Land cover and land cover change maps were created within the European Commission's Copernicus Global Land Monitoring Service's Hot-Spot Monitoring framework program. During the program's first phase, a total of 560442km2 area in Sub-Saharan Africa was mapped, from which 153665km2 was mapped with 8 land cover classes while 406776km2 was mapped with up to 32 classes based on FAO's Land Cover Classification System (LCCS). High-resolution optical satellite imagery were used to generate dense time-series data from which thematic land cover and change maps were derived. Each map was fully verified and validated by an independent team to achieve Copernicus' strict data quality requirements.Independent validation datasets for each KLCs were also collected and they are presented here. The validation datasets contain 35671 verified points for two dates (LC and LCC). Furthermore, a predefined symbology (QGIS legend file) for the land cover/change and validation datasets based on FAO's Land Cover Classification System is also shared here to ease the visualization of them. Further details regarding the sites selection, mapping and validation procedures are described in the corresponding publication: Szantoi, Z., Brink, A., Lupi, A., Mannone, C., and Jaffrain, G.: Key Landscapes for Conservation Land Cover and Change Monitoring, Thematic and Validation Datasets for Sub-Saharan Africa, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12-3001-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3001-2020.

There are twelve datasets shared as a supplement to the “Key Landscapes for Conservation Land Cover and Change Monitoring, Thematic and Validation Datasets for Sub-Saharan Africa” publication here. Data format: vector (shapefile, polygon (LC/LCC dataset), point (validation dataset),Geographic Coordinate System (LC/LCC dataset): World Geodetic System 1984 (EPSG:4326) and its datum (EPSG:6326),Projected coordinate system (validation data): Africa Albers Equal Area Conic (EPSG:102022),Minimum mapping unit: 0.5-5ha.Land cover and land cover change dataset attributes:[mapcode_A] - dichotomous class,[mapcode_B] - modular class,[name_A] - corresponding dichotomous class names (KLCs classified only at the dichotomous level),[name_B] - corresponding modular class name.Validation dataset attributes:[plaus201X] - land cover,[plaus2000X] - land cover change.The naming of all attributes follow the same structure in all shapefiles – see Table 2 Dichotomous and Modular thematic land cover/use classes in the corresponding publication.