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Landuse/landcover databases, produced by the authorities, are commonly used to study topics as diverse as the abandonment of agricultural land, urban sprawl or the design of green infrastructure programmes. Although data providers have issued warnings about the limits of their product, most users have not questioned the performance of these databases in terms of spatial, temporal or thematic resolution. By comparing three available databases (Corine Land Cover, LittoMOS and IPLI) on a coastal area (the Arcachon bay, in southwestern France), we demonstrate the importance of including these resolutions to validate the state and changes in land cover and land use.