Land Use / Land Cover Data Sources:                       (updated 2/17/04)

National Land Cover Characterization Project (USGS NLCC Project)

NLCC Project Links:Shim

NewMulti-Resolution Land Characterization 2001 The Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium is a group of federal agencies who first joined together in 1993 (MRLC 1992) to purchase Landsat 5 imagery for the conterminous U.S. and to develop a land cover dataset called the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD 1992). In 1999, a second-generation MRLC consortium (see logos) was formed to purchase three dates of Landsat 7 imagery for the entire United States (MRLC 2001) and to coordinate the production of a comprehensive land cover database for the nation called NLCD 2001.

National Land Cover Data 2001 The USGS National Land Cover Characterization 2001 project will compile land cover data (NLCD 2001) across all 50 states and Puerto Rico using Landsat 7 ETM+ data. NLCD 2001 is a cooperative effort involving several Federal agencies: USGS, EPA, USFS, and NOAA. The key component of this land-cover mapping effort is a database approach, which provides flexibility in developing and applying suites of independent data layers. These independent standardized data layers or themes, will be useful not only within the land-cover classification but as data components for other applications.

Selected major improvements in methodology include:

  1. Identification of optimal early, peak and late Landsat TM scene acquisitions for each path/row based on AVHRR seasonal averages.
  2. Regional mapping using land cover friendly mapping zones.
  3. Development of imperviousness estimates from TM imagery. 
  4. Development of tree canopy estimates from TM imagery. 
  5. Development of image processing rules coupled with ancillary data as needed to classify Landsat data into land cover. 
  6. Comprehensive accuracy assessments of the land cover data and related components. 

The production of NLCD 2001 will be implemented in a phased approach using the mapping regions developed by USGS. The full database will be developed initially in two pilot-mapping zones in the mid-Atlantic region (zone 60) and the western Rocky mountains (zone 16). Results from the pilot regions will initially test the utility, practicality and affordability of the methods described. Full production development is anticipated to begin in 2002, with completion targeted for 2004.

National Land Cover Data 1992: Information and Downloads Derived from the early to mid-1990s Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data, the National Land Cover Data (NLCD) is a 21-class land cover classification scheme applied consistently over the United States. The spatial resolution of the data is 30 meters and mapped in the Albers Conic Equal Area projection, NAD 83. The NLCD are provided on a state-by-state basis. The state data sets were cut out from larger "regional" data sets that are mosaics of Landsat TM scenes. At this time, all of the NLCD state files are available for free download as 8-bit binary files and some states are also available on CD-ROM as a Geo-TIFF.

 

NLCD 1992 data can also be downloaded from Seamless Data Server (100MB limit) at  http://seamless.usgs.gov/

Virginia NLCD 2001: The eastern 1/3 of Virginia is part of mapping zone 60 which is available on the USGS seamless data server website.

At this time, that is the only part of Virginia that is available.    Please see/monitor the following site for updates on NLCD 2001 status:

http://www.mrlc.gov/nlcd_overall_status.asp

 

Data Set Information found at seamless.usgs.gov:

§        National Elevation Dataset (NED) The USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED) has been developed by merging the highest-resolution, best-quality elevation data available across the United States into a seamless raster format. NED is the result of the maturation of the USGS effort to provide 1:24,000-scale Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data for the conterminous US and 1:63,360-scale DEM data for Alaska.

§        National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) 1992 described above

§        Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Under agreement with NASA, the USGS EROS Data Center distributes and archives SRTM data in accordance with a joint partnership Memorandum of Understanding between NASA and NIMA (July, 2002).

§        Urban Areas High-Resolution Orthoimagery

§        MODIS NDVI Direct Broadcast

NLCD Land Cover Class Definitions

The classification system used for NLCD is modified from the Anderson land-use and land-cover classification system. Many of the Anderson classes, especially the Level III classes, are best derived using aerial photography.  It is not appropriate to attempt to derive some of these classes using Landsat TM data due to issues of spatial resolution and interpretability of data.  Thus, no attempt was made to derive classes that were extremely difficult or “impractical” to obtain using Landsat TM data, such as the Level III urban classes. In addition, some Anderson Level II classes were consolidated into a single NLCD class.

