National Land Cover Database (NMD)
Something that many actors within the environmental field need is an up-to-date, complete map of Sweden’s land cover and land use.
Sweden’s Environmental Protection Agency has, in conjunction with several other Swedish agencies and organizations, taken the initiative to produce such a map that covers the entire country.
Mapping the entire country
Land cover and land use maps are an important source of information for activities involving biological diversity, sustainable development, ecosystem services, civil planning and climate and risk management. That is why the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, together with several other agencies, has produced a land cover\ land use map over the entire country. There are also several complementary products and related documentation. This collaboration has successfully resulted in a useful product that myriad users working on environmental issues in Sweden can benefit.
The first national mapping was carried out in 2017–2019 with a plan for an updated mapping every 5 years. The first mapping is called “NMD2018” because the latest satellite images are from that year. The subsequent updated mapping is called “NMD2023”.
Future management and updating
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and other stakeholders want a long-term and well-managed updating and distribution of land cover data. Functioning and effective methods for continuous updating are important and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency continues to cooperate with other authorities to achieve this.
The production of NMD2023 is ongoing. A first partial delivery has been made in the summer of 2024 and further deliveries will be made available in the first quarter of 2025. Production will continue in 2025.
Download the National Land Cover Database
The National Land Cover Database is comprised of a base map and complementary ‘added-value’ layers. Links to download the data are provided below. Accompanying each data set is a description of the product (in swedish), as well as a quality assessment. For additional information and downloading:
Download the National Land Cover Database
The National Land Cover Database is comprised of a base map and complementary ‘added-value’ layers. Links to download the data are provided below. Accompanying each data set is a description of the product (in swedish), as well as a quality assessment. For additional information and downloading:
National Land Cover Database, original version
Additional layer: Object Height and Extent
Additional layer: Productivity
Additional layer: Forests in Mountainous Regions
Soil moisture index map (an intermediary result from the database production)
Quality Control/ Quality Assurance report
Downloading service - per administrative county (NMD2018)
Product description NMD2018 (pdf)
Technical documentation NMD2018 (pdf)
If you have and questions or suggestions, including examples of how the products are being used, please contact:
Project Organization
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is the project manager and chair of the stakeholder steering group.
The goal is to further develop NMD and establish a long-term management. The participating organisations contribute financial resources to the project and staff the project with experts.
Organizations in the special interest group
- Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Chair)
- Statistics Sweden
- Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management
- Swedish Forest Agency
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency
- Swedish Transport Administration
- Swedish Board of Agriculture
- National Board of Housing, Building and Planning
- Swedish National Space Agency
There is also a reference group for the National Land Cover Database with representatives from other interest groups.. These stake-holders help set user’s needs and quality assurance, as well as providing feedback regarding the relevance of the products and helping to spread information about the National Land Cover Database within their organizations.
Contacts
Birgitta Olsson, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Camilla Jönsson, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency