Land Cover Trends

Land Cover Trends is a national project that describes for specific geographic areas within the conterminous United States the rates, causes, and consequences of land use and land cover change for the period 1972 to 2000. The project relies on sampling through both time and space (geographic area). The geographic areas being studied are the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Level III Ecoregions of the United States. Five time intervals-1973, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000-were selected for evaluation using manual interpretation of Landsat Multispectral Scanner, Thematic Mapper, and Thematic Mapper Plus imagery to map change. These time intervals were evaluated using a modified 11-class Anderson system for image interpretation. Once mapping is completed for an ecoregion, land cover change statistics are generated and a full descriptive change matrix is produced.

Visit the Land Cover Trends Website

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Alternative Scenario Developments on the US-Mexico Border

Using GIS and land use change research, erosion and sediment delivery prediction models are being applied in this binational watershed to develop predictions of potential dispersion downstream meant to assist city planning through the identification of areas of least minimum impact for land development. Models used in this research include the USLE, SEDMOD, SLEUTH, and AGWA.

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Remote Sensing of Global Croplands

Regionally-mapped environmental variables for the Mojave Desert

Land Cover Dataset 2006 Update, Western Region

Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project (MHDP): Impact of Past Fire Activity on Vegetation Type Conversion

Phenology Studies and Research Project

Remote Sensing of Wetland Carbon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta

Effects of Climate Change, Glacial Retreat, and Loss of Snowfield on Habitat Conditions and Wild Sheep Populations in Polar and High Mountain Ecosystems in Alaska, Far Eastern Russia, and Central Asia: A Comparative Study

Tribal Lands: Monitoring and Analysis

Geospatial Analysis of the Lower Colorado River

Geographic Research at Lake Tahoe

San Francisco Shaking: Seismic Animation of the Bay Area, 1972-2002

Dust-Emission Monitoring in the Southwest United States-Yearly Differences Related to Climatic Variability

Land Cover Trends in the Mojave Basin and Range Ecoregion

Land Surface Characterization: Land Cover Change and Drought Effects on Tribal Lands in Northern Arizona