Water

11 Open Water
12 Perennial Ice/Snow

 

Developed

21 Low Intensity Residential
22 High Intensity Residential
23 Commercial/Industrial/Transportation

 

Barren

31 Bare Rock/Sand/Clay
32 Quarries/Strip Mines/Gravel Pits
33 Transitional

Forested Upland

41 Deciduous Forest
42 Evergreen Forest
43 Mixed Forest

 

Shrubland

51 Shrubland

Non-Natural Woody

61 Orchards/Vineyards/Other

 

 

Herbaceous Upland Natural/Semi-natural Vegetation

71 Grasslands/Herbaceous




Herbaceous Planted/Cultivated

81 Pasture/Hay
82 Row Crops
83 Small Grains
84 Fallow
85 Urban/Recreational Grasses

 

Wetlands

91 Woody Wetlands
92 Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands

 

Some similarities and differences between Anderson and NLCD systems are as follows:

Urban or built-up classes: Commercial, Industrial, Transportation, and Communications/Utilities (all separate Anderson Level II classes) were treated as one NLCD class (Commercial/Industrial/Transportation). No attempt was made to derive Anderson Level III classes in NLCD. “Recreational” grasses, such as those that occur in golf courses or parks (treated as an urban class by Anderson) are considered to be a non-urban class in NLCD (a subdivision of “Herbaceous Planted/Cultivated). Residential (an Anderson Level II class) was divided into Low and High Intensity classes in NLCD.

Water: Anderson Level II Water classes (Streams/Canals, Lakes/Ponds, Reservoirs, Bays, Open Marine) were classed as a single class (Open Water) in NLCD.

Agriculture: Agricultural areas that are herbaceous in nature (Cropland and Pasture; Anderson Level II) are subdivided into four NLCD classes: Pasture/Hay, Row Crops, Small Grains and Fallow.

Rangeland: No rangeland class (Anderson Level I) is identified by NLCD. Rather, “rangeland” is subdivided by NLCD into Grasslands/Herbaceous and Shrubland classes.

Forest land: Evergreen Forest, Deciduous Forest and Mixed Forest are the same in both Anderson and NLCD. Clearcut and burned areas are classed as “Transitional Bare” areas in NLCD.

Wetlands: Two classes are defined by NLCD. These are Woody wetlands and Emergent/Herbaceous wetlands. These are very analogous to the Anderson Level II wetland classes.

Bare: Three NLCD classes are recognized. These are: Bare Rock/Sand Clay, Quarries/Strip Mines/Gravel Pits and Transitional Bare. These represent a consolidation of Anderson Level II classes.

Tundra: While “tundra” is treated as a distinct Anderson Level I class, tundra (including arctic/alpine vegetation) is considered to be either “Grasslands/Herbaceous” or “Shrubland” classes by NLCD.

 

Land Use/Land Cover and other data (EPA’s BASINS 3.0)

http://www.epa.gov/OST/BASINS/

Spatially Distributed Data  http://www.epa.gov/OST/BASINS/metadata.htm

 

Description: GIRAS Landuse/Landcover data for the Conterminous United States by quadrangles at scale 1:250,000

 

This is land use/land cover digital data collected by USGS and converted to ARC/INFO by the EPA. This data is useful for environmental assessment of land use patterns with respect to water quality analysis, growth management, and other types of environmental impact assessment. Use may be limited due to currency.

Each quadrangle of land use data has a different representative date. Date ranges from mid 1970s to early 1980s are common. When joined together these quadrangles will not likely match along edges due to differences in interpretation and time coverage. Edges of each map file were manually digitized and may not join neighboring maps. If GIRASNEAT program has been applied (see LOG at end) then edges have been mathematically recalculated to join without overlap or gaps in coverage with adjacent maps.

