MultiResolution Land Characteristics MRLC Consortium

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Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC)
Consortium

• Great Lakes Regional Data Exchange
• Land Cover / Land Use
• Chicago, IL
• April 27, 2005
• Steve Raber
• NOAA Coastal Services Center

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Outline

• MRLC Overview
• The National Land Cover Database (NLCD)
• Partners and contributions
• NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP)
• Future plans

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MRLC Consortium
History

• Formed in 1993
• Multi-agency (federal)
• Original members USGS, EPA, NOAA, USFS
• Administered by USGS EROS Data Center

Original objective To leverage resources toward
the purchase of Landsat 5 imagery for the
conterminous U.S. for use in the development
of land cover products.
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MRLC Consortium
Background 1990s

• National LC mapping programs of the 1990s
• Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) NOAA
  Coastal Services Center focus on critical
  coastal habitats
• Gap Analysis Program (GAP) National Biological
  Survey (NBS), later USGS focused on maintaining
  bio-diversity
• National Land Cover Data (NLCD) directed by USGS
  and EPA focused on comprehensive (wall-to-wall)
  mapping of the US
• Minimal cross-agency collaboration except for
  purchase of imagery
• NLCD 1992 mapping (aka MRLC 92) kicked-off
• MRLC members added in mid-1990s NASA, BLM

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MRLC Consortium
NLCD 1992

• USGS / EPA focused
• wall-to-wall land cover mapping of conterminous
  U.S.
• Minimal participation by other agencies
• Circa 1992 imagery best available (single
  scenes)
• Mapping based on EPA regions
• Traditional image processing methods
• Significant subjectivity
• Some contracts awarded
• Work completed circa 2000

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MRLC Consortium
NLCD 1992 Lessons Learned

• Successful mapping effort
• Proved wall-to-wall mapping could be accomplished
• Image archive developed
• Pre-processing refined
• Partnerships with industry fostered
• National awareness built
• Broad-based user community fostered
• Accuracy assessment conducted by EPA
• Decent results at Anderson Level 1 (70
  accurate)
• Mixed reviews from users
• Consistency and repeatability issues and concerns
• Need for better approach in future identified

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NLCD 2001
True MRLC Collaboration

• Circa 2001
• C-CAP, GAP, and NLCD all utilizing similar
  classification schemes, yet doing their own thing
• MRLC Consortium presents opportunities
• Vision to bring mapping programs into alignment
• Landsat costs at all-time low (unprecedented)
• Promising new semi-automated techniques
• Improve repeatability, consistency, and accuracy
• USGS EROS Data Center (EDC)
• Promotes vision for National Land Cover
  Database
• Partnership model to accomplish all mapping
• Other mapping programs contribute while maintain
  own identity

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MRLC / NLCD 2001
New Purpose Win / Win

• Leverage each agencys strengths
• Slight modifications to each classification
  scheme (C-CAP, GAP, NLCD)
• Work toward own objectives, while developing the
  NLCD
• Improved quality
• Adoption of new semi-automated techniques -
  maintains consistency / repeatability
• Mapping zones based on eco-regions
• Three-season imagery

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NLCD 2001
Classification Scheme

• Water
• Open Water
• Perennial Ice/Snow
• Developed
• Developed, Open Space
• Low Intensity
• Medium Intensity
• High Intensity
• Forests
• Deciduous
• Evergreen
• Mixed
• Barren(Rock/Sand/Clay)
• Non-Vascular
• Lichens
• Moss

• Shrubland
• Dwarf Shrub
• Shrub
• Grasslands/Herbaceous
• Herbaceous
• Sedge Herbaceous
• Agriculture
• Pasture/Hay
• Cultivated Crops
• Wetlands
• Woody Wetlands
• Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands

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MRLC Expanded
Partners Meeting, March 2005

• US Geological Survey (USGS)
• EDC Collin Homer, MRLC Chair
• GAP
• NAWQA
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  (NOAA)
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• US Forest Service (USFS)
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
• National Park Service (NPS)
• US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW)
• National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
• US Office of Surface Mining (OSM)

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NLCD 2001 - Status
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Capturing Coastal Changes
Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP)

• Conceived in the late 1980s
• Implemented as a NOAA program in the mid 1990s
  via grants and cooperative agreements
• Project-based mapping until 2000

Original objective To improve scientific
understanding of the linkages between coastal
wetland habitats, adjacent uplands, and living
marine resources
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C-CAP Re-tooling
Aligning with MRLC / NLCD

• 1999 -- C-CAP review identified the need to
• Leverage other national efforts
• Focus on applications customer orientation
• Standardize, create consistency, timely delivery
• 2000 -- collaborative discussions with USGS and
  MRLC
• Classification and techniques modified to
  accommodate NLCD

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C-CAP Geography
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C-CAP Classification Scheme
Focus on the Coast

• Water
• Open Water
• Perennial Ice / Snow
• Developed,
• Open Space
• Developed, Low Intensity
• Developed, Medium Intensity
• Developed, High Intensity
• Forest
• Deciduous
• Evergreen
• Mixed
• Bare Land
• Shrubland
• Dwarf Shrub
• Scrub / Shrub
• Grassland

• Wetlands
• Palustrine Forested
• Palustrine Scrub / Shrub
• Palustrine Emergent
• Estuarine Forested
• Estuarine Scrub / Shrub
• Estuarine Emergent
• Unconsolidated Shore
• Aquatic Bed
• Estuarine Aquatic Bed
• Palustrine Aquatic Bed
• Agriculture
• Cultivated land
• Pasture / Hay
• Alaska Only
• Sedge / Herbaceous
• Lichens
• Moss

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C-CAP Philosophy
Focus on the Coast

• Focus on
• Coastal habitats and resources
• Change detection and analysis
• Accuracy and quality
• Minimize duplication of effort
• Guided by user input and interactions
• Target audience resource managers and
  decision-makers
• Partnerships are critical
• Work with private industry
• Day-to-day technical mapping
• Faster, better, and more consistent

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C-CAP Status
Coastal NLCD
2004 Contracts
2005-2006 Contracts
NLCD Zones
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Looking Forward

• First priority
• Complete national baseline of land cover and
  change data, in collaboration with MRLC
• Focus on the user community / constituency
  outreach and coordination
• Develop high-resolution solutions
• Pursue regional updates every five years (with
  caveats )
• Continue integrating into broader NOAA and
  National Map initiatives

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For more information
Steve.Raber_at_noaa.gov Nate.Herold_at_noaa.gov Homer_at_us
gs.gov C-CAP www.csc.noaa.gov/landcover MRLC
www.mrlc.gov EPA (MRLC) www.epa.gov/mrlc/about