.03.035. https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0034425717301360 Geographic extent: Canada's forested ecosystems (~ 650 Mha) Time period: 1985–2010