Summary
More information can be found in the Satelligence Resource Centre.
Satelligence's deforestation analysis methodology integrates a robust forest baseline creation process with advanced change detection algorithms to identify forest loss with high accuracy.
The forest baseline is generated using a hybrid approach that merges curated and harmonized open datasets (e.g., JRC Tropical Moist Forest Layers, UMD primary forest maps) with Satelligence's proprietary data based on forest classification models. These models apply FAO and national forest definitions, categorizing forests into primary, disturbed, regrowth, dry forest, and native vegetation classes.
Open data layers are quality-checked, standardized, and adjusted to remove areas deforested before defined cutoff dates (e.g., 31 Dec 2020). Proprietary commodity plot data, based on mapped EUDR commodities and commodities like sugar cane & coconut, are created using Landsat, Sentinel-1, and Sentinel-2 data, and are added as an additional layer to eliminate false positives, especially in agricultural production landscapes.
Change Detection Algorithms
Satelligence uses two change detection algorithms — one for optical data and one for radar data.
1. Optical Change Detection – STAB
The optical change detection algorithm is called SpatioTemporalAdaptiveBareness (STAB). It uses forest statistics of the entire landscape and compares these to a pixel of interest. If this pixel has much higher bareness (level of bare soil) than all the surrounding forest, the pixel is flagged as deforested.
The advantage of using an algorithm with an adaptive threshold is that it can take seasonality into account, which is the case for many dry tropical forests and savanna such as the Cerrado and Chaco areas in South America.
2. Radar Change Detection – Bayesian Iterative Updating
The radar change detection algorithm is called Bayesian Iterative Updating. This is a statistical method where current observations are compared to historical observations to determine the probability of change.
Satelligence's forest detection methodology ensures temporal consistency, minimizes false positives and negatives, and supports multiple reporting frameworks (EUDR, NDPE, RSPO) for near real-time deforestation monitoring.
Data Sources
Besides using and developing commodity maps (used as a layer to distinguish operational/production areas from forests), Satelligence uses the following data sources to develop their forest baseline:
| Data layer | Spatial coverage | Temporal resolution | Spatial resolution (m) |
|---|
| JRC Tropical Moist Forests (TMF) | Global | 1990–2023 | 30 |
| JRC Global Surface Water | Global | 1984–2021 | 30 |
| Intact Forest Landscapes (IFL) | Global | 2000, 2013, 2016, 2020 | n/a |
| Primary Forests UMD | Pantropical region | 2000 | 30 |
| Ecuador official land cover map | Ecuador | 2020 | 25 |
| Honduras official land cover map | Honduras | 2014, 2018 | 25 |
| Carte d'occupation des sols de Côte d'Ivoire en 2020 | Ivory Coast | 2020 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Argentina COL1 | Argentina | 1998–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Amazonia COL5 | Amazonia | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Atlantic Forest COL3 | Atlantic Forest, Brazil | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Bolivia COL2 | Bolivia | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Brasil COL8 | Brazil | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Chaco COL3 | Chaco region, Argentina | 1985–2021 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Chile COL1 | Chile | 2000–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Colombia COL1 | Colombia | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Ecuador COL1 | Ecuador | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Pampa COL3 | Pampa Region | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Paraguay COL1 | Paraguay | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Peru COL2 | Peru | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Uruguay COL1 | Uruguay | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| MapBiomas Venezuela COL1 | Venezuela | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| Bolivia national FBL | Bolivia | 2013, 2015, 2016 | 30 |
| FEDEPALMA Oilpalm map | Colombia | – | – |
| Danylo Oilpalm map | Indonesia | 2019 | 30 |
| Descals Coconut map | Global | 2020 | 10 |
| Descals Oilpalm Map | Global | 2019 | 10 |
| Descals Oilpalm and Oilpalm Age map (2024) | Global | 1990–2021 | 10 |
| Gaveau Oilpalm Map | Indonesia | 2001–2019 | – |
| ETH / Coconut / HCV Oilpalm Map | Indonesia, Malaysia | 2020–2021 | 30 |
| Xu Oilpalm Map | Indonesia | 2001–2018 | 30 |
| Oilpalm Concessions | Global | 2024 | – |
| DLR Urban map (WSF) | Global | 2019 | 30 |
| Uruguay Pulp Map | Uruguay | – | – |
| ETH Cocoa Map | Ivory Coast, Ghana | 2021 | 30 |
| GFW SDPT (database of planted trees) | Global | 2020 | – |
| Guatemala national forest map | Guatemala | 2020 | – |
| IDEAM Colombia forest map | Colombia | 2019 | 30 |
| Mexico National LULC | Mexico | 2018 | 30 |
| UMD Soy Map | South America | 2001–2023 | 30 |
| UMD GLGLU | Global | 2000, 2020 | 30 |
| UMD / GFW Tree Canopy Cover | Global | 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 | 30 |
| UMD Tree Height Data | Global | 2019 | 30 |
| Zhenrong Du Plantation Date | Global | 1985–2022 | 30 |
| Panama 2021 Land Cover | Panama | 2021 | 10 |
| Vietnam JAXA Land Cover | Vietnam | 1990–2020 | 10 |
| Cambodia Yearly Forest Cover | Cambodia | 2015–2023 | 30 |
| Cambodia Cashew Map | Cambodia | 2023 | 10 |
| Global Planted Forest Dataset (Xiao) | Global | 2021 | 30 |
| Global Sugarcane Dataset | Brazil, Australia, China, Colombia, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, USA | 2019–2022 | – |
| NLCD Annual Land Cover Dataset USA MLRC | USA | 1985–2023 | 30 |
| Canada annual land cover | Canada | 1985–2023 | 30 |
| China Soy Area 10m | China | 2017–2021 | 10 |
| USA Corn Soy Layer (Wang) 1999–2018 | USA | 1999–2018 | 30 |
| Google Forest Data Partnership 2025a – Oilpalm | Global | 2020, 2023 | 10 |
| Google Forest Data Partnership 2025a – Rubber | Global | 2020, 2023 | 10 |
| Google Forest Data Partnership 2025a – Coffee | Global | 2020, 2023 | 10 |
| Google Forest Data Partnership 2025a – Cocoa | Global | 2020, 2023 | 10 |
| Global Pasture Watch | Global | 2000–2022 | 10 |