Land use and land cover changes have wide ranging impacts on the ecological regions of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains that require systematic documentation and analysis. For instance, what are the effects of agricultural expansion and loss on grassland ecoregions? What is the impact of regional population change and urbanization on land cover? What are the patterns of contemporary forest change in the United States?

Land Cover Trends Project

Land Cover Trends: Geographic Dimensions of U.S. Regional Change

Understanding these trends and their consequences depends in large part on regional analyses of land use and land cover change. The Land Cover Trends study is examining the type, geographic distribution, and rate of land cover changes for 84 United States ecoregions from 1973 to 2000 using statistical sampling and remote sensing change analysis techniques. Key human and environmental driving forces and consequences of change are also documented. Current research at the RMGSC focuses on the causes, rates, and consequences of land changes in the central U.S. and contributes to a national synthesis of land cover trends.

View Land Cover Trends Slide-show 19.6Mb

2006 National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2006) is the latest iteration of the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium’s National Land Cover Program. The Program’s goals are to inventory the land cover for the United States and monitor its condition. The NLCD 2006 is created using change detection models that compare the spectral signatures on the earth’s surface (for vegetation, impervious surface, water, etc.) between 2001 and 2006 landsat imagery. Areas of change are extracted, classified, and integrated into the NLCD 2001 to produce the NLCD 2006. RMGSC is responsible for a block of scenes that cover Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, and parts of the surrounding states. NLCD 2006 is scheduled to be completed by the end of September 2010.