This repository contains tree cover loss information between 1987 and 2020for the Paraguayan Chaco at yearly resolution. The analysis is based on annual image composites of Landsat time series. With a ranodm forest classifier, annual forest cover maps were generated. The overview presented here was derived from this and shows in which year and where forest areas were lost in the study area. The annual forest masks were compared pixel wise and the last change from forest to non-forest was recoreded as year of loss.

The dataset is available as 16-bit GeoTIFF in the WGS 84 / UTM zone 21S - Projected (EPSG:32721) with a pixel size of 30 m. 

The grey levels in the raster file indicate the year of tree cover loss. Their meaning is as follows:
0 = intact forest
1987 = non-forest area since 1987
1988 = non-forest area since 1988
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2020 = non-forest area since 2020
3000 = areas that were already non-forest areas in 1986
4000 = no data, areas outside the Paraguayan Chaco 

An open access publication with all technical details can be found here:
Da Ponte, E. & Garcia-Calabrese, M. & Kriese, J. & Cabral, N. & Pérez de Molas, L. & Alvarenga, M. & Caceres, A. & Gali, A. & García, V. & Morinigo, L. & Ríos, M. & Salinas, A.. (2021). Understanding 34 Years of Forest Cover Dynamics across the Paraguayan Chaco: Characterizing Annual Changes and Forest Fragmentation Levels between 1987 and 2020. Forests. 13. 25. 10.3390/f13010025. 

For further information please contact: jennifer.kriese@dlr.de.