LUCAS : the EU's land use and land cover survey : 2017 edition.
Date: 2018-05-02
Institutions: Eurostat
Subjects: agricultural statistics, data collection, environmental statistics, land use

LUCAS

THE EU’S LAND USE AND LAND COVER SURVEY

2017 edition

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C O M P A C T 
G U I D E S

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LUCAS Survey — land use and land cover across the European Union:
Monitoring socio-environmental challenges, such as: land take, soil degradation and environmental impact of agriculture.

Land cover:

Land use: 

BIOPHYSICAL COVERAGE OF LAND

SOCIO-ECONOMIC USAGE MADE OF LAND 

LUCAS: 76 subclasses

Artificial land 

Cropland

LUCAS: 33 subclasses

©   European Union 

LUCAS

Woodland 

©   European Union 

LUCAS

Shrubland

©   European Union 

LUCAS

Grassland 

©   European Union 

LUCAS

Bare land

©   European Union 

LUCAS

Water areas 

©   European Union 

LUCAS

Wetlands

©   European Union 

LUCAS

Pixabay

Primary sector:

(for example,  agriculture  
and forestry)

©   European Union 

LUCAS

Secondary sector 

(industry)

Tertiary sector 

(services)

Other uses 

(for example, residential use  
and abandoned areas) 

Pixabay

Pixabay

Pixabay

LUCAS Survey:

• On-site data collection 

• Land use / land cover 

• Environmental information

• EU-wide 

• Standard survey methodology: 

  Two phase sampling, classifications, data collection processes.

• Adapted to policy needs: 

  Flexible, ad-hoc modules .

• Reduced statistical burden:

  No questionnaires for farmers, land owners.

Information collected:

• Current land cover and land use;

• Environmental information (e.g. irrigation, grazing, burned areas);

• Photos (e.g. landscape, crop);

• Topsoil sample; 

• Grassland survey.

 LUCAS Survey 2015: Field work

• 28 countries;

• over 270 000 points;

• over 26 000 soil points;

• 750 surveyors;

• March – September 2015.

Point distribution

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LUCAS point and pictures to the north, south, east and west

Soil sample

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©   European Union 

LUCAS

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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PI( C10 )PI
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56
56
P

PI( C10 )PI
56
E =  1:1.400
E =  1:1.400

E =  1:1.400

8 GPS Proy. WGS84 X
8 GPS Proy. WGS84 X

E =  1:50.000
E =  1:50.000
8 GPS Proy. WGS84 X

E =  1:50.000

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17 

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Ground document

Land Use/Cover Area Frame Statistical Survey 2015
Land Use/Cover Area Frame Statistical Survey 2015
Punto: 
Land Use/Cover Area Frame Statistical Survey 2015
Punto: 
SEVILLA
Punto: 
SEVILLA

29101782
29101782
29101782

4 Ubicación del coche Latitud ___,____________ º

4 Ubicación del coche Latitud ___,____________ º

5/6 Longitud |_| W/E ___,_____________ º

5/6 Longitud |_| W/E ___,_____________ º
4 Ubicación del coche Latitud ___,____________ º
761.000

761.000

5/6 Longitud |_| W/E ___,_____________ º
E 1:18.000
761.000

Parque Natural

761.500

Región Biogeográfica:MED
X:
-6.029407º
29
761.619

Región Biogeográfica:MED
X:
UTM
Región Biogeográfica:MED
UTM
29
761.500
X:
29

Parque Natural

Parque Natural

-6.029407º
761.619

E 1:18.000

761.500

-6.029407º
WGS84
Y:
761.619

UTM

37.779395º
4.185.496
WGS84
762.000
Y:
762.000

37.779395º
4.185.496

WGS84
Y:

37.779395º
4.185.496

E = 1:5.000
E = 1:5.000

Provincia:
Provincia:
Forma tripleta con 29081796 y 29041784
Forma tripleta con 29081796 y 29041784

Provincia:

SEVILLA

E = 1:5.000

Forma tripleta con 29081796 y 29041784

±
±
±

762.000

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E 1:18.000

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100 m

100 m

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9 Latitud ___,____________ º
9 Latitud ___,____________ º

10/11 Longitud |_| W/E ___,_____________ º

10/11 Longitud |_| W/E ___,_____________ º

12 Altitud _________ m

12 Altitud _________ m

13 Precisión _________ m

13 Precisión _________ m

14 Distancia _____ m

14 Distancia _____ m

9 Latitud ___,____________ º

10/11 Longitud |_| W/E ___,_____________ º

12 Altitud _________ m

13 Precisión _________ m

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14 Distancia _____ m

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Direction: 

Radius: 

Plot area (in ha): 

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3 

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8 

on the point  

north  

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east 

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N.R. 

