To parameterize land surface processes in atmospheric models, surface schemes use primary parameters derived from soil and vegetation maps. Vegetation cover can be inferred from radiometric properties in the visible and near infrared wavelengths. For this purpose, NOAA/AVHRR channels 1 and 2 were processed over Europe. Forests over Europe are first identified by thresholding the synthesis of visible reflectances. Then, the other classes of vegetation are obtained from an automatic clustering method based on temporal profiles of NDVI, using the maximum value composite method. Surface parameters are derived for each vegetation class. The impact of the new vegetation database has been assessed for the French forecast models.