About Annual NLCD
Improving information on the characteristics of land cover, understanding the basic drivers of change, and identifying of potential consequences of change on human and natural systems can empower greater insight into the impacts and feedback of human activity, climate change, and other drivers. To meet its needs, the geospatial community has called for a new generation of monitoring data and information as input for many applications. Land use land cover (LULC) and land change products need to span larger geographic extents, over longer time periods, at higher spatial resolutions, and provide more systematic and consistent information on change than ever before. To help meet growing user demands, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has developed the Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Collection 1.0 Science Products.
Annual NLCD Objectives:
- Perform annual monitoring of national land cover and land change (historic and current)
- Create, validate, and distribute map products
- Establish provenance and documentation, transparency, and openness
- Use continuous R&D to enhance change detection, augment classification, reduce latency, and add improvements
- Assess causes and consequences of change through time (assessments, projections)
Legacy NLCD:
Since 1992, the NLCD has characterized land cover and land cover change nationwide through processing the Landsat satellite record of the Earth. Legacy NLCD provides data at 30-meter spatial resolution, spatial reference, and descriptive data for characteristics of the land surface such as thematic class (e.g., urban, agriculture, and forest), percent impervious surface, and percent tree canopy cover. In earlier releases, NLCD has included map products across nine epochs from 2001 to 2021 (2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021). Learn more about the history of NLCD.
New Collection of Annual NLCD Products:
Scientists at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center have developed an integrated science framework to deliver annual land cover and land-cover change products with similar spatial and thematic characteristics as legacy, multi-year USGS LULC products. To provide the most relevant land cover and land cover change information for the Nation, mapped land cover (and derived products) should involve regular repeated production, updating and improvement based on robust research, and validation of land cover and land cover change.
Annual NLCD involves a new methodology using an ensemble of chained deep learning models and harmonic time series analysis. This method supports the creation of validated annual land cover and related products crossing nearly 4 decades and updated on an annual basis. Starting in 2024, USGS is producing an annual record of land cover and fractional impervious surface for the conterminous U.S. initially covering the period from 1985 to 2023. An annual update frequency is planned to be rolled out in 2025. Products for other regions, such as Alaska and Hawaii, will follow in future years.
2023 Annual NLCD Poster
Download the 2023 Annual NLCD poster!
Annual NLCD Characteristics, Constraints, and Caveats
To learn more about the specific artifacts that were discovered in the review of the Annual NLCD, please click here on the link.
Back to the Annual NLCD landing page.
Related Information
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The New Annual (1985-2023) National Land Cover Database: Improving on a 30-Year Legacy
This video is a recording of a previous webinar entitled: “The New Annual (1985-2023) National Land Cover Database: Improving on a 30-year Legacy.” This webinar was recorded on October 24, 2024 at the USGS EROS. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center maintains one of the largest civilian collection of images of the Earth’s land surface. At...
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USGS Releases New Products that Map Four Decades of Land Cover Change
RESTON, Va. — The U.S. Geological Survey today released a newly updated and improved National Land Cover Database, known as Annual NLCD, which offers insights into the changing characteristics of landscapes across the conterminous United States from 1985 to 2023.USGS Reinvents Widely Used NLCD
On your next drive, really look at what covers the landscape: Sprawling housing developments? Crowded skyscrapers? Parking lots? Farm fields? Forests? Rivers? The USGS has led the way in accurately mapping this land cover across the country with the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) for more than two decades. Now NLCD debuts big improvements under a new name: Annual NLCD.Eyes on Earth Episode 126 – Annual NLCD
The next generation of USGS land cover mapping is here. Annual NLCD provides land cover data of the U.S. every year back to 1985.Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Collection 1 Products
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)’s Land Cover program has leveraged methodologies from legacy land cover projects - National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) - together with modern innovations in geospatial deep learning technologies to create the next generation of land cover and land change information. The product suite is...Annual NLCD Assessment: Phosphate Mining and Land Cover Change
Populations around the world are increasing (US Census Bureau, 2023). As agriculture tries to keep up with feeding this growing population, the use of phosphate fertilizers has risen (FAO, 2019). Phosphorus is a nutrient required for plant growth, and there is no substitute.NLCD’s Path from Early Landscape Snapshot to Decades of Change
The widely used National Land Cover Database (NLCD) has long been the foundational land cover source for scientists, resource managers, and decision-makers across the United States, trusted for its accurate and unbiased data. Here, we’re exploring the evolution of NLCD through its reinvention this year as Annual NLCD.
