The Chesapeake Bay Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) database was developed by the University of Vermont’s Spatial Analysis Laboratory in cooperation with Chesapeake Conservancy (CC) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The high-resolution land data were developed as part of a 6-year Cooperative Agreement between Chesapeake Conservancy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and a separate Interagency Agreement between the USGS and EPA to provide geospatial support to the Chesapeake Bay Program Office.
In 2022, the LULC data was released at county-scale through CC’s website. The USGS has recently published the data, which provides additional formats for users to retrieve the information.
USGS Publication of the Data
The USGS used its peer-review process so the data could be published and released on ScienceBase. ScienceBase (SB) is a digital repository and collaborative data management platform providing public access to machine readable data and metadata and is commonly used by federal agencies. While the data on the CC Website and on SB are identical, there are some differences in terms of organization, structure, and useability.
- Scale: SB has state mosaics1 of the data, while the CC Website has county-scale data
- Usability: SB data includes a data dictionary that provides a quick reference to the structure and format of the data and includes descriptions of land cover and land use and land cover classes. The data dictionary is also applicable to the county-scale data.
- Formal Publication: the data published on SB allows users to easily reference the LULC data in publications and other data products, which is: “Chesapeake Bay Program, 2023, Chesapeake Bay Land Use and Land Cover Database 2022 Edition: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P981GV1L”
Some users might be confused by the usage of “2022 Edition” in the title and absence of 2022 LC or LULC data in the data release. The 2022 Edition indicates the year of release, not the years mapped in the data release. The county-scale data on the CC website was released in May of 2022, hence the 2022 Edition. This naming scheme is borrowed from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) where editions are used to tag data release versions. In 2024, CC, UVM, and USGS will release the Chesapeake Bay Land Use and Land Cover Database 2024 Edition which will include 2013/14, 2017/18 and 2021/22 LC, LULC and their change products.
High Resolution Land Cover and Use Data in the ScienceBase release
The SB data release contains multiple datasets, including:
- 2013/2014 Land Cover (LC)
- 2017/2018 Land Cover (LC)
- 2013/2014 to 2017/2018 Land Cover Change (LCC)
- 2013/2014 Land Use and Land Cover (LULC)
- 2017/2018 Land Use and Land Cover (LULC)
- 2013/2014 to 2017/2018 Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC) and LULCC matrices
These datasets are termed “child items” in ScienceBase.
Management Applications
The USGS prepared a previous summary about the LULC data and its application in management decisions for water quality, land conservation, and habitats. Read more…. New high-resolution, land-use and change data improves decision-making in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
For More Information
Chesapeake Bay Program, 2023, Chesapeake Bay Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) Database 2022 Edition: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P981GV1L.
To learn more about ScienceBase: ScienceBase Catalog Home
Contacts
- Peter Claggett (pclaggett@usgs.gov)
- Sarah McDonald (smcdonald@usgs.gov)
- Labeeb Ahmed (lahmed@usgs.gov)
------------------
1State mosaics include only the mapped counties within or adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Maryland, Delaware, and D.C. are the only jurisdictions whose full state is mapped.
New high-resolution, land-use and change data improves decision-making in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
- Overview
The Chesapeake Bay Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) database was developed by the University of Vermont’s Spatial Analysis Laboratory in cooperation with Chesapeake Conservancy (CC) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The high-resolution land data were developed as part of a 6-year Cooperative Agreement between Chesapeake Conservancy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and a separate Interagency Agreement between the USGS and EPA to provide geospatial support to the Chesapeake Bay Program Office.
In 2022, the LULC data was released at county-scale through CC’s website. The USGS has recently published the data, which provides additional formats for users to retrieve the information.
USGS Publication of the Data
The USGS used its peer-review process so the data could be published and released on ScienceBase. ScienceBase (SB) is a digital repository and collaborative data management platform providing public access to machine readable data and metadata and is commonly used by federal agencies. While the data on the CC Website and on SB are identical, there are some differences in terms of organization, structure, and useability.
- Scale: SB has state mosaics1 of the data, while the CC Website has county-scale data
- Usability: SB data includes a data dictionary that provides a quick reference to the structure and format of the data and includes descriptions of land cover and land use and land cover classes. The data dictionary is also applicable to the county-scale data.
- Formal Publication: the data published on SB allows users to easily reference the LULC data in publications and other data products, which is: “Chesapeake Bay Program, 2023, Chesapeake Bay Land Use and Land Cover Database 2022 Edition: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P981GV1L”
Some users might be confused by the usage of “2022 Edition” in the title and absence of 2022 LC or LULC data in the data release. The 2022 Edition indicates the year of release, not the years mapped in the data release. The county-scale data on the CC website was released in May of 2022, hence the 2022 Edition. This naming scheme is borrowed from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) where editions are used to tag data release versions. In 2024, CC, UVM, and USGS will release the Chesapeake Bay Land Use and Land Cover Database 2024 Edition which will include 2013/14, 2017/18 and 2021/22 LC, LULC and their change products.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.The animation in the figure shows aerial imagery from Anne Arundel County, Maryland, collected by National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP), followed by 1-meter Chesapeake Bay Land Cover (13 classes) and Land Use/Land Cover (54 classes) data products. High Resolution Land Cover and Use Data in the ScienceBase release
The SB data release contains multiple datasets, including:
- 2013/2014 Land Cover (LC)
- 2017/2018 Land Cover (LC)
- 2013/2014 to 2017/2018 Land Cover Change (LCC)
- 2013/2014 Land Use and Land Cover (LULC)
- 2017/2018 Land Use and Land Cover (LULC)
- 2013/2014 to 2017/2018 Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC) and LULCC matrices
These datasets are termed “child items” in ScienceBase.
Management Applications
The USGS prepared a previous summary about the LULC data and its application in management decisions for water quality, land conservation, and habitats. Read more…. New high-resolution, land-use and change data improves decision-making in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
For More Information
Chesapeake Bay Program, 2023, Chesapeake Bay Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) Database 2022 Edition: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P981GV1L.
To learn more about ScienceBase: ScienceBase Catalog Home
Contacts
- Peter Claggett (pclaggett@usgs.gov)
- Sarah McDonald (smcdonald@usgs.gov)
- Labeeb Ahmed (lahmed@usgs.gov)
------------------
1State mosaics include only the mapped counties within or adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Maryland, Delaware, and D.C. are the only jurisdictions whose full state is mapped.
- Science
New high-resolution, land-use and change data improves decision-making in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Issue Informing restoration across the nearly 64,000 square miles of the Chesapeake Bay watershed is an enormous challenge that requires detailed and accessible landscape data. Among the most pressing challenges being addressed by the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnership are: → Water pollution from agriculture and animal waste, → Conversion of critical habitat like forest and marshes for new...