China releases 30-meter-resolution global forest cover map

BEIJING - China has achieved a 30-meter-resolution Global Forest Cover Map (GFCM) of 2018 for forest management, according to the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Wednesday.

The researchers constructed a high-resolution forest and non-forest sample database based on satellite remote sensing data. They realized automatic information extraction of global forest cover by using machine learning and big data analysis.

The overall accuracy of the GFCM is higher than 90 percent, verified by random sampling on a global scale.

The GFCM can provide data support for forest management and utilization, as well as cope with global change.