Improving information on the characteristics of land cover, understanding the basic drivers of change, and identifying of potential consequences of change on human and natural systems can empower greater insight into the impacts and feedback of human activity, climate change, and other drivers. To meet its needs, the geospatial community has called for a new generation of monitoring data and information as input for many applications. Land use land cover (LULC) and land change products need to span larger geographic extents, over longer time periods, at higher spatial resolutions, and provide more systematic and consistent information on change than ever before. To help meet growing user demands, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has developed the Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Collection 1.0 Science Products.
Annual NLCD Objectives:
- Perform annual monitoring of national land cover and land change (historic and current)
- Create, validate, and distribute map products
- Establish provenance and documentation, transparency, and openness
- Use continuous R&D to enhance change detection, augment classification, reduce latency, and add improvements
- Assess causes and consequences of change through time (assessments, projections)
Legacy NLCD:
Since 1992, the NLCD has characterized land cover and land cover change nationwide through processing the Landsat satellite record of the Earth. Legacy NLCD provides data at 30-meter spatial resolution, spatial reference, and descriptive data for characteristics of the land surface such as thematic class (e.g., urban, agriculture, and forest), percent impervious surface, and percent tree canopy cover. In earlier releases, NLCD has included map products across nine epochs from 2001 to 2021 (2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021). Learn more about the history of NLCD.
New Collection of Annual NLCD Products:
Scientists at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center have developed an integrated science framework to deliver annual land cover and land-cover change products with similar spatial and thematic characteristics as legacy, multi-year USGS LULC products. To provide the most relevant land cover and land cover change information for the Nation, mapped land cover (and derived products) should involve regular repeated production, updating and improvement based on robust research, and validation of land cover and land cover change.
Annual NLCD involves a new methodology using an ensemble of chained deep learning models and harmonic time series analysis. This method supports the creation of validated annual land cover and related products crossing nearly 4 decades and updated on an annual basis. Starting in 2024, USGS is producing an annual record of land cover and fractional impervious surface for the conterminous U.S. initially covering the period from 1985 to 2023. An annual update frequency is planned to be rolled out in 2025. Products for other regions, such as Alaska and Hawaii, will follow in future years.
2023 Annual NLCD Poster
Download the 2023 Annual NLCD poster!
Annual NLCD Characteristics, Constraints, and Caveats
To learn more about the specific artifacts that were discovered in the review of the Annual NLCD, please click here on the link.
Back to the Annual NLCD landing page.
Related Information
-
-
The New Annual (1985-2023) National Land Cover Database: Improving on a 30-Year Legacy
This video is a recording of a previous webinar entitled: “The New Annual (1985-2023) National Land Cover Database: Improving on a 30-year Legacy.” This webinar was recorded on October 24, 2024 at the USGS EROS. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center maintains one of the largest civilian collection of images of the Earth’s land surface. At...
-
-
USGS Releases New Products that Map Four Decades of Land Cover Change
RESTON, Va. — The U.S. Geological Survey today released a newly updated and improved National Land Cover Database, known as Annual NLCD, which offers insights into the changing characteristics of landscapes across the conterminous United States from 1985 to 2023.USGS Reinvents Widely Used NLCD
On your next drive, really look at what covers the landscape: Sprawling housing developments? Crowded skyscrapers? Parking lots? Farm fields? Forests? Rivers? The USGS has led the way in accurately mapping this land cover across the country with the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) for more than two decades. Now NLCD debuts big improvements under a new name: Annual NLCD.Eyes on Earth Episode 126 – Annual NLCD
The next generation of USGS land cover mapping is here. Annual NLCD provides land cover data of the U.S. every year back to 1985.Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Collection 1 Products
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)’s Land Cover program has leveraged methodologies from legacy land cover projects - National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) - together with modern innovations in geospatial deep learning technologies to create the next generation of land cover and land change information. The product suite is...Annual NLCD Assessment: Phosphate Mining and Land Cover Change
Populations around the world are increasing (US Census Bureau, 2023). As agriculture tries to keep up with feeding this growing population, the use of phosphate fertilizers has risen (FAO, 2019). Phosphorus is a nutrient required for plant growth, and there is no substitute.NLCD’s Path from Early Landscape Snapshot to Decades of Change
The widely used National Land Cover Database (NLCD) has long been the foundational land cover source for scientists, resource managers, and decision-makers across the United States, trusted for its accurate and unbiased data. Here, we’re exploring the evolution of NLCD through its reinvention this year as Annual NLCD.