The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has developed and released five National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products over the past two decades: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016. U.S. EPA leads the accuracy assessment of NLCD land cover products in coordination with USGS and SUNY-ESF. The posted dataset includes map labels and reference labels for 4629 sample locations (pixels) from the NLCD 2016 database. The sample pixels were selected using a stratified random design based on the dual 2011 – 2016 map labels. The data can be used to re-create the accuracy results reported in a forthcoming paper and in support of other applications. Accuracy results are reported for the 2011 and 2016 land cover products in the NLCD2016 database and for selected 2011-2006 changes.

Using survey statistics, reference land cover data to compare to mapped land cover data for development of data quality and its evaluation. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Wickham, J., S. Stehman, D. Sorenson, L. Gass, and J. Dewitz. Thematic accuracy assessment of the NLCD 2019 land cover for the conterminous United States. GIScience and Remote Sensing. Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK, 60(1): 2181143, (2023).

This is a dataset download, not a document. The Open button will start the download.This data layer is an element of the Oregon GIS Framework and has been clipped to the Oregon boundary and reprojected to Oregon Lambert (2992). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has developed and released four National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products over the past two decades: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011. These products provide spatially explicit and reliable information on the Nation’s land cover and land cover change. To continue the legacy of NLCD and further establish a long-term monitoring capability for the Nation’s land resources, the USGS has designed a new generation of NLCD products named NLCD 2016. The NLCD 2016 design aims to provide innovative, consistent, and robust methodologies for production of a multi-temporal land cover and land cover change database from 2001 to 2016 at 2–3-year intervals. Comprehensive research was conducted and resulted in developed strategies for NLCD 2016: a streamlined process for assembling and preprocessing Landsat imagery and geospatial ancillary datasets; a multi-source integrated training data development and decision-tree based land cover classifications; a temporally, spectrally, and spatially integrated land cover change analysis strategy; a hierarchical theme-based post-classification and integration protocol for generating land cover and change products; a continuous fields biophysical parameters modeling method; and an automated scripted operational system for the NLCD 2016 production. The performance of the developed strategies and methods were tested in twenty World Reference System-2 path/row throughout the conterminous U.S. An overall agreement ranging from 71% to 97% between land cover classification and reference data was achieved for all tested area and all years. Results from this study confirm the robustness of this comprehensive and highly automated procedure for NLCD 2016 operational mapping. Questions about the NLCD 2016 land cover product can be directed to the NLCD 2016 land cover mapping team at USGS EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov. See included spatial metadata for more details.

The National Land Cover Database 2011 (NLCD2011) USFS percent tree canopy product was produced through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium (www.mrlc.gov). The MRLC Consortium is a partnership of federal agencies, consisting of the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, NASA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. One of the primary goals of the project was to generate current, consistent, and seamless national land cover, percent tree canopy, and percent impervious cover at medium spatial resolution. This product is the cartographic version of the NLCD2011 percent tree canopy cover dataset for CONUS at medium spatial resolution (30 m). It was pro ...

Accuracy assessment is a standard protocol of National Land Cover Database (NLCD) mapping. Here we report agreement statistics between map and reference labels for NLCD 2011, which includes land cover for 2001, 2006, and 2011. The two main objectives were assessment of agreement between map and reference labels for the three, single-date NLCD land cover products at Level II and Level I of the classification hierarchy, and agreement for 17 land cover change themes based on Level I classes (e.g., forest loss; forest gain; forest, no change) for three change periods (2001–2006, 2006–2011, and 2001–2011). The single-date overall accuracies were 82%, 83%, and 83% at Level II and 88%, 89%, and 89% at Level I for 2011, 2006, and 2001, respectively. Overall accuracies for 2006 and 2001 land cover components of NLCD 2011 were approximately 4% higher (at Level II and Level I) than the overall accuracies for the same components of NLCD 2006. User's accuracies were high for the no change repo ...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has developed and released four National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products over the past two decades: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011. These products provide spatially explicit and reliable information on the Nation’s land cover and land cover change. To continue the legacy of NLCD and further establish a long-term monitoring capability for the Nation’s land resources, the USGS has designed a new generation of NLCD products named NLCD 2016. The NLCD 2016 design aims to provide innovative, consistent, and robust methodologies for production of a multi-temporal land cover and land cover change database from 2001 to 2016 at 2–3-year intervals. Comprehensive research was conducted and resulted in developed strategies for NLCD 2016: a streamlined process for assembling and preprocessing Landsat imagery and geospatial ancillary datasets; a multi-source integrated training data development and decision-tree based land cover classifications; a temporally, spectrally, and spatially integrated land cover change analysis strategy; a hierarchical theme-based post-classification and integration protocol for generating land cover and change products; a continuous fields biophysical parameters modeling method; and an automated scripted operational system for the NLCD 2016 production. The performance of the developed strategies and methods were tested in twenty World Reference System-2 path/row throughout the conterminous U.S. An overall agreement ranging from 71% to 97% between land cover classification and reference data was achieved for all tested area and all years. Results from this study confirm the robustness of this comprehensive and highly automated procedure for NLCD 2016 operational mapping. Questions about the NLCD 2016 land cover product can be directed to the NLCD 2016 land cover mapping team at USGS EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov. See included spatial metadata for more details.

