[Source: USGS] Just released, the latest edition of the nation’s most comprehensive look at land-surface conditions from coast to coast shows the extent of land cover types from forests to urban areas. The National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2011) is made available to the public by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners.
Dividing the lower 48 states into 9 billion geographic cells, the massive database provides consistent information about land conditions at regional to nationwide scales. Collected in repeated five-year cycles, NLCD data is used by resource managers and decision-makers to conduct ecosystem studies, determine spatial patterns of biodiversity, trace indications of climate change, and develop best practices in land management.
Based on Landsat satellite imagery taken in 2011, NLCD 2011 describes the land cover of each 30-meter cell of land in the conterminous United States and identifies which ones have changed since the year 2006. Nearly six such cells — each 98 feet long and wide — would fit on a football field. 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 2011 updates the previous database version, NLCD 2006.
Webinar about the release will be Tuesday, April 15, 2014, 2:00 PM Eastern Time: "New Version of the National Land Cover Database - April 4, 2014 Release”
The latest version of the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) for the conterminous United States will be publicly released on April 4, 2014. NLCD 2011 is the most up-to-date and extensive iteration of the National Land Cover Database, the definitive Landsat-based, 30-meter resolution land cover database for the Nation. NLCD 2011 products are completely integrated with those of previous versions (2001, 2006), providing a 10-year record of change for the Nation. Products include 16 classes of land cover, the percent of imperviousness in urban areas, and the percent of tree canopy cover. NLCD is constructed by the 10-member federal interagency Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium. This seminar will highlight the new features of NLCD 2011 and the related applicationsCollin Homer, 605-594-2714, homer@usgs.gov)
For more information and to download NLCD data, visit http://www.mrlc.gov/.
Please click the following link to join the webinar:
https://usgs.webex.com/usgs/j.php?ED=279876177&UID=490357047&RT=MiM3
At start time of the webinar, each location must call one of the dial-in numbers:
From the National Center in Reston, dial internally x4848
From all other USGS/DOI locations, dial 703-648-4848
From non DOI locations, dial toll free 855-547-8255
After the voice prompt, please enter the Conference Security Code 73848024 followed by the # key. You will hear a tone confirming that you have successfully joined the conference call. If you weren't successful, you will hear another voice prompt with instructions.
Both the NASS Cropland Data Layer (CDL) and the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) released new versions in early 2014. Links for download are here:
- CDL:
- Users NASS can download the 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 CDLs; the 2013 confidence layer and the 2013 cultivated layer from National Downloads (file sizes > 2gb).
- View their latest presentations in .PDF format.
- NLCD:
- The National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2011) is made available to the public by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners.
Interesting article from Wired on the recovery of forgotten images from the 1966 Lunar Orbiter 1 mission. The images were taken from a probe orbiting the moon and contain images of the surface of the moon and distant Earth including the first high resolution photographs ever taken from behind the lunar horizon of an Earthrise. The images were recovered from analog data tapes at NASA Ames and have not been seen publicly since the original data from the mission was received in the late 1960s and never at such high resolution. The historical images of Earth are now being used to fill in gaps about Earth's climate in the 1960s. For the full story click here.
Despite some not-very-flattering-but-taken-with-really-rad-tintype-photography pictures of us all, this is an interesting article that focuses on our public participation in the SNAMP project.
Check it out! http://cnr.berkeley.edu/breakthroughs/sp14/taming-sierra-flames
- Author: Shane Feirer
The California Climate Commons (http://climate.calcommons.org/) will be hosting a new version of the California Basin Characterization Model, sometimes called the BCM or Flint data (after the modelers, Lorraine and Alan Flint). The new version of the BCM is currently being processed and is planned to be hosted by California Climate Commons in the next month. Lorraine Flint discusses what's new in this dataset in the following Forum. California Climate Commons will be hosting the California model outputs initially and a Nevada dataset will be added later this year. This new dataset features 18 modeled futures; you can read the California Climate Commons article called "Why So Many Climate Models?" to find out more about them as well as learn about how to work with the large number of climate models that are available.
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