Land cover describes the surface of the earth. This time-enabled service of the National Land Cover Database groups land cover into 20 classes based on a modified Anderson Level II classification system. Classes include vegetation type, development density, and agricultural use. Areas of water, ice and snow and barren lands are also identified.The National Land Cover Database products are created through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC). 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, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.Time Extent: 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021 for the conterminous United States. The layer displays land cover for Alaska for the years 2001, 2011, and 2016. For Puerto Rico there is only data for 2001. For Hawaii, Esri reclassed land cover data from NOAA Office for Coastal Management, C-CAP into NLCD codes. These reclassed C-CAP data were available for Hawaii for the years 2001, 2005, and 2011. Hawaii C-CAP land cover in its original form can be used in your maps by adding the Hawaii CCAP Land Cover layer directly from the Living Atlas.Units: (Thematic dataset)Cell Size: 30m Source Type: Thematic Pixel Type: Unsigned 8 bitData Projection: North America Albers Equal Area Conic (102008)Mosaic Projection: North America Albers Equal Area Conic (102008)Extent: 50 US States, District of Columbia, Puerto RicoSource: National Land Cover DatabasePublication date: June 30, 2023Time SeriesThis layer is served as a time series. To display a particular year of land cover data, select the year of interest with the time slider in your map client. You may also use the time slider to play the service as an animation. We recommend a one year time interval when displaying the series. If you would like a particular year of data to use in analysis, be sure to use the analysis renderer along with the time slider to choose a valid year.North America Albers ProjectionThis layer is served in North America Albers projection. Albers is an equal area projection, and this allows users of this service to accurately calculate acreage without additional data preparation steps. This also means it takes a tiny bit longer to project on the fly into Web Mercator projection, if that is the destination projection of the service.Processing TemplatesCartographic Renderer - The default. Land cover drawn with Esri symbols. Each year's land cover data is displayed in the time series until there is a newer year of data available.Cartographic Renderer (saturated) - This renderer has the same symbols as the cartographic renderer, but the colors are extra saturated so a transparency may be applied to the layer. This renderer is useful for land cover over a basemap or relief. MRLC Cartographic Renderer - Cartographic renderer using the land cover symbols as issued by NLCD (the same symbols as is on the dataset when you download them from MRLC).Analytic Renderer - Use this in analysis. The time series is restricted by the analytic template to display a raster in only the year the land cover raster is valid. In a cartographic renderer, land cover data is displayed until a new year of data is available so that it plays well in a time series. In the analytic renderer, data is displayed for only the year it is valid. The analytic renderer won't look good in a time series animation, but in analysis this renderer will make sure you only use data for its appropriate year.Simplified Renderer - NLCD reclassified into 10 broad classes. These broad classes may be easier to use in some applications or maps.Forest Renderer - Cartographic renderer which only displays the three forest classes, deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forest.Developed Renderer - Cartographic renderer which only displays the four developed classes, developed open space plus low, medium, and high intensity development classes.Hawaii data has a different sourceMRLC redirects users interested in land cover data for Hawaii to a NOAA product called C-CAP or Coastal Change Analysis Program Regional Land Cover. This C-CAP land cover data was available for Hawaii for the years 2001, 2005, and 2011 at the time of the latest update of this layer. The USA NLCD Land Cover layer reclasses C-CAP land cover codes into NLCD land cover codes for display and analysis, although it may be beneficial for analytical purposes to use the original C-CAP data, which has finer resolution and untranslated land cover codes. The C-CAP land cover data for Hawaii is served as its own 2.4m resolution land cover layer in the Living Atlas.Because it's a different original data source than the rest of NLCD, different years for Hawaii may not be able to be compared in the same way different years for the other states can. But the same method was used to produce each year of this C-CAP derived land cover to make this layer. Note: Because there was no C-CAP data for Kaho'olawe Island in 2011, 2005 data were used for that island.The land cover is projected into the same projection and cellsize