The National Land Cover Database (NLCD), a product suite produced through the Multi-resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) consortium, is an operational land cover monitoring program. The release of NLCD2019 extends the database to 18 years. We collected land cover reference data for the 2016 and 2019 components of the NLCD2019 database at Level II and Level I of the classification hierarchy. For both dates, Level II land cover overall accuracies (OA) were 77.5% ± 1% (± value is the standard error) when agreement was defined as a match between the map label and primary reference label only and increased to 87.1% ± 0.7% when agreement was defined as a match between the map label and either the primary or alternate reference label. At Level I of the classification hierarchy, land cover OA was 83.1% ± 0.9% for both 2016 and 2019 when agreement was defined as a match between the map label and primary reference label only and increased to 90.3% ± 0.7% when agreement also included the alternate reference label. The Level II and Level I OA for the 2016 land cover in the NLCD2019 database were 5% higher compared to the 2016 land cover component of the NLCD2016 database when agreement was defined as a match between the map label and primary reference label only. No improvement was realized by the NLCD2019 database when agreement also included the alternate reference label. User’s accuracies (UA) for forest loss and grass gain were 70% when agreement included either the primary or alternate label, and UA was generally 50% for all other change themes. Producer’s accuracies (PA) were 70% for grass loss and gain and water gain and generally 50% for the other change themes.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has developed and released four National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products over the past two decades: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011. These products provide spatially explicit and reliable information on the Nation’s land cover and land cover change. To continue the legacy of NLCD and further establish a long-term monitoring capability for the Nation’s land resources, the USGS has designed a new generation of NLCD products named NLCD 2016. The NLCD 2016 design aims to provide innovative, consistent, and robust methodologies for production of a multi-temporal land cover and land cover change database from 2001 to 2016 at 2–3-year intervals. Comprehensive research was conducted and resulted in developed strategies for NLCD 2016: a streamlined process for assembling and preprocessing Landsat imagery and geospatial ancillary datasets; a multi-source integrated training data development and decision-tree based land cover classifications; a temporally, spectrally, and spatially integrated land cover change analysis strategy; a hierarchical theme-based post-classification and integration protocol for generating land cover and change products; a continuous fields biophysical parameters modeling method; and an automated scripted operational system for the NLCD 2016 production. The performance of the developed strategies and methods were tested in twenty World Reference System-2 path/row throughout the conterminous U.S. An overall agreement ranging from 71% to 97% between land cover classification and reference data was achieved for all tested area and all years. Results from this study confirm the robustness of this comprehensive and highly automated procedure for NLCD 2016 operational mapping. Questions about the NLCD 2016 land cover product can be directed to the NLCD 2016 land cover mapping team at USGS EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov. See included spatial metadata for more details.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has developed and released four National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products over the past two decades: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011. These products provide spatially explicit and reliable information on the Nation’s land cover and land cover change. To continue the legacy of NLCD and further establish a long-term monitoring capability for the Nation’s land resources, the USGS has designed a new generation of NLCD products named NLCD 2016. The NLCD 2016 design aims to provide innovative, consistent, and robust methodologies for production of a multi-temporal land cover and land cover change database from 2001 to 2016 at 2–3-year intervals. Comprehensive research was conducted and resulted in developed strategies for NLCD 2016: a streamlined process for assembling and preprocessing Landsat imagery and geospatial ancillary datasets; a multi-source integrated training data development and decision-tree based land cover classifications; a temporally, spectrally, and spatially integrated land cover change analysis strategy; a hierarchical theme-based post-classification and integration protocol for generating land cover and change products; a continuous fields biophysical parameters modeling method; and an automated scripted operational system for the NLCD 2016 production. The performance of the developed strategies and methods were tested in twenty World Reference System-2 path/row throughout the conterminous U.S. An overall agreement ranging from 71% to 97% between land cover classification and reference data was achieved for all tested area and all years. Results from this study confirm the robustness of this comprehensive and highly automated procedure for NLCD 2016 operational mapping. Questions about the NLCD 2016 land cover product can be directed to the NLCD 2016 land cover mapping team at USGS EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov. See included spatial metadata for more details.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has developed and released four

National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products over the past two decades: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011.

