CA-ESRI
10.3.2022 14:02:10 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Governments and businesses across the world are pledging to adopt more sustainable and equitable practices. Many are also working to limit activities that contribute to climate change. To support these efforts, Esri , the global leader in location intelligence, in partnership with Impact Observatory and Microsoft, is releasing a globally consistent 2017–2021 global land-use and land-cover map of the world based on the most up-to-date 10-meter Sentinel-2 satellite data. In addition to the new 2021 data, 10-meter land-use and land-cover data for 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 is included, illustrating five years of change across the planet.
This digital rendering of earth's surfaces offers detailed information and insights about how land is being used. The map is available online to more than 10 million users of geographic information system (GIS) software through Esri's ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World , the foremost collection of geographic information and services, including maps and apps.
"Accurate, timely, and accessible maps are critical for understanding the rapidly changing world, especially as the effects of climate change accelerate globally," said Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president. "Planners worldwide can use this map to better understand complex challenges and take a geographic approach to decisions about food security, sustainable land use, surface water, and resource management."
Esri released a 2020 global land-cover map last year as well as a high-resolution 2050 global land-cover map , showing how earth's land surfaces might look 30 years from now. With the planned annual releases, users will have the option to make year-to-year comparisons for detecting change in vegetation and crops, forest extents, bare surfaces, and urban areas.
These maps also provide insights about locations with distinctive land use/land cover, as well as human activity affecting them. National government resource agencies use land-use/land-cover data as a basis for understanding trends in natural capital, which helps define land-planning priorities and determine budget allocations.
Esri's map layers were developed with imagery from the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-2 satellite, with machine learning workflows by Esri Silver partner Impact Observatory and incredible compute resources from longtime partner Microsoft. The Sentinel-2 satellite carries a range of technologies including radar and multispectral imaging instruments for land, ocean, and atmospheres, enabling it to monitor vegetation, soil and water cover, inland waterways, and coastal areas.
"World leaders need to set and achieve ambitious targets for sustainable development and environmental restoration," said Steve Brumby, Impact Observatory cofounder and CEO. "Impact Observatory [and] our partners Esri and Microsoft are once again first to deliver an annual set of global maps at unprecedented scale and speed. These maps of changing land use and land cover provide leaders in governments, industry, and finance with a new AI [artificial intelligence]-powered capability for timely, actionable geospatial insights on demand."
Esri and Microsoft have released this 10-meter-resolution time-series map under a Creative Commons license to encourage broad adoption and ensure equitable access for planners working to create a more sustainable planet. Users can manipulate the map layers and other data layers with GIS software to create more dynamic visualizations.
In addition to being freely available in ArcGIS Online as a map service, these resources are also available for download and viewing. To explore the new 2021 global land-use/land-cover map, visit livingatlas.arcgis.com/landcover .
About Impact Observatory
Impact Observatory develops AI-powered, on-demand, geospatial data that maps changing land use and land cover at unprecedented scale and speed. Impact Observatory provides world leaders in governments, industry, and finance with timely, actionable, data-driven insights for sustainability and environmental risk analysis. Impact Observatory is a U.S. technology company based in Washington, D.C.
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, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofits, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. 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 © 2022 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.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220310005316/en/
Link:
About Business Wire
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
Variational Secures ~$50M to Bring Liquidity from Traditional Markets To Crypto20.5.2026 19:07:00 CEST | Press release
Already powering $200B+ in crypto volume, Variational is using its zero-fee liquidity aggregation model to bring traditional markets on-chain. Variational, a protocol for on-chain derivatives trading, has announced a ~$50M Series A raise led by Dragonfly with support from Bain Capital Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and other strategic investors. The funding coincides with the launch of the protocol’s first Real-World Asset (RWA) markets. This initial rollout allows traders to access perpetuals on select commodities alongside their crypto portfolio, laying the groundwork for Variational to route liquidity directly from traditional markets in the coming months. While the broader crypto industry is attempting to bootstrap RWA liquidity from scratch on isolated Central Limit Order Books (CLOBs), Variational introduces a fundamentally different architecture. Instead of starting new order books from scratch for each new market, Variational aggregates and routes liquidity from both existing tradi
EIG’s MidOcean Energy Announces $120m Investment from The Arab Energy Fund as Part of Equity Raise20.5.2026 17:29:00 CEST | Press release
MidOcean Energy (“MidOcean” or the “Company”), a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company formed and managed by EIG, today announced a $120 million equity investment from The Arab Energy Fund (‘’TAEF’’), a leading multilateral impact financial institution, as part of its current equity capital raise. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260520063539/en/ TAEF’s investment further strengthens MidOcean’s high-quality investor base and underscores continued strong interest in the Company’s strategy to build a diversified, resilient and long-life global LNG business. There is significant further momentum from additional investors currently in documentation, and MidOcean will continue to raise capital, with a cumulative target of up to $2 billion from new investors. R. Blair Thomas, MidOcean Chairman and EIG CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome The Arab Energy Fund as a shareholder in MidOcean. Their significant expertise
TestMu AI Expands Real Device Testing With Multi-Language Playwright Support and Advanced Audio Testing for iOS20.5.2026 17:26:00 CEST | Press release
The latest updates enable Playwright automation across Java, Python, and C#, and introduce real-time audio injection capabilities on real iOS devices TestMu AI (formerly LambdaTest), the world’s first full-stack Agentic AI Quality Engineering platform, today announced two major enhancements to its Real Device Cloud: expanded support for Playwright automation across multiple programming languages and the introduction of Audio Injection and Live Audio Input capabilities for real iOS devices. These updates address a growing need for testing modern applications that are not only cross-platform but also increasingly multimodal, involving voice, audio, and real-time user interactions. With the latest release, TestMu AI now supports running Playwright tests on real devices using Java, Python, and C# in addition to existing capabilities. This allows enterprise teams to adopt Playwright within their preferred language ecosystems without being restricted to JavaScript-based workflows. As Playwri
Nexo Championship Returns to Aberdeenshire as Nexo Expands DP World Tour Footprint20.5.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
Nexo renews its Nexo Championship title partnership for the second year in 2026. The Nexo Championship, with a newly increased prize fund of $3 million, will return to Aberdeenshire on August 20-23, 2026. The tournament concludes the 2026 Closing Swing on the Race to Dubai schedule. Nexo, the premier digital assets wealth platform, and the DP World Tour have confirmed a renewed agreement that will see the Nexo Championship return to Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire from August 20-23, 2026. The tournament will serve as the concluding event of the DP World Tour’s Closing Swing – the final event of the first phase of the 2026 Race to Dubai. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260520684059/en/ Nexo Championship 2026 In 2025, Nexo joined the DP World Tour as its Official Digital Wealth Platform through 2027 before soon adding the title rights at the Nexo Championship. For its part, the Nexo Championship
Visa Threats Report: As Network Security Strengthens, Criminals Accelerate Shift to AI-Enabled Social Engineering20.5.2026 15:16:00 CEST | Press release
Spring 2026 Biannual Threats Report shows how strengthening payment security is pushing criminals toward AI-enabled social engineering Visa (NYSE: V), a world leader in digital payments, today released its Spring 2026 Biannual Threats Report, revealing that scams have become the fastest-growing source of consumer harm as criminals increasingly use artificial intelligence and social engineering to manipulate people into authorizing payments themselves. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260520153924/en/ The report draws on intelligence from Visa’s global network and underscores a critical shift in the fraud landscape: while core payment security continues to strengthen at the network level, criminals are redirecting their efforts away from technical system compromises toward exploiting human trust. From July to December 2025, Visa identified nearly $1 billion in scam-related activity, making scams the single large
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