The Comoe-Mole land cover dataset covers an area of 40648km2 and mapped with dichotomous (8 land cover classes) level based on FAO's Land Cover Classification System (LCCS). High-resolution optical satellite imagery were used to generate dense time-series data from which the thematic land cover map was derived (2015). The map was fully verified and validated by an independent team to achieve the Copernicus Global Land Monitoring Programme's strict data quality requirements. An independent validation dataset was also collected and it is shared here. The validation dataset contains 1264 verified land cover points based on the 8 dichotomous level land cover classes. Furthermore, two predefined symbology (QGIS legend files) for the land cover and validation datasets based on FAO's LCCS is also shared here to ease the visualization of them (Dichotomous and Modular levels). Further details regarding the sites selection, mapping and validation procedures are described in the corresponding publication: Szantoi, Z., Brink, A., Lupi, A., Mannone, C., and Jaffrain, G.: Key Landscapes for Conservation Land Cover and Change Monitoring Thematic and Validation Datasets for Sub-Saharan Africa, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12-3001-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3001-2020.

Three datasets are shared here.Data format: vector (shapefile, polygon - LC datasets), vector (shapefile, point - validation dataset),Geographic Coordinate System (LC/LCC dataset): World Geodetic System 1984 (EPSG:4326) and its datum (EPSG:6326),Projected coordinate system (validation data): Africa Albers Equal Area Conic (EPSG:102022),Minimum mapping unit: 0.5-5ha.Land cover dataset attributes:[mapcode_A] - dichotomous level,[name_A] - corresponding dichotomous class name.Validation dataset attributes:[plaus2015] - dichotomous level,The naming of all attributes follow the same structure in all shapefiles - see Table 2 Dichotomous and Modular thematic land cover/use classes in the corresponding publication.