High-Resolution Land Use and Land Cover Mapping

Fact Sheet 189-99 (November 1999)

Background

As the Nation's population grows, quantifying, monitoring, and managing land use becomes increasingly important. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a long heritage of leadership and innovation in land use and land cover (LULC) mapping that has been the model both nationally and internationally for over 20 years. At present, the USGS is producing high-resolution LULC data for several watershed and urban areas within the United States. This high-resolution LULC mapping is part of an ongoing USGS Land Cover Characterization Program (LCCP). The four components of the LCCP are global (1:2,000,000-scale), national (1:100,000-scale), urban (1:24,000-scale), and special projects (various scales and time periods). Within the urban and special project components, the USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center (RMMC) is collecting historical as well as contemporary high-resolution LULC data. RMMC's high-resolution LULC mapping builds on the heritage and success of previous USGS LULC programs and provides LULC information to meet user requirements.

Applications

The demand for large-scale LULC information has increased recently, especially in rapidly growing metropolitan areas. Many Federal, State, regional, and local planning agencies require up-to-date LULC information for various applications. These applications include modeling urban growth (fig. 1), determining land suitability for future development, monitoring how land use changes affect the environment, understanding land use patterns, and developing zoning policies concerning land use development.

Characteristics of High-Resolution LULC

The USGS requirements for collecting high-resolution LULC features include a minimum mapping unit between 2.5 and 5 acres and a minimum polygon width of 125 feet. The identification of LULC categories follows a modified Anderson classification system (Anderson 1976) developed by the RMMC (figs 2 and 3). Currently, the USGS is mapping LULC features down to level 6 of the hierarchal classification system, which contains over 75 categories. Some of the LULC categories collected include urban parks, natural grasslands, major retail, light industry, and row crops. Typically, the LULC features are collected using 1-meter resolution digital orthophoto quadrangles. Ancillary data sources, such as aerial photographs, USGS 1:24,000-scale quadrangles, and information derived in the field, are used to help enhance the interpretation and classification of the land surface features. The LULC data are compiled by 1:24,000-scale quadrangles using USGS-developed software and are later merged to form a seamless data set for each project area. Reading Reference: Anderson, James; Hardy, Ernest; Roach, John; and Witmer, Richard, 1976, A Land Use and Land Cover Classification System for Use with Remote Sensor Data: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

Figure 3. The "developed" land use category and subcategories from the modified Anderson classification system.

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Guiding Principles

• Compatible with current and past USGS programs, such as the Multi-Resolution Land Characterization and Land Use Data Programs.
• Built on partnerships
• Flexible, based on user's needs

Information

For information specific to USGS high-resolution LULC mapping, contact:

HRLC Program Manager
P.O. Box 25046, MS 509
Denver, CO 80225-0046
or
USGS Mapping Liaisons geography.usgs.gov/www/part ners/crreps.html.

For information on these and other USGS products and services, call 1-888-ASK-USGS, or visit the general interest publications Web site on mapping, geography, and related topics at erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/pubslists/.

For additional information, visit the ask.usgs.gov Web site or the USGS home page at www.usgs.gov.

Current Projects

Middle Rio Grande Basin Study:
nm.water.usgs.gov/mrg/index.htm.

Front Range Infrastructure Resources Project:
rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/frontrange.

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. This document has undergone official review and approval for publications established by the National Mapping Division, U.S. Geological Survey. Some figures have been modified or added to improve the scientific visualization of information.