The GIRAS series can include several themes of spatial data. The most common, described here, is the land use and land cover data. Land use was mapped and coded using the Anderson classification system (Anderson others,1976) which is a hierarchical system of general (level 1) to more specific (level 2) characterization. Some agencies have taken this to a level 3 classification -- but this has not been done in the GIRAS series.

The Anderson land use codes are:

 1 Urban or built-up land

                         11 Residential

                         12 Commercial and services

                         13 Industrial

                         14 Transportation, communication, utilities

                         15 Industrial and commercial complexes

                         16 Mixed urban or built-up land

                         17 Other urban or built-up land

 2 Agricultural land

                         21 Cropland and pasture

                         22 Orchards, groves, vineyards, nurseries, and ornamental horticultural

                         23 Confined feeeding operations

                         24 Other agricultural land

 3 Rangeland

                         31 Herbaceous rangeland

                         32 Shrub and brush rangeland

                         33 Mixed rangeland

 4 Forest land

                         41 Deciduous forest land

                         42 Evergreen forest land

                         43 Mixed forest land

 5 Water

                         51 Streams and canals

                         52 Lakes

                         53 Reservoirs

                         54 Bays and estuaries

 6 Wetland

                         61 Forested wetland

                         62 Nonforested wetland

 7 Barren land

                         71 Dry salt flats

                         72 Beaches

                         73 Sandy areas not beaches

                         74 Bare exposed rock

                         75 Strip mines, quarries, gravel pits

                         76 Transitional areas

 8 Tundra

                         81 Shrub and brush tundra

                         82 Herbaceous tundra

                         83 Bare ground

                         84 Wet tundra

                         85 Mixed tundra

 9 Perennial snow or ice

                         91 Perennial snowfields

                         92 Glaciers

 

Other Spatial Data Links

USGS National Mapping Information:

http://mapping.usgs.gov

 

Earth Resources Observation Systmes (EROS) Data Center:

http://edc.usgs.gov   The world's leading source of land information for exploring our changing planet.

 

USGS/EPA National Hydrography Dataset:

http://nhd.usgs.gov   The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a comprehensive set of digital spatial data that contains information about surface water features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, springs and wells. Within the NHD, surface water features are combined to form "reaches," which provide the framework for linking water-related data to the NHD surface water drainage network. These linkages enable the analysis and display of these water-related data in upstream and downstream order.  The NHD is based upon the content of USGS Digital Line Graph (DLG) hydrography data integrated with reach-related information from the EPA Reach File Version 3 (RF3). The NHD supersedes DLG and RF3 by incorporating them, not by replacing them. Users of DLG or RF3 will find the National Hydrography Dataset both familiar and greatly expanded and refined.  While initially based on 1:100,000-scale data, the NHD is designed to incorporate and encourage the development of higher resolution data required by many users.  Projected in decimal degrees cast upon the NAD83.

 

Soils data:            

[STATSGO Data Access]

www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/stat_data.html  State Soil Geographic Database (STATSGO) State general soil maps made by generalizing the detailed soil survey data. The level of mapping is designed to be used for broad planning and management uses covering state, regional, and multi-state areas. STATSGO data are designed for use in a Geographic Information System (GIS).  STATSGO data are available in the USGS Digital Line Graph (DLG-3) optional distribution format. NRCS soil map symbols are not normally carried within the DLG-3 file; however, these map symbols are made available as a unique ASCII file when NRCS soils data are distributed in the DLG-3 format. STATSGO data are also available in ArcInfo 7.0 coverage and GRASS 4.13 vector formats.

 

[SSURGO Data Access]

www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/ssur_data.html  Field mapping methods using national standards are used to construct the soil maps in the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) data base. Mapping scales generally range from 1:12,000 to 1:63,360; SSURGO is the most detailed level of soil mapping done by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). SSURGO digitizing duplicates the original soil survey maps. This level of mapping is designed for use by landowners, townships, and county natural resource planning and management. The user should be knowledgeable of soils data and their characteristics.

