The primary goal of the NASA Land-Cover/Land-Use Change (LCLUC) program is to use satellite observations for improving our understanding of LCLUC as an essential component of Earth System Science. The LCLUC program includes studies that detect and quantify changes in land cover and land use; examine their impact on the environment and interactions with climate and society; and model future scenarios of LCLUC impacts. The LCLUC program is developing interdisciplinary research combining aspects of physical, social, and economic sciences, with a high level of societal relevance, using remote sensing data, methods and tools. The LCLUC program aims to develop the capability for annual satellite-based inventories of land cover and land use to characterize and monitor changes at the Earth’s surface. Social and economic science research plays an important role in the LCLUC program. It includes quantifying the impacts of changes in human behavior at various levels on land use, land-use impacts on society, and how the physical, social and economic aspects of land-use systems adapt to climate change. LCLUC, ubiquitous worldwide, is having a significant impact on the environment, the provision of ecosystem services, and human livelihoods at the national, regional, or global scale, often with economic and policy implications. The policy implications can, for example, be in terms of current policies that have prompted or exacerbated land-use change, or policy changes that would lead to sustainable landuse practices.
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