Global map of Local Climate Zones, latest version

RUB/RUBCLIM/LCZ/global_lcz_map/latest
Dataset Availability
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z–2019-01-01T00:00:00Z
Dataset Provider
Earth Engine Snippet
ee.ImageCollection("RUB/RUBCLIM/LCZ/global_lcz_map/latest")
Tags
climate landcover urban

Description

Since their introduction in 2012, Local Climate Zones (LCZs) emerged as a new standard for characterizing urban landscapes, providing a holistic classification approach that takes into account micro-scale land-cover and associated physical properties.

This global map of Local Climate Zones, at 100m pixel size and representative for the nominal year 2018, is derived from multiple earth observation datasets and expert LCZ class labels. LCZ_Filter is the recommended band for most users. The other classification band, LCZ, is only provided as it is used to calculate the LCZ_Probability band.

The LCZ scheme complements other land use / land cover schemes by its focus on urban and rural landscape types, which can be described by any of the 17 classes in the LCZ scheme. Out of the 17 LCZ classes, 10 reflect the 'built' environment, and each LCZ type is associated with generic numerical descriptions of key urban canopy parameters critical to model atmospheric responses to urbanisation. In addition, since LCZs were originally designed as a new framework for urban heat island studies, they also contain a limited set (7) of 'natural' land-cover classes that can be used as 'control' or 'natural reference' areas.

As these seven natural classes in the LCZ scheme can not capture the heterogeneity of the world's existing natural ecosystems, we advise users - if required - to combine the built LCZ classes with any other land-cover product that provides a wider range of natural land-cover classes.

See also:

Bands

Resolution
100 meters

Bands

Name Units Description
LCZ

The raw, pixel-based global LCZ map with LCZ classes

LCZ_Filter

The recommended global LCZ map with LCZ classes. LCZ labels are obtained after applying the morphological Gaussian filter described in Demuzere et al. (2020)

LCZ_Probability %

A probability layer that identifies how often the modal LCZ was chosen per pixel (e.g. a probability of 60% means that the modal LCZ class was mapped 30 times out of 50 LCZ models). This is a pixel-based probability derived from the LCZ layer

LCZ Class Table

Value Color Description
1 #8c0000 Compact highrise
2 #d10000 Compact midrise
3 #ff0000 Compact lowrise
4 #bf4d00 Open highrise
5 #ff6600 Open midrise
6 #ff9955 Open lowrise
7 #faee05 Lightweight lowrise
8 #bcbcbc Large lowrise
9 #ffccaa Sparsely built
10 #555555 Heavy industry
11 #006a00 Dense Trees (LCZ A)
12 #00aa00 Scattered Trees (LCZ B)
13 #648525 Bush, scrub (LCZ C)
14 #b9db79 Low plants (LCZ D)
15 #000000 Bare rock or paved (LCZ E)
16 #fbf7ae Bare soil or sand (LCZ F)
17 #6a6aff Water (LCZ G)

LCZ_Filter Class Table

Value Color Description
1 #8c0000 Compact highrise
2 #d10000 Compact midrise
3 #ff0000 Compact lowrise
4 #bf4d00 Open highrise
5 #ff6600 Open midrise
6 #ff9955 Open lowrise
7 #faee05 Lightweight lowrise
8 #bcbcbc Large lowrise
9 #ffccaa Sparsely built
10 #555555 Heavy industry
11 #006a00 Dense Trees (LCZ A)
12 #00aa00 Scattered Trees (LCZ B)
13 #648525 Bush, scrub (LCZ C)
14 #b9db79 Low plants (LCZ D)
15 #000000 Bare rock or paved (LCZ E)
16 #fbf7ae Bare soil or sand (LCZ F)
17 #6a6aff Water (LCZ G)

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

proprietary

Citations

Citations:
  • Demuzere M.; Kittner J.; Martilli A.; Mills, G.; Moede, C.; Stewart, I.D.; van Vliet, J.; Bechtel, B. A global map of local climate zones to support earth system modelling and urban-scale environmental science. Earth System Science Data 2022, 14 Volume 8: 3835-3873. doi:10.5194/essd-14-3835-2022

DOIs

Explore with Earth Engine

Code Editor (JavaScript)

var dataset = ee.ImageCollection('RUB/RUBCLIM/LCZ/global_lcz_map/latest')
            .mosaic();

var visualization = {
  bands: ['LCZ_Filter'],
  min: 1,
  max: 17,
  palette: [
    '8c0000','d10000','ff0000','bf4d00','ff6600',
    'ff9955','faee05','bcbcbc','ffccaa','555555',
    '006a00','00aa00','648525','b9db79','000000',
    'fbf7ae','6a6aff'
    ]
};

Map.setCenter(7.26, 51.44, 6);
Map.addLayer(dataset, visualization, 'LCZ_Filter');
Open in Code Editor