Development of a 2001 National Landcover Database for the United States

Multi-Resolution Land Characterization 2001 (MRLC 2001) is a second-generation Federal consortium designed to create an updated pool of nation wide Landsat 5 and 7 imagery, and derive a second-generation National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2001). The objectives of this multi-layer, multi-source database are two fold: first to provide consistent land cover for all 50 States, and second to provide a data framework which allows flexibility in developing and applying each independent data component to a wide variety of other applications. Components in the database include the following: (1) normalized imagery for three time periods per path/row, (2) ancillary data, including a 30 m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived into slope, aspect and slope position, (3) per-pixel estimates of percent imperviousness and percent tree canopy, (4) 29 classes of land cover data derived from the imagery, ancillary data and derivatives, (5) classification rules, confidence estimates and metadata from the land cover classification. This database is now being developed using a mapping zone approach, with 66 zones in the continental United States and 23 zones in Alaska. Results from three initial mapping zones show single-pixel land cover accuracies ranging from 73-77%, imperviousness accuracies ranging from 83-91%, tree canopy accuracies ranging from 78-93% and an estimated 50% increase in mapping efficiency over previous methods. The database has now entered the production phase and is being created using extensive partnering in the Federal government with planned completion by 2006.