The set of annual land cover (LC) maps are derived from a unique baseline LC map which is generated thanks to the entire MERIS FR (Full Resolution) and RR (Reduced Resolution) archive from 2003 to 2012. Independently from this baseline, LC changes are detected at 1 km based on a time series of annual global classifications generated from AVHRR HRPT (1992 - 1999), SPOT-Vegetation (1999 - 2012) and PROBA-V (2013 - 2015). Systematic analysis of the temporal trajectory of each pixel allowed the depiction of the major changes for a simplified land cover typology matching the IPCC classes. These classes are: cropland, forest, grassland, wetlands, settlements and other lands; the latter class being further split into shrubland, sparse vegetation, bare area and water.

When MERIS FR or PROBA-V time series are available, the changes detected at 1km are re-mapped at 300 meters. The last step consists in back- and up-dating the 10-year baseline LC map to produce the 24 annual LC maps from 1992 to 2015.