SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2

SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2 is a tool to support the computation of SDG Indicator 15.4.2, namely the Mountain Green Cover Index and Proportion of Degraded Mountain Land using SEPAL

This guide introduces users to SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2, providing detailed instructions on setting up the tool and computing both subindicators step-by-step – with screenshots included for better comprehension.

General information

About SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2

The SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2 tool has been developed by FAO to help national authorities compute and report against SDG Indicator 15.4.2.

It is built on SEPAL, an open-source, cloud-based platform that allows users to:

• efficiently query and process satellite data;

• tailor products for local needs; and

• quickly produce sophisticated and relevant geospatial analyses.

To learn more about SEPAL, visit the SEPAL website.

The SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2 tool is still in its beta stage (i.e. still in development). If you have specific bugs to report or improvements to the tool that you would like to suggest, use the GitHub issue tracker of SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2 following these contribution guidelines.

Authors

Funded by Norway’s International Climate and Forest Iniciative (NICFI), the SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2 tool has been developed by FAO, with contributions from:

• Daniel Guerrero (tool development);

• Ann Cheptoo Rotich (technical documentation development); and

• Xavier de Lamo (led and supervised the development of both products).

License

The SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2 tool is a free and open source, licensed under the MIT license. The documentation is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Contents

• Module requirements
  • Initial setup
  • Data requirements
  • Uploading files into Google Earth Engine
    • 2.1.Uploading vector files
    • Uploading raster files
    • Creating an image collection
    • Uploading table files
    • Uploading vector files into SEPAL via the Vector file manager
• Data sources
• Module user interface
  • The SEPAL interface and the SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2 module
    • Setting up a SEPAL instance
    • Accessing the SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2 tool
    • Personalizing the SEPAL-SDG 15.4.2 tool
  • Calculating SDG Indicator 15.4.2
    • Conceptual framework
    • Overview of Sub-Indicator 15.4.2 _a: (Mountain Green Cover Index)
    • Overview of Sub-indicator 15.4.2b. Proportion of Degraded Mountain Land
  • Computing SDG 15.4.2
  • Defining the Area of Interest (AOI)
  • Land cover dataset
    • Defining your land cover dataset
      • Using default land cover maps
      • Using custom land cover maps
    • Reclassifying the land cover map legend for Sub-indicator A computation
      • Using a reclassification matrix
      • Manual reclassification
    • Reclassifying your land cover map legend for Sub-indicator B computation
    • Uploading a transition matrix for computing Sub-indicator B
    • Changing the default land cover transition matrix for computing Sub-indicator B using default global land cover data
  • Indicator settings
    • Defining parameters for Sub-indicator A: Mountain Green Cover Index
    • Defining parameters for Sub-indicator B: Proportion of Degraded Mountain Land
  • Calculation of SDG Indicator 15.4.2
    • Calculation from task
  • Visualizing the results
    • Visualizing the results using the exported tables
    • Visualizing results through the MGCI Results drawer
  • Annex
    • Computation resources: template tables
      • Template A: Custom Land Cover Map Reclassification template
      • Template B: Custom Land Cover Classification template (Sub-indicator B)
      • Template C: Transition matrix