The Value of Land Cover Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection Collection 1 Science Products for Applications in Land Cover Science

Abstract:

The Land Cover Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) initiative by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed a suite of ten validated 30-m annual land cover change Science Products for the years 1985-2017 (Collection 1), now publicly available (https://www.usgs.gov/land-resources/eros/lcmap/lcmap-data-access). U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) were modeled with a modified version of the Continuous Change Detection and Classification algorithm developed by Zhu and Woodcock (2014), and model derivatives enable land surface change detection and land cover classification for the conterminous United States. The suite of LCMAP Science Products Collection 1 includes land cover classifications and associated model confidence, as well as spectral change information relating to landscape condition or changes in cover. From a land cover science perspective, these data offer a temporal and spatial dimension not currently available from other datasets, providing annual data for 33 years, as well as daily derivatives. The USGS is currently developing LCMAP products for Hawaii and Alaska, as well as annual updates to Collection 1 products. LCMAP will use feedback from the user community to improve future products, data and information delivery, and monitoring capabilities. Planned enhancements include cloud-based data access.