Rabat-Salé-Kénitra
Second region processed: forest cover, species, dieback, biomass and carbon stock, locally calibrated from satellite imagery. Biomass and carbon are estimates, with their limits and comparisons detailed below; a version recalibrated on ground truth is available on request.
These layers are sold by region, as high-resolution downloads. Contact us
Why this data
Free global products (Hansen, ESA WorldCover, ESA CCI Biomass) apply generic thresholds that underestimate forest cover in sparse-canopy areas, and never distinguish species. These layers are calibrated specifically for this region from Sentinel-2 imagery, with species-level discrimination (no global product offers this) and SPI-based drought attribution for dieback. The species map was rebuilt from ground truth on pure stands, with a climate-domain filter and a model-confidence filter to discard unreliable extrapolated areas: cork oak and eucalyptus, indistinguishable in an earlier version, are now separated. Species coverage is deliberately partial, documented explicitly rather than filled in with an unreliable estimate. Full methodology documented, known limitations stated explicitly. Biomass and carbon layers are published as estimates: their limits (underestimation of the densest stands) and comparisons with other sources are detailed below, and a version recalibrated on ground truth is available on request.
Biomass and carbon stock: estimate, limits and comparisons
These two layers are published as estimates. The model is a gradient boosting model calibrated on GEDI spaceborne LiDAR measurements (about 188,000 points in the area), using multi-season Sentinel-2 imagery, elevation and rainfall. It covers about 367,000 ha of forest.
Regional result: 24.6 Mg/ha of aboveground biomass on average, about 9 million tonnes in total, and about 14.5 Mg C/ha of carbon in trees (about 5.3 million tonnes of carbon, 19.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent). Belowground biomass is estimated at 25% of aboveground and the carbon fraction at 0.47 (IPCC default values, not species-specific).
Comparison with other sources
| Source | Value | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|
| This model | 24.6 Mg/ha aboveground biomass (regional mean) | Cork oak 28, holm oak 34, thuya 33, pines 25, acacia 19, eucalyptus 16 Mg/ha. |
| ESA CCI Biomass v6.0 (2022), same footprint | 17.3 Mg/ha | The model is about 40% higher, mostly on open areas (correlation of 0.52 at 100 m). |
| Maâmora cork oak, measured plots (Forests, 2022) | 28 to 80 Mg/ha, mean 55 | The model (28) sits at the plot minimum: it underestimates dense mature stands. |
| Middle Atlas holm oak, two stands (Arid Land Research and Management, 2013) | 86 and 96 Mg/ha | The model (34) is two to three times lower for this stand type. |
| GEDI L4A in Mediterranean forest (Forest Ecology and Management, 2023) | Overestimation below 50 Mg/ha, underestimation above | The model is calibrated on GEDI: it inherits this bias and amplifies it by flattening extreme values toward the mean. |
Limits to be aware of
Per-pixel accuracy is limited (R² of about 0.3 on test areas unseen by the model). High biomass is underestimated and open areas overestimated. The regional level remains uncertain, by about plus or minus 30% depending on the reference. These layers are meant to compare areas with each other, not to build a carbon budget.
A version recalibrated on ground truth (inventory plots and local equations) is available on request. Contact us
Layers
Automated satellite detection (3 VIIRS satellites, about 6 passes a day over Morocco), not verified on the ground. A hotspot can be agricultural burning, an industrial heat source, or a forest fire: the satellite cannot tell them apart. 3-day window.
Click a region to see its available layers. Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima is the first region processed, others follow one by one.
Sources
- Basemap: Esri World Imagery
- Admin. boundaries and regional division: official Morocco sources
- Relief (DEM): SRTM, 30 m resolution (NASA/USGS)
- Watersheds: extracted from the SRTM DEM
- Dams: Geoportail's own data
- Protected areas: UNEP-WCMC and IUCN (2026), Protected Planet, WDPA, September 2026
- Hotspots: data and imagery from NASA FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System), part of LANCE (Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for Earth observations), near real-time
- Cities: geographic landmarks, population from the 2024 census (HCP)
Rabat-Salé-Kénitra
Available layers
Second region processed (Sentinel-2, locally calibrated models). Species map rebuilt from ground truth on pure stands: cork oak and eucalyptus, indistinguishable in an earlier version, are now separated. Species coverage is deliberately partial and documented, filtered by climate domain and by model confidence to avoid extrapolation.
Basemap: Esri World Imagery satellite imagery. DEM: SRTM, 30 m resolution — major watersheds are extracted from this DEM. Relief and dams: Geoportail's own data. Administrative boundaries and regional division: official Morocco sources. Cities and population/household data: 2024 census (RGPH), Haut-Commissariat au Plan (HCP).