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Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 10:41:42 -0700
From: Jennifer Stone Muilenburg <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Fw: New National Land Cover Dataset Now Available
Sender: Jennifer Stone Muilenburg <[log in to unmask]>


FYI -- the Eastern half of the US is done, with the rest due in 6 months...

> NEWS RELEASE
>
>
> U.S. Department of the Interior
> U.S. Geological Survey
> 119 National Center
> Reston VA, 20192
>
> Contact:  Karen Wood, 703-648-4447, [log in to unmask]
>        Nick Van Driel, 605-594-6007, [log in to unmask]
>
> For release:  October 4, 2000
>
>
> New National Land Cover Dataset Now Available
>
>
>
> The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection
>
> Agency (EPA) have teamed up to compile the first seamless National Land
>
> Cover Dataset (NLCD) using satellite imagery for the conterminous United
>
> States.  At 30-meter resolution, the NLCD is the most detailed land cover
>
> information ever compiled at a national level. The new CD-ROMs include
data
>
> for the states east of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.  Data for the
>
> remaining states will be available within the next six months.
>
> The first eight CD's of a planned 31-volume disc set contains 21
categories
> of land cover information across the lower 48 states.  These data are used
> in a variety of national and regional applications, including watershed
> management, environmental inventories, transportation modeling and land
> management.
>
> "Many federal, state, and local agencies rely on land cover data in making
> critical decisions related to managing natural resources," said USGS
> associate director for geography Barbara Ryan.  "Land cover has changed
> considerably since the last data set was developed in the 1970's, and it's
> important to provide resource managers with the most up-to-date
information
> available."
>
> The release of the CD's is the culmination of a five-year effort by the
> USGS, EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the
U.S.
> Forest Service to purchase and analyze the necessary Landsat satellite
> Thematic Mapper imagery used in the NLCD.   Scientists at the USGS used a
> variety of supporting information in addition to the satellite data,
> including topography, census, agricultural statistics, soil
> characteristics, other land cover maps, and wetlands data to determine and
> label the land cover type for each 30-meter pixel. This imagery database
is
> also being used by the partner organizations for their own programs.
>
> The NLCD was designed to be compatible with the earlier Land Use/Land
Cover
> data set compiled from 1970's and 1980's aerial photography.  The data
from
> these two time periods provide an opportunity to investigate the land
cover
> change in the United States over the last 30 years.  The experience gained
> from this mapping effort will be used to improve the next-generation
> national land cover data set, which will use Landsat-7 data collected over
> the next three years.
>
> The CD-ROMs can be ordered from Customer Services at the USGS EROS Data
> Center (605-594-6151; email [log in to unmask]; FAX
> 605-594-6589), contact any other USGS Earth Science Information Center or
> order online from this address:
> http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/programs/lccp/mrlcreg.html.   For more
> information about the NLCD and the USGS Land Cover Characterization
> Program, please visit: http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/programs/lccp
>
>
> As the Nation's largest water, earth and biological science and civilian
> mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2,000
> organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial scientific
> information to resource managers, planners and other customers. This
> information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the
> loss of life and property from natural disasters, to contribute to the
> sound conservation and economic and physical development of the Nation's
> natural resources, and to enhance the quality of life by monitoring water,
> biological, energy, and mineral resources.
>
>                              * * * USGS * * *
>
> In-depth information about USGS programs may be found on the USGS home
page
> at . To receive the latest USGS news releases automatically by e-mail,
send
> a request to . Specify the listserver(s) of interest from the following
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>
>
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