as the rest of the layer, using nearest neighbor method, then it is reclassed to approximate the NLCD codes. The following is the reclass table used to make Hawaii C-CAP data closely match the NLCD classification scheme:C-CAP code,NLCD code0,01,02,243,234,225,216,827,818,719,4110,4211,4312,5213,9014,9015,9516,9017,9018,9519,3120,3121,1122,1123,1124,025,12USA NLCD Land Cover service classes with corresponding index number (raster value):11. Open Water - areas of open water, generally with less than 25% cover of vegetation or soil.12. Perennial Ice/Snow - areas characterized by a perennial cover of ice and/or snow, generally greater than 25% of total cover.21. Developed, Open Space - areas with a mixture of some constructed materials, but mostly vegetation in the form of lawn grasses. Impervious surfaces account for less than 20% of total cover. These areas most commonly include large-lot single-family housing units, parks, golf courses, and vegetation planted in developed settings for recreation, erosion control, or aesthetic purposes.22. Developed, Low Intensity - areas with a mixture of constructed materials and vegetation. Impervious surfaces account for 20% to 49% percent of total cover. These areas most commonly include single-family housing units.23. Developed, Medium Intensity - areas with a mixture of constructed materials and vegetation. Impervious surfaces account for 50% to 79% of the total cover. These areas most commonly include single-family housing units.24. Developed High Intensity - highly developed areas where people reside or work in high numbers. Examples include apartment complexes, row houses and commercial/industrial. Impervious surfaces account for 80% to 100% of the total cover.31. Barren Land (Rock/Sand/Clay) - areas of bedrock, desert pavement, scarps, talus, slides, volcanic material, glacial debris, sand dunes, strip mines, gravel pits and other accumulations of earthen material. Generally, vegetation accounts for less than 15% of total cover.41. Deciduous Forest - areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall, and greater than 20% of total vegetation cover. More than 75% of the tree species shed foliage simultaneously in response to seasonal change.42. Evergreen Forest - areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall, and greater than 20% of total vegetation cover. More than 75% of the tree species maintain their leaves all year. Canopy is never without green foliage.43. Mixed Forest - areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall, and greater than 20% of total vegetation cover. Neither deciduous nor evergreen species are greater than 75% of total tree cover. 51. Dwarf Scrub - Alaska only areas dominated by shrubs less than 20 centimeters tall with shrub canopy typically greater than 20% of total vegetation. This type is often co-associated with grasses, sedges, herbs, and non-vascular vegetation.52. Shrub/Scrub - areas dominated by shrubs; less than 5 meters tall with shrub canopy typically greater than 20% of total vegetation. This class includes true shrubs, young trees in an early successional stage or trees stunted from environmental conditions.71. Grassland/Herbaceous - areas dominated by gramanoid or herbaceous vegetation, generally greater than 80% of total vegetation. These areas are not subject to intensive management such as tilling, but can be utilized for grazing.72. Sedge/Herbaceous - Alaska only areas dominated by sedges and forbs, generally greater than 80% of total vegetation. This type can occur with significant other grasses or other grass like plants, and includes sedge tundra, and sedge tussock tundra.73. Lichens - Alaska only areas dominated by fruticose or foliose lichens generally greater than 80% of total vegetation.74. Moss - Alaska only areas dominated by mosses, generally greater than 80% of total vegetation.Planted/Cultivated 81. Pasture/Hay - areas of grasses, legumes, or grass-legume mixtures planted for livestock grazing or the production of seed or hay crops, typically on a perennial cycle. Pasture/hay vegetation accounts for greater than 20% of total vegetation.82. Cultivated Crops - areas used for the production of annual crops, such as corn, soybeans, vegetables, tobacco, and cotton, and also perennial woody crops such as orchards and vineyards. Crop vegetation accounts for greater than 20% of total vegetation. This class also includes all land being actively tilled.90. Woody Wetlands - areas where forest or shrubland vegetation accounts for greater than 20% of vegetative cover and the soil or