These products provide spatially explicit and reliable information on the Nation’s land cover and land cover

change. To continue the legacy of NLCD and further establish a long-term monitoring capability for the Nation’s

land resources, the USGS has designed a new generation of NLCD products named NLCD 2016. The NLCD 2016

design aims to provide innovative, consistent, and robust methodologies for production of a multi-temporal land

cover and land cover change database from 2001 to 2016 at 2–3-year intervals. Comprehensive research was

conducted and resulted in developed strategies for NLCD 2016: a streamlined process for assembling and preprocessing

Landsat imagery and geospatial ancillary datasets; a multi-source integrated training data development

and decision-tree based land cover classifications; a temporally, spectrally, and spatially integrated land

cover change analysis strategy; a hierarchical theme-based post-classification and integration protocol for

generating land cover and change products; a continuous fields biophysical parameters modeling method; and

an automated scripted operational system for the NLCD 2016 production. The performance of the developed

strategies and methods were tested in twenty World Reference System-2 path/row throughout the conterminous

U.S. An overall agreement ranging from 71% to 97% between land cover classification and reference data was

achieved for all tested area and all years. Results from this study confirm the robustness of this comprehensive

and highly automated procedure for NLCD 2016 operational mapping.

Questions about the NLCD 2016 land cover product can be directed to the NLCD 2016 land cover mapping team at USGS EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov. See included spatial metadata for more details.

The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) is a land cover monitoring program providing land cover information for the United States. NLCD2016 extended temporal coverage to 15 years (2001–2016). We collected land cover reference data for the 2011 and 2016 nominal dates to report land cover accuracy for the NLCD2016 database 2011 and 2016 land cover components. We measured land cover accuracy at Level II and Level I, and change accuracy at Level I. For both the 2011 and 2016 land cover components, single-date Level II overall accuracies (OA) were 72% (standard error of ±0.9%) when agreement was defined as match between the map label and primary reference label only and 86% (± 0.7%) when agreement also included the alternate reference label. The corresponding level I OA for both dates were 79% (± 0.9%) and 91% (± 1.0%). For land cover change, the 2011–2016 user’s and producer’s accuracies (UA and PA) were ~ 75% for forest loss. PA for water loss, grassland loss, and grass gain were > 70% when agreement included a match between the map label and either the primary or alternate reference label. Depending on agreement definition and level of the classification hierarchy, OA for the 2011 land cover component of the NLCD2016 database was about 4% to 7% higher than OA for the 2011 land cover component of the NLCD2011 database, suggesting that the changes in mapping methodologies initiated for production of the NLCD2016 database have led to improved product quality.

This Minnesota NLCD layer is derived from the full NLCD dataset. The national raster is clipped and projected to UTM Zone 15N. The 2016 NLCD used updated methodology and provided updates for all previously released years, so this data should not be compared directly to the other NLCD data published to the Commons. There is a change detection raster available in this resource that provides an overview of the change since 2001. For the original dataset in Albers Equal Area Conic or land cover for prior years processed with the new methods, refer to the NLCD webpage: https://www.mrlc.gov/data

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has developed and released four National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products over the past two decades: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011. These products provide spatially explicit and reliable information on the Nation’s land cover and land cover change. To continue the legacy of NLCD and further establish a long-term monitoring capability for the Nation’s land resources, the USGS has designed a new generation of NLCD products named NLCD 2016. The NLCD 2016 design aims to provide innovative, consistent, and robust methodologies for production of a multi-temporal land cover and land cover change database from 2001 to 2016 at 2–3-year intervals. Comprehensive research was conducted and resulted in developed strategies for NLCD 2016: a streamlined process for assembling and preprocessing Landsat imagery and geospatial ancillary datasets; a multi-source integrated training data development and decision-tree based land cover classifications; a temporally, spectrally, and spatially integrated land cover change analysis strategy; a hierarchical theme-based post-classification and integration protocol for generating land cover and change products; a continuous fields biophysical parameters modeling method; and an automated scripted operational system for the NLCD 2016 production. The performance of the developed strategies and methods were tested in twenty World Reference System-2 path/rows throughout the conterminous U.S. An overall agreement ranging from 71% to 97% between land cover classification and reference data was achieved for all tested areas and all years. Results from this study confirm the robustness of this comprehensive and highly automated procedure for NLCD 2016 operational mapping.

Questions about the NLCD 2016 land cover product can be directed to the NLCD 2016 land cover mapping team at USGS EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov. See included spatial metadata for more details.