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18 

1 

2 

8 

A
Land cover and land use 
A
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19 

1 

1.5 m 

20 m 

N.R. 

2 

3 

4 

8 

area < 0.5 

0.5 ≤ area < 1 

1 ≤ area < 10 

area ≥ 10 

N.R. 

!!!!!!!

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20 

LC1: 

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LC2: 

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Field form (extract)

LC1 plant species:  

758.000

24 

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760.000

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LC2 plant species: 

758.000

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760.000

758.000

Percentage of land 
coverage (%) LC1: 

22 

25 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

%LC1 < 5 

5 ≤ %LC1 < 10 

10 ≤ %LC1 < 25 

25 ≤ %LC1 < 50 

50 ≤ %LC1 < 75 

75 ≤ %LC1 < 90 

%LC1 ≥ 90 

N.R. 

760.000

Percentage of land 
coverage (%) LC2: 
1 

%LC2 < 5 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

5 ≤ %LC2 < 10 

10 ≤ %LC2 < 25 

25 ≤ %LC2 < 50 

50 ≤ %LC2 < 75 

75 ≤ %LC2 < 90 

%LC2 ≥ 90 

N.R. 

30 

762.000

762.000

762.000

31 

29 

32 
Mapa Topográfico © Instituto Geográfico Nacional de España

LU1: 

LU2: 

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LU1 land use type: 

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33 

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LU2 land use type: 

766.000

764.000

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764.000
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Mapa Topográfico © Instituto Geográfico Nacional de España

766.000

Percentage of land 
use (%) LU1: 

Mapa Topográfico © Instituto Geográfico Nacional de España
764.000
Percentage of land 
Mapa Topográfico © Instituto Geográfico Nacional de España
use (%) LU2: 

766.000

34 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

%LU1 < 5 

5 ≤ %LU1 < 10 

10 ≤ %LU1 < 25 

25 ≤ %LU1 < 50 

50 ≤ %LU1 < 75 

75 ≤ %LU1 < 90 

%LU1 ≥ 90 

N.R. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

%LU2 < 5 

5 ≤ %LU2 < 10 

10 ≤ %LU2 < 25 

25 ≤ %LU2 < 50 

50 ≤ %LU2 < 75 

75 ≤ %LU2 < 90 

%LU2 ≥ 90 

N.R. 

If LC CXX, or D10 or E10 & area size ≥ 0.5 ha 

If height of trees at maturity above 5 m 

26 

Height of trees at the 
moment of survey  

27 

Height of trees at 
maturity  

Width of feature: 

28 

1 

2 

8 

< 5 m 

≥ 5 m 

N.R. 

1 

2 

8 

< 5 m 

≥ 5 m 

N.R. 

1 

2 

8 

< 20 m 

≥ 20 m 

N.R. 

35 

Land management: 

36 

Special status: 

37 

Special remark on land cover/use: 

1 

2 

8 

Visible signs of 
grazing  

No signs of grazing 

N.R. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

8 

Protected 

Hunting 

Protected and 
Hunting 

No special status 

N.R. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

Tilled and/or sowed 

Harvested field 

Clear cut 

Burnt area 

Fire break 

Nursery 

No Remark  

N.R. 

LUCAS Survey 2015: Results

Land cover in the EU-28 
(% of total surface area in 2015)

3.3

4.2

1.7

3.0

20.7

7.1

22.2

37.8

Artificial land

Cropland

Woodland

Shrubland

Grassland

Water areas

Wetlands

Bare land

Source: Eurostat (online data code: lan_lcv_ovw)

Share of artificial land in total land cover, 2015 
(% of total)

MT

NL

BE

LU

DE

IT

DK

UK

PT

FR

CY

CZ

AT

EU-28

HU

IE

HR

PL

SI

ES

EL

SK

LT

RO

EE

BG

LV

FI

SE

Built-up area

Non built-up area

Temporarily dry (river bed / lake) 

0 

5 

10 

15 

20 

25

10 

Temporarily flooded 

 10% 

 25% 

 50% 

 75% 

 90% 

Source: Eurostat (online data code: lan_lcv_art)

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What is LUCAS used for?

