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Climate Change Database Clearinghouse: Physical - Landscape
FEDERAL AGENCIES
Organization: US Geological Survey – Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC)
Contact: n/a
Email: n/a
Web address: http://www.mrlc.gov/index.php
Database name: National Land Cover Database (NLCD)
Description: The Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium is a group of federal agencies who first joined together in 1993 (MRLC 1992) to purchase Landsat 5 imagery for the conterminous U.S. and to develop a land cover dataset called the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD 1992). In 1999, a second-generation MRLC consortium (see logos) was formed to purchase three dates of Landsat 7 imagery for the entire United States (MRLC 2001) and to coordinate the production of a comprehensive land cover database for the nation called the National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2001).
NLCD2006 update is currently being worked on : To continue monitoring the current land cover condition and updating land cover inventory, a prototype that uses spectrally normalized Landsat images and NLCD 2001 data layers is being developed. The method has been tested in five study areas-New England, Mississippi, South Dakota, Washington, and Southern California-to update NLCD to a nominal date of 2006. New developments in mapping methodology, new sources of input data, and changes in the mapping legend for the 2001 National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2001) will confound any direct comparison between NLCD 2001 and the 1992 National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD 1992). Users are cautioned that direct comparison of these two independently created land cover products is not recommended. This NLCD 1992/2001 Retrofit Land Cover Change Product was developed to offer users more accurate direct change analysis between the two products. The NLCD 1992/2001 Retrofit Land Cover Change Product uses a specially developed methodology to provide land cover change information at the Anderson Level I classification scale (Anderson et al., 1976), relying on decision tree classification of Landsat imagery from 1992 and 2001. Unchanged pixels between the two dates are coded with the NLCD 2001 Anderson Level I class code, while changed pixels are labeled with a "from-to" land cover change value (Change Code Table). Additional detail is available in the metadata included in the multizone downloadable zip file. This product is designed for regional application only and is not recommended for local scales.
STATE AGENCIES
Organization: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (VA-DCR)
Contact: David Boyd
Email: david.boyd@dcr.virginia.gov
Web address: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/land_conservation/tools02a.shtml
Database name: Virginia Conservation Lands Database
Description: The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation has developed the Commonwealth's first comprehensive, continually maintained GIS data layer for Virginia's protected conservation lands. This database includes mapped boundaries and attributes for public and certain private lands having various conservation, recreation and open-space roles. DCR's Natural Heritage Program staff was charged by the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation and the Department of Technology Planning to develop the database.
Most federal, state, regional and interstate lands are included. This includes water and park authorities, parks and undeveloped or partially-developed lands owned by localities, as well as lands owned as preserves by nonprofit conservation organizations such as The Nature Conservancy. Also included are conservation easements held by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, land trusts and others.
State resource agencies, universities, land trusts, and regional and local government will find this database invaluable for environmental, recreation and conservation planning. This database will also serve agencies with economic development interests, including such groups as the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, planning district commissions and localities. These boundaries are not intended for legal uses; no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) as to the accuracy of this data. Distribution of the data shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by DCR in the use of these data.
Organization: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (VA-DCR)
Contact: Joe Weber
Email: joseph.weber@dcr.virginia.gov
Web address: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/vclnavnla.shtml
Database name: Virginia Natural Landscape Assessment
Description: The Virginia Natural Heritage Program (VNHP) in the Department of Conservation and Recreation has developed a network of natural lands for the commonwealth of Virginia. This project, named the Virginia Natural Landscape Assessment (VaNLA), is a landscape-scale geospatial analysis for identifying, prioritizing, and linking natural lands in Virginia. Using land cover data derived from satellite imagery, the VaNLA identifies large patches of natural land with at least one hundred acres of interior cover. This interior cover, known as core area, begins one hundred meters from patch edges. Small patches with ten to ninety-nine acres of interior cover are included as habitat fragments that support landscape corridors and that may be important in localities with few large patches of natural land. For simplicity in the remainder of this document, core areas and
habitat fragments will be referred to collectively as ecological cores. Although the VaNLA is predominantly an analysis of forests, ecological cores include marshes, dunes, and beaches where these covers are abundant and exceed minimum size requirements.
The products of the VaNLA include GIS data, hardcopy and digital maps, and a report that summarizes the methodology and results and discusses potential uses of the GIS data.
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