USA Annual NLCD - Land Cover

Land cover describes general characteristics of the Earth's surface. The USA Annual NLCD land cover layer represents the predominant surface state within the mapping year with respect to broad categories of artificial or natural surface cover. This annual time-enabled service of the National Land Cover Database groups land cover into 16 classes based on a modified Anderson Level II classification system. Classes include vegetation type, development density, and agricultural use. Bodies of water, permanent ice and snow, and barren lands are also identified. Confidence in the value of each pixel is not even. Use the USA NLCD Land Cover Confidence 1985-2024 layer to determine the confidence value for each pixel. Annual NLCD Product User Guide: [https://www.usgs.gov/centers/eros/science/annual-nlcd-science-product-user-guide] Dataset Summary Phenomenon Mapped: Land Cover of the Contiguous USA Geographic Extent: Contiguous USA (lower 48 states + DC) Mosaic Projection: Albers Equal Area Conic, on WGS84 spheroid (AEA_WGS84) Data Coordinate System: Albers Equal Area Conic, on WGS84 spheroid (AEA_WGS84) Cell Size: 30-m Pixel Type: 8-bit unsigned integer Source Type: Thematic Time Extent: Annually 1985-2024 Analysis: [Analysis-Optimized] Source: [National Land Cover Database, Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium] Data Vintage: Version 1.1, June 2025 Publication Date: June 2025 The Annual 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. The NLCD is part of the [NGDA ]and is considered the authoritative land cover product from the U.S. federal government. What can you do with this layer? Identify land cover classes during the years 1985-2024. Analyze land cover classes in a particular year 1985-2024. Disable the time series, then overlay with transparency and the multiply blend mode over basemaps and relief to stain basemaps with color, giving the basemap economic context. Useful for operational layers such as business locations. Play the time series as an animation to visualize and understand land cover changes over four decades. Time Series This 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. Annual NLCD vs Legacy NLCD Annual NLCD and the [Legacy NLCD layers] are significantly different. A table below shows differences in features between the two datasets. ────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── │Annual NLCD │Legacy NLCD ────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Release Frequency │Yearly │Every 2-3 Years ────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Number of land cover classes│16 │16, plus 4 additional for Alaska ────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Years included │Yearly, from 1985 to 2024 │2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 ────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Production Method │Involves three types of deep learning models integrated into a novel geospatial artificial intelligence (AI) solution to process, encode, and map land cover using Landsat timeseries imagery & curated sets of land cover training data│NLCD utilizes supervised classification algorithms, particularly decision trees, to classify Landsat satellite imagery. Training data includes high-resolution orthophotography, local datasets, field-collected points, and Forest Inventory Analysis data. ────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── The Annual NLCD layer uses an Albers projection optimized for the lower 48 states. The Legacy NLCD includes Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and thus a North America Albers projection was used in that layer to minimize distortion around its wider geography and facilitate comparison. Analysis * In order to leverage the optimization for analysis, the capability must be enabled by your ArcGIS organization administrator. More information on enabling this feature can be found in the ‘Regional data hosting’ section of this help doc. * Optimized for analysis means this layer does not have size constraints for analysis and it is recommended for multisource analysis with other layers optimized for analysis. See the [ArcGIS Living Atlas: Analysis-Optimized Imagery Layers Group] for a complete list of imagery layers optimized for analysis. Processing Templates Saturated Renderer for Visualization and Analysis - This renderer has the same symbols as the Esri cartographic renderer, but the colors are extra saturated, giving the map user rich color to use when transparency and/or blend modes may be applied to the layer. This renderer is useful for land cover over a basemap or relief. This is the default. Esri Cartographic Renderer for Visualization and Analysis - Land cover drawn with Esri symbols that are desaturated. MRLC Cartographic Renderer for Visualization and Analysis - 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). Simplified Renderer for Visualization and Analysis - NLCD reclassified into 10 broad classes. These broad classes may be easier to use in some analyses, applications or maps. Isolate Developed Areas for Visualization and Analysis - Cartographic renderer which only displays the four developed classes (21, 22, 23, 24), developed open space plus low, medium, and high intensity development classes. Isolate Forested Areas for Visualization and Analysis - Cartographic renderer which only displays the three forest classes (41, 42, 43), deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forest. Isolate (single NLCD class) for Visualization and Analysis - Isolates a single class in the NLCD. USA Annual 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. 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. 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. Questions? Please leave a comment below if you have a question about this layer, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.