Virginia Economic Development Partnership

   Virginia Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quadrangles (DOQQs) and Information Exchange

 

 

The GIS Center at Radford University

 

http://www.radford.edu/~geoserve/main_page.html

Radford University makes available a number of spatial data sources covering Virginia and some surrounding states. 
  USGS 7.5' Digital Raster Graphics (DRGs) for Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (UTM18, NAD27)

  Digital Ortho Quarter Quads (in cooperation with Virginia Economic Development Partnership) (UTM18, NAD83)

  Trimble GPS Differential Error Correction Data from RU's GPS Base Station

  Links to Spatial Data available on the Internet

  Merged 7.5' DEMs (1:24,000) for many counties and cities in Virginia. Press the "County Digital Elevation Model" button to find out more (November 2003)

 

 

Virginia GAP Land Data

http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/www/vagap/frames.html

 

  • Originator: Conservation Management Institute, 203 West Roanoke Street, Blacksburg, VA
  • Description: ArcInfo grid of land cover clipped to the State boundary.
  • Purpose: The goal of VA-GAP is to provide the habitat, species, and land management information necessary to protect biodiversity in Virginia.  The project examines and identifies the terrestrial wildlife species that are currently protected by the existing reserve systems in Virginia.  What remains are the species and habitats not found on public lands or preserves.  These are "gaps" and, once identified, can be protected.
  • The specific products of the VA-GAP include:
    1. A digital land cover/land use map based on Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite imagery and other ancillary data sources. 
    2. Maps of predicted species distributions for over 600 species.
    3. A stewardship map showing land ownership and levels of biodiversity protection on public land.
  • Calendar Date: 1999
  • Supplemental_Information: grid has 26 classes of land use/land cover along with some sub-classes not used in VAGAP (see VAGAP final report).  Data is available in both 1:100k sets or statewide.   Land cover data is provided in ERDAS format (LAN) and Stewardship data in ArcView shapefile.  Datasets must be assigned a projection of UTM Zone 17N, NAD 1927.  Each layer has an associated key that explains classifications, methods, and contains an ArcView legend (AVL) file that can be used with the data.

VA GAP Land Cover III Map Key:

Montane Mesic Conifer (code 1)

Montane Xeric Conifer (code 2)

Red Spruce/Fraser Fir (code 3)

Submontane Yellow Pine (code 4)

Submontane Oak Dominated (code 5)

Montane Oak Dominated (code 7)

Dry Oak Dominated (code 8)

Mixed Central Hardwoods (code 9)

Riparian Forest (code 11)

Tupelo/Red Maple Wet Forests (code 13)

Red Cedar Woodlands (code 18)

Mixed Herbaceous (code 30)

Sparse Herbaceous/Row Crop (code 31)

Field (code 36)

Pasture (code 38)

Open Water (code 40)

Non-vegetated (code 50)

High Intensity Disturbed/Urban (code 51, 53)

Low Intensity Disturbed/Residential (code 52)

Recent Clearcut (code 56)

Wetland (code 60)

Herbaceous Wetland (code 61, 62)

Coastal Shrub (code 63)

Forested Wetland (code 64)

Mixed-Pixel/Unknown (code 99)

Piedmont/Coastal Plain Forest Complex (code 100 - 106)

Montane Dry Deciduous Forest Complex (code 111, 113)

Montane Mesic Deciduous Forest Complex (code 112)

Virginia Hardwood Complex (code 210 - 220, 231)

Mid-Atlantic RESAC (Regional Earth Science Applications Center)

http://www.geog.umd.edu/resac/

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Earth Science Applications Center (RESAC) is one of 7 regional centers funded by NASA's Earth Science Applications Program. The Mid-Atlantic RESAC leverages the UMD Geography Department's expertise in satellite remote sensing and the work of a diverse consortium of 36 partners in Government, Academia, Industry and NGOs to address applications of regional significance.

·         Land Cover Mapping

·         Ecosystem Modeling

·         Planning and Urban Growth

·         Integrated Monitoring

·         Outreach

 

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