This update to the Alaska National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2016 replaces the files dated 20200213. In this update the landcover footprint was extended along the northern coast to include the islands that were missed in previous versions, and several duplicate roads (offset by 1 or 2 pixels) were removed on the Aleutian Islands. The Alaska National Land Cover Database 2016 was created using change detection between the nominal dates of 2011 and 2016 utilizing Google Earth engine composites of Landsat imagery. Traditionally, previous classifications of Alaska used path row data and spectral comparisons between path rows along with ancillary data to derive areas of change. Alaska has many challenges for land cover classification, with the largest of these being a very short “leaf on” imagery season for acceptable phenology. This is compounded by persistent cloud cover during this growing season, and increasing terrain shadow and sun angle problems outside of this season. For thi ...

The base Land Cover data layer for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was produced by the International Institute of Tropical Forestry(IITF) and crosswalked to NLCD classes, with additional crop type modeling conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This original base data layer is available at http://fsgeodata.fs.fed.us/rastergateway/ An additional link for the publication associated with this work is http://tropicalforestry.net/Members/ehelmer/caribbean-vegetation-and-land-cover The full reference for this work is Kennaway, T., and E. H. Helmer. 2007. The forest types and ages cleared for land development in Puerto Rico. GIScience and Remote Sensing 44:356-382. NLCD data layers are made through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium. The MRLC Consortium is a partnership of federal agencies (www.mrlc.gov), consisting of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). One of the primary goals of the project is to generate a current, consistent, seamless, and accurate National Land cover Database (NLCD) circa 2001 for the United States at medium spatial resolution. This landcover map and all documents pertaining to it are considered "provisional" until a formal accuracy assessment can be conducted. For a detailed definition and discussion on MRLC and the NLCD 2001 products, refer to Homer et al. (2004) and http://www.mrlc.gov/mrlc2k.asp. The NLCD 2001 is created by partitioning the U.S. into mapping zones. A total of 66 mapping zones were delineated within the conterminous U.S. based on ecoregion and geographical characteristics, edge matching features and the size requirement of Landsat mosaics. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico encompasses the territory of Puerto Rico. Questions about the NLCD landcover layer for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico can be directed to the NLCD 2001 land cover mapping team at the USGS/EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov.

This data layer is an element of the Oregon GIS Framework and has been clipped to the Oregon boundary and reprojected to Oregon Lambert (2992). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has developed and released four National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products over the past two decades: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011. These products provide spatially explicit and reliable information on the Nation’s land cover and land cover change. To continue the legacy of NLCD and further establish a long-term monitoring capability for the Nation’s land resources, the USGS has designed a new generation of NLCD products named NLCD 2016. The NLCD 2016 design aims to provide innovative, consistent, and robust methodologies for production of a multi-temporal land cover and land cover change database from 2001 to 2016 at 2–3-year intervals. Comprehensive research was conducted and resulted in developed strategies for NLCD 2016: a streamlined process for assembling and preprocessing Landsat imagery and geospatial ancillary datasets; a multi-source integrated training data development and decision-tree based land cover classifications; a temporally, spectrally, and spatially integrated land cover change analysis strategy; a hierarchical theme-based post-classification and integration protocol for generating land cover and change products; a continuous fields biophysical parameters modeling method; and an automated scripted operational system for the NLCD 2016 production. The performance of the developed strategies and methods were tested in twenty World Reference System-2 path/row throughout the conterminous U.S. An overall agreement ranging from 71% to 97% between land cover classification and reference data was achieved for all tested area and all years. Results from this study confirm the robustness of this comprehensive and highly automated procedure for NLCD 2016 operational mapping. Questions about the NLCD 2016 land cover product can be directed to the NLCD 2016 land cover mapping team at USGS EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov. See included spatial metadata for more details.

This product contains plot location data for LCMAP Hawaii Reference Data in a .shp format as well as annual land cover, land use, and change process variables for each reference data plot in a separate .csv table. The same information available in the.csv file is also provided in a .xlsx format. The LCMAP Hawaii Reference Data Product was utilized for evaluation and validation of the Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) land cover and land cover change products. The LCMAP Hawaii Reference Data Product includes the collection of an independent dataset of 600 30-meter by 30-meter plots across the island chain of Hawaii. The LCMAP Hawaii Reference Data Products collected variables related to primary and secondary land use, primary and secondary land cover(s), change processes, and other ancillary variables annually across Hawaii from 2000-2019. The sites in this dataset were collected via manual image interpretation. These samples were selected using a stratified random sampling process via stratification using a hybrid NLCD 2001 Hawaii and NOAA C-Cap 2011 land cover map.