Land cover describes the surface of the earth. This item is a subset of the National Land Cover Database groups land cover into 20 classes based on a modified Anderson Level II classification system. Classes include vegetation type, development density, and agricultural use. Areas of water, ice and snow and barren lands are also identified.The National Land Cover Database products are created through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC). 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, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.North: 4,156,834.820300South: 3,174,969.015700West: -101,702.549900East: 880,163.254800North America Albers ProjectionThis layer is served in North America albers projection. Albers is an equal area projection, and this allows users of this service to accurately calculate acreage without additional data preparation steps. This also means it takes a tiny bit longer to project on the fly into web mercator, if that is the destination projection of the service.USA NLCD Land Cover service classes with corresponding index number (raster value):11. Open Water - areas of open water, generally with less than 25% cover of vegetation or soil.12. Perennial Ice/Snow - areas characterized by a perennial cover of ice and/or snow, generally greater than 25% of total cover.21. Developed, Open Space - areas with a mixture of some constructed materials, but mostly vegetation in the form of lawn grasses. Impervious surfaces account for less than 20% of total cover. These areas most commonly include large-lot single-family housing units, parks, golf courses, and vegetation planted in developed settings for recreation, erosion control, or aesthetic purposes.22. Developed, Low Intensity - areas with a mixture of constructed materials and vegetation. Impervious surfaces account for 20% to 49% percent of total cover. These areas most commonly include single-family housing units.23. Developed, Medium Intensity - areas with a mixture of constructed materials and vegetation. Impervious surfaces account for 50% to 79% of the total cover. These areas most commonly include single-family housing units.24. Developed High Intensity - highly developed areas where people reside or work in high numbers. Examples include apartment complexes, row houses and commercial/industrial. Impervious surfaces account for 80% to 100% of the total cover.31. Barren Land (Rock/Sand/Clay) - areas of bedrock, desert pavement, scarps, talus, slides, volcanic material, glacial debris, sand dunes, strip mines, gravel pits and other accumulations of earthen material. Generally, vegetation accounts for less than 15% of total cover.41. Deciduous Forest - areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall, and greater than 20% of total vegetation cover. More than 75% of the tree species shed foliage simultaneously in response to seasonal change.42. Evergreen Forest - areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall, and greater than 20% of total vegetation cover. More than 75% of the tree species maintain their leaves all year. Canopy is never without green foliage.43. Mixed Forest - areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall, and greater than 20% of total vegetation cover. Neither deciduous nor evergreen species are greater than 75% of total tree cover.51. Dwarf Scrub - Alaska only areas dominated by shrubs less than 20 centimeters tall with shrub canopy typically greater than 20% of total vegetation. This type is often co-associated with grasses, sedges, herbs, and non-vascular vegetation.52. Shrub/Scrub - areas dominated by shrubs; less than 5 meters tall with shrub canopy typically greater than 20% of total vegetation. This class includes true shrubs, young trees in an early successional stage or trees stunted from environmental conditions.71. Grassland/Herbaceous - areas dominated by gramanoid or herbaceous vegetation, generally greater than 80% of total vegetation. These areas are not subject to intensive management such as tilling, but can be utilized for grazing.72. Sedge/Herbaceous - Alaska only areas dominated by sedges and forbs, generally greater than 80% of total vegetation. This type can occur with significant other grasses or other grass like plants, and includes sedge tundra, and sedge tussock tundra.73. Lichens - Alaska only areas dominated by fruticose or foliose lichens generally greater than 80% of total vegetation.74. Moss - Alaska only areas dominated by mosses, generally greater than 80% of total vegetation.Planted/Cultivated 81. Pasture/Hay - areas of grasses, legumes, or grass-legume mixtures planted for livestock grazing or the production of seed or hay crops, typically on a perennial cycle. Pasture/hay vegetation accounts for greater than 20% of total vegetation.82. Cultivated Crops - areas used for the production of annual crops, such as corn, soybeans, vegetables, tobacco, and cotton, and also perennial woody crops such as orchards and vineyards. Crop vegetation accounts for greater than 20% of total vegetation. This class also includes all land being actively tilled.90. Woody Wetlands - areas where forest or shrubland vegetation accounts for greater than 20% of vegetative cover and the soil or substrate is periodically saturated with or covered with water.95. Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands - Areas where perennial herbaceous vegetation accounts for greater than 80% of vegetative cover and the soil or substrate is periodically saturated with or covered with water.