This open access book represents a comprehensive review of available land-use cover data and techniques to validate and analyze this type of spatial information. The book provides the basic theory needed to understand the progress of LUCC mapping/modeling validation practice. It makes accessible to any interested user most of the research community's methods and techniques to validate LUC maps and models. Besides, this book is enriched with practical exercises to be applied with QGIS.The book includes a description of relevant global and supra-national LUC datasets currently available. Finally, the book provides the user with all the information required to manage and download these datasets.

Represents up-to-date comprehensive review of theory and techniques to validate land-use cover information

Chapter 1. About this book.- Part I. Concepts, data and validation.- Chapter 2. Land Use Cover mapping, modelling and validation. A background.- Chapter 3. Validation of Land Use Cover maps: a guideline.- Chapter 4. Land Use Cover Datasets: a review.- Part II. Data access and visualization.- Chapter 5. Visualization and communication of LUC data.- Chapter 6. Sample data for thematic accuracy assessment in QGIS.- Part III. Tools to validate Land Use Cover maps: a review.- Chapter 7. Basic and Multiple-Resolution Cross Tabulation to validate Land Use Cover maps.- Chapter 8. Metrics based on a Cross-Tabulation matrix to validate Land Use Cover maps.- Chapter 9. Pontius Jr. methods based on a Cross Tabulation matrix to validate Land Use Cover maps.- Chapter 10. Validation of soft maps produced by a Land Use Cover Change model.- Chapter 11. Spatial metrics to validate Land Use Cover maps.- Chapter12. Advanced pattern analysis to validate Land Use Cover maps.- Chapter 13. Geographically Weighted methods to validate Land Use Cover maps.- Part IV. Land Use Cover datasets: a review.- Chapter 14. Global general Land Use Cover datasets with a single date,- Chapter 15. Global general Land Use Cover datasets with a time series of maps.- Chapter 16. General Land Use Cover datasets for Europe.- Chapter 17. General Land Use Cover datasets for Africa.- Chapter 18. General Land Use Cover datasets for America and Asia.- Chapter 19. Global thematic Land Use Cover datasets characterizing vegetation covers.- Chapter 20. Global thematic Land Use Cover datasets characterizing agricultural covers.- Chapter 21. Global thematic Land Use Cover datasets characterizing artificial covers.- Chapter 22. Supra-national thematic Land Use Cover datasets.