A compliant implementation of WMS plus most of the SLD extension (dynamic styling). Can also generate PDF, SVG, KML, GeoRSSThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has developed and released four National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products over the past two decades: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011. These products provide spatially explicit and reliable information on the Nation’s land cover and land cover change. To continue the legacy of NLCD and further establish a long-term monitoring capability for the Nation’s land resources, the USGS has designed a new generation of NLCD products named NLCD 2016. The NLCD 2016 design aims to provide innovative, consistent, and robust methodologies for production of a multi-temporal land cover and land cover change database from 2001 to 2016 at 2–3-year intervals. Comprehensive research was conducted and resulted in developed strategies for NLCD 2016: a streamlined process for assembling and preprocessing Landsat imagery and geospatial ancillary datasets; a multi-source integrated training data development and decision-tree based land cover classifications; a temporally, spectrally, and spatially integrated land cover change analysis strategy; a hierarchical theme-based post-classification and integration protocol for generating land cover and change products; a continuous fields biophysical parameters modeling method; and an automated scripted operational system for the NLCD 2016 production. The performance of the developed strategies and methods were tested in twenty World Reference System-2 path/row throughout the conterminous U.S. An overall agreement ranging from 71% to 97% between land cover classification and reference data was achieved for all tested area and all years. Results from this study confirm the robustness of this comprehensive and highly automated procedure for NLCD 2016 operational mapping.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has developed and released four National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products over the past two decades: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011. These products provide spatially explicit and reliable information on the Nation’s land cover and land cover change. To continue the legacy of NLCD and further establish a long-term monitoring capability for the Nation’s land resources, the USGS has designed a new generation of NLCD products named NLCD 2016. The NLCD 2016 design aims to provide innovative, consistent, and robust methodologies for production of a multi-temporal land cover and land cover change database from 2001 to 2016 at 2–3-year intervals. Comprehensive research was conducted and resulted in developed strategies for NLCD 2016: a streamlined process for assembling and preprocessing Landsat imagery and geospatial ancillary datasets; a multi-source integrated training data development and decision-tree based land cover classifications; a temporally, spectrally, and spatially integrated land cover change analysis strategy; a hierarchical theme-based post-classification and integration protocol for generating land cover and change products; a continuous fields biophysical parameters modeling method; and an automated scripted operational system for the NLCD 2016 production. The performance of the developed strategies and methods were tested in twenty World Reference System-2 path/row throughout the conterminous U.S. An overall agreement ranging from 71% to 97% between land cover classification and reference data was achieved for all tested area and all years. Results from this study confirm the robustness of this comprehensive and highly automated procedure for NLCD 2016 operational mapping. Questions about the NLCD 2016 land cover product can be directed to the NLCD 2016 land cover mapping team at USGS EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov. See included spatial metadata for more details.

We present a new land cover dataset for the conterminous USA called “PEEL₀.” It is designed for climate change impact analysis based on land use change at 5 arc-minute resolution. The procedure described herein is adaptable for generating similar datasets for other regions and requirements. PEEL0 is derived from existing data products – the MODIS Land Cover Type (MLCT) and National Land Cover Database (NLCD) – but its design overcomes certain limitations that hinder their use for climate change impact analysis. First, while other products that focus on agriculture neglect non-agricultural land use/land cover (LULC) categories, PEELo contains eight distinct LULC classes in addition to a “crop” class. PEEL0 features subcell area fractions for each class, increasing its depth of information over traditional single-category LULC maps. Second, PEEL0 offers improved accuracy in characterizing cultivated lands, important for quantifying agriculturalactivity. PEEL0 provides a more accurate spatial distribution of cultivated lands over MLCT as compared to reference datasets and improved totals for cultivated land relative to USDA Major Land Uses census data. We present here landcover data for 2001 plus PEEL0's synthesis methodology, which combines information from multiple sources by establishing a common classification scheme at lower spatial resolution. PEEL0 was developed as an initialization dataset for a partial-equilibrium economic land use model (PEEL) that simulates land use/land cover change in response to exogenous agricultural prices and climate change scenarios. We anticipate that similar landcover data products will be of use to other modeling efforts worldwide. References: Best, N. (2011), "Synthesis of a complete land use/land cover data set for the conterminous United States emphasizing accuracy in area and distribution of agricultural activity", Master’s thesis, Northeastern Illinois University. Best, Neil, Elliott, Joshua and Foster, Ian, Synthesis of a Complete Land Use/Land Cover Dataset for the Conterminous United States (May 4, 2012). RDCEP Working Paper No. 12-08. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2051158 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2051158