By way of this email, I'm forwarding Ken's inquiry to the contact for
this press release at USGS.
Denver Makle - [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Phone: 703-648- 4732
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1633
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Land Cover Database Details State of the Land: Lower 48
described with Census-like accuracy
Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 10:26:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ken Grabach <[log in to unmask]>
To: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Previous versions of this information were distributed by CD-ROM, and made
available through GPO's depository program.
Is this version of the data to be available for free access to depository
libraries through USGS web site, or even better, distributed to depository
libraries by DVD-ROM? Many libraries have users that will want this data
for a variety of locales, and in various States, not their immediate
vicinity only.
landcover data and vegetation data are of great interest at my institution
and library.
Ken
___________________________
Ken Grabach <[log in to unmask]>
Maps Librarian Phone: 513-529-1726
Miami University Libraries
Oxford, Ohio 45056 USA
On Thu, 10 May 2007, Maps-L wrote:
> USGS - science for a changing world
>
> Land Cover Database Details State of the Land: Lower 48 described with
> Census-like accuracy
> Released: 3/19/2007
>
> The U.S. Geological Survey and the federal interagency MultiResolution
> Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC) recently announced the completion
> of a massive database that describes the land surface condition of each
> 30-meter cell of land in the conterminous United States. Nearly six such
> cells - each 98 feet long and wide - would fit on a football field. The
> 2001 National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2001) and its products are
> available at http://www.mrlc.gov/.
>
> Land cover is broadly defined as the biophysical pattern of natural
> vegetation, agriculture, and urban areas. It is shaped by both natural
> processes and human influences. NLCD 2001 data portrays 16 classes of
> land cover in the lower 48 states, the percent of tree canopy, and the
> degree of surface imperviousness in urban areas.
>
> "Just as the U.S. Census is fundamental in assessing patterns of
> national population growth, we also require an authoritative, periodic
> review of land conditions a Census of the Nation's Land Resources to
> understand how people and the land interact," said USGS Director Mark
> Myers. "The National Land Cover Database gives us that. It's a
> versatile, balanced look at the state of the land."
>
> Based on satellite imagery taken in 2001, the broad, yet precise
> database was constructed in a sixyear collaborative effort by the 11
> MLRC agencies (www.mrlc.gov). The range and accuracy of information in
> the database enables managers of public and private lands, urban
> planners, agricultural experts, and scientists with many different
> interests (for instance, climate change or invasive species) to identify
> critical characteristics of the land for a wide variety of investigations.
>
> "With a growing population of more than 300 million people and the
> challenging prospect of climate change, comprehensive information about
> the condition of our land resources becomes more and more vital," said
> Barbara Ryan, USGS Associate Director for Geography. "Land cover
> information is essential for understanding a wide variety of issues: for
> example, ecosystem status and health; spatial patterns of biodiversity;
> land use planning; and land management policy."
>
> NLCD 2001 is a second generation effort to update the Nation's land
> cover information. The first NLCD was completed in 2000 with imagery
> acquired around the year 1992. Information from NLCD 1992 has been used
> in thousands of applications in the private, public, and academic
> sectors applications that range from helping to site cell phone towers
> to tracking how diseases spread.
>
> The national consistency of NLCD information makes possible the
> sweeping, contextual analysis of national land perspectives, such as the
> Heinz Center's State of the Nation's Ecosystems, the Environmental
> Protection Agency's Draft Report on the Environment, the USGS National
> Water Quality Assessment, and the Landfire Program (a federal
> interagency program to predict and mitigate wildfire). Complete, updated
> coverage of NLCD 2001 data for Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico is
> expected to be available by December 2007.
>
> NLCD products are web enabled for download from the MRLC website at
> www.mrlc.gov. USGS is currently working with private software developers
> to create publicly available, user friendly tools that can be used to
> conduct web-based geospatial analyses of NLCD. Future nationwide updates
> of NLCD 2001 will continue to monitor land cover change across the Nation.
>
>
> Contact Information:
> U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
> Office of Communication
> 119 National Center
> Reston, VA 20192 Denver Makle - [log in to unmask]
> Phone: 703-648- 4732
>
> Collin Homer - [log in to unmask]
> Phone: 605-594-2714
>
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