Land, a limited resource

Man-made surfaces are an important source of water, soil and air 
pollution, and the soil sealing by these surfaces can impact upon 
the  water  balance,  thereby  increasing  the  risk  and  intensity  of 
flooding. This process of ‘land take’ also reduces the area available 
for  natural  habitats  and  ecosystems,  with  the  fragmentation  of 
wildlife habitats being a major concern.

Land  cover  and  land  use  data  from  LUCAS  are  used  to  monitor 
the increase of urban areas and the productivity of artificial areas 
(in  relation  to  GDP).  Both  of  these  indicators  are  included  in  the 
resource efficiency scoreboard. This scoreboard has been designed 
to  assess  the  progress  towards  a  resource-efficient,  low-carbon 
economy — one of the key objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy.

An example of land take between the 2009 and 2012 surveys

Landscape and ecosystem services

The  presence  of  grass  verges,  hedges,  dry  stone  walls,  ditches  and 
other semi-natural linear elements is considered to be of fundamental 
importance  to  help  promote  biodiversity  and  habitats,  providing 
ecosystem services such as pollination or pest control. 

The LUCAS ‘transect’ provides information on the presence and evolution 
of such linear elements and allows to assess them at a regional level. 

LUCAS Survey 2015 — NUTS 3 average number of linear 
elements per transect with agriculture as main land cover

Average no. of linear
elements per transect

0.00 - 0.98

0.99 - 1.76

1.77 - 2.64

2.65 - 3.94

3.95 - 8.00

©   European Union 

LUCAS

©   European Union 

LUCAS

© European Union, Joint Research Centre, 2017
Administrative boundaries: © EuroGeographics © UN-FAO © Turkstat

LUCAS Use Cases — more information and 
further examples of how LUCAS is used can be 
found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/lucas/publications/
use-cases

Soil, an essential element for agriculture

Policy areas:

Soil is a key agricultural resource and of prime interest to Common 
Agricultural Policy. 

Data from LUCAS can be used to help analyse and contribute to the 
development of various EU policy areas:

The  LUCAS  2009  and  2015  exercises  collected  soil  samples  which 
allowed soil quality (organic carbon content) and other parameters 
such  as  soil  texture,  structure  and  permeability  to  be  measured. 
These parameters contributed to the evaluation of soil erosion.

Common Agricultural Policy

Integrating  environmental  concerns  in  the  Common  Agricultural 
Policy; 

Soil erodibility in Europe

Soil Erodibility (K-Factor) for Europe

K-factor
(t ha h) / (ha MJ mm)
< 0.01

0.01 - 0.02

0.02 - 0.028

0.028 - 0.033

0.033 - 0.038

0.038 - 0.046

0.046 - 0.055

> 0.055

No data

Soil thematic strategy

Protecting the soil, as detailed in the soil thematic strategy;

EU biodiversity strategy

Promoting biodiversity and conservation, through the EU’s biodiversity 
strategy;

Europe 2020

Encouraging  the  efficient  use  of  resources  for  sustainable  growth,  
as in the resource-efficient Europe initiative;

Copernicus

Land  monitoring,  spatial  planning  and  resource  management,  
as carried out by the Copernicus earth observation programme;

Climate change

Tackling  climate  change,  through  monitoring  conducted  by  the 
European Environment Agency, as well as actions under the European 
climate change programme.

Agricultural landscape

Background image: ESRI World Terrain Base

© European Union, Joint Research centre (2014)

LUCAS Use Cases — more information and 
further examples of how LUCAS is used can be 
found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/lucas/publications/
use-cases

©   European Union 

LUCAS

Additional information on LUCAS:

LUCAS website: 

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/lucas/overview

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Did you know?

•  Approximately 15% of the EU’s territory is affected by 

moderate to high soil erosion.

•  Main causes of soil erosion are: inappropriate agricultural 
practices, deforestation, over-grazing and construction 
activities.

•  LUCAS soil data contributes to European erosion 

mapping (see LUCAS use cases).

•  Annual increase of artificial land cover in the EU is 1.3%  

(LUCAS 2012-2015).

Printed by Imprimerie centrale in Luxembourg

Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2017 
© European Union

Reuse is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 

The reuse policy of European Commission documents is regulated  
by Decision 2011/833/EU (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). 

 For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the  
EU copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders.

ISBN 978-92-79-65362-9  doi:10.2785/550346
PDF: 
Print:  ISBN 978-92-79-65370-4  doi:10.2785/001102