Annual NLCD Product Suite

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By Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center September 26, 2024

Annual NLCD Land Cover product

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Annual NLCD Land Cover Change product

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Annual NLCD Confidence Index product

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Annual NLCD Fractional Impervious Surface product

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Impervious Descriptor

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Annual NLCD Spectral Change Day of Year product

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Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Collection 1.2 includes a suite of six raster land use and land cover science products for the conterminous United States. It covers the period between 1985 and 2025. The Science Product User Guide contains in-depth background and documentation about the Annual NLCD product suite.

The Science Product User Guide contains in-depth background and documentation about the Annual NLCD product suite.

Citation

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 2024, Annual NLCD Collection 1 Science Products: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P94UXNTS

A graphic depicting Annual NLCD Collection 1. It displays the 6 products side by side with titles — The six different Annual NLCD science products are Land Cover, Land Cover Change, Land Cover Confidence Index, Fractional Impervious Surface, Impervious Descriptor, and Spectral Change Day of Year. Annual NLCD Collection 1 is available beginning with data from 1985. The Land Cover classes are based on a modified Anderson Level II classification system.

Annual NLCD Science Products

Land Cover (LndCov)

Depicts the predominant thematic land cover class within the mapping year with respect to broad categories of artificial or natural surface cover. Click here to learn more about the Land Cover product.

An image of the land cover classification map from the Annual NLCD — *The Annual NLCD land cover product depicts the predominant thematic land cover class within the mapping year with respect to broad categories of artificial or natural surface cover.*

Land Cover Change (LndChg)

Depicts land cover change between one product year and the next. Changes are represented in the latter year. For more information about the Landcover Change product click here.

A land cover map of change for Annual NLCD — *The Annual NLCD land cover change product shows the change between the current year’s primary land cover and the prior year’s land cover when there is a change in primary class.*

Land Cover Confidence (LndCnf)

Depicts the probability value for the land cover class derived from the classification method. To learn more about the Land Cover Confidence product click here.

An image of a confidence map for Annual NLCD — *The Annual NLCD land cover confidence product provides the level of confidence that Annual NLCD land cover class per pixel values that matches the training data*

Fractional Impervious Surface (FctImp)

Depicts the fractional surface area of the map unit (pixel) that is covered with artificial substrate or structures. Click here for more information about the Fractional Impervious Surface product.

an image of the annual NLCD fractional surface area. — *The Annual NLCD fractional impervious surface product depicts the fractional surface area of the map unit (pixel) that is covered with artificial substrate or structures.*

Impervious Descriptor (ImpDsc)

Depicts categorical data for developed land cover distinguishing roads from urban-non-road. For more information about the Impervious Descriptor product click here.

An image of the Impervious Descriptor map for the Annual NLCD — *The Annual NLCD impervious descriptor product generates a raster layer that differentiates between urban and road surfaces.*

Spectral Change Day of Year (SpcChg)

Depicts the day-of-year (DOY) on which a significant deviation in Landsat surface reflectance was detected within the calendar year. More information about the Spectral Change of Year product can be found here.

An image of where there was spectral change occurred in the imagery for Annual NLCD — *The Annual NLCD spectral change day of year product depicts the day-of-year (DOY) on which a significant deviation in Landsat surface reflectance was detected within the calendar year.*

A map of the United States with shades of browns, greens and blues and small splotches of reds

Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Collection 1.2 map

Map of the United States with a variety of colors, including shades of brown, blue, green and red

Annual NLCD Land Cover Change product

Map of the United States covered in shades of black and gray

Annual NLCD Land Cover Confidence product

A map of the United States in black with some reddish splotches

Annual NLCD map of Fractional Impervious Surface

A black map of the United States with greenish splotches all over it

Annual NLCD Impervious Surface Descriptor Product

A map of the United States in mostly black with some gray areas

Annual NLCD Spectral Change Day of Year across the United States

The images above show the Annual NLCD products (top from right) Land Cover, Land Cover Change, Land Cover Confidence Index, (bottom from right) Fractional Impervious Surface, Impervious Descriptor, and Spectral Change Day of Year for the lower 48 states.

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