About the MRLC Program

The Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium is a group of federal agencies who first joined together in 1993 (MRLC 1992) to purchase Landsat 5 imagery for the conterminous U.S. and to develop a land cover dataset called the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD 1992). In 1999, a second-generation MRLC consortium (see logos) was formed to purchase three dates of Landsat 7 imagery for the entire United States (MRLC 2001) and to coordinate the production of a comprehensive land cover database for the nation called the National Land Cover Database (NLCD 2001).

MRLC Project Partners

NLCD 2001 Information Sheets
NLCD 1992 Information Sheets

Agencies interested in becoming an MRLC consortium agency can contact the USGS/EROS Data Center MRLC Coordinator (homer@usgs.gov). The consortium welcomes additional federal and state partner agencies interested in assisting in either the population of the Landsat database or collaboration in developing the Land Cover database.

Other groups or individuals can participate in the MRLC program by simply accessing the web site at http://www.mrlc.gov and researching, browsing or ordering data for the nominal cost of reproduction. Data are to be used only for non-commercial ventures. For questions regarding the MRLC project, please Conact Us http://www.mrlc.gov/contact.php.

MRLC 1992 represents the original members of the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) consortium, which consisted of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Later joining the consortium were the National Atmospheric and Space Administration (NASA) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This consortium purchased 1,363 Landsat 5 images from 1992-1995 over the conterminous U.S., which were used to generate land cover for NLCD 1992. This imagery is in a UTM projection and is available from the USGS Land Cover Institute website.

NLCD 1992 (National Land Cover Dataset) was derived from the early to mid-1990s Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data purchased under MRLC 92. This is a 21-class land cover classification scheme mapped consistently over the United States using unsupervised clustering and GIS modeling. The spatial resolution of the data is 30-meter pixels and it is in the Albers Conic Equal Area projection.

MRLC 2001 is a consortium of nine federal agencies (USGS, EPA, USFS, NOAA, NASA, BLM, NPS, NRCS and USFWS) whom joined together in 1999 with 2 main goals: the acquisition of three dates of multi-seasonal Landsat 5/7 images per path/row processed to national standards, and the creation of a second generation National Land-Cover Database (NLCD 2001) covering all 50 states and Puerto Rico. This Landsat image database now covers 1,780 Landsat path/rows and is resampled to an Albers projection. Two types of image products are available including Terrain Corrected only and Terrain Corrected/At-Sensor Reflectance adjusted. Both Terrain Corrected and Terrain Corrected/At-Sensor Reflectance products are available from the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

NLCD 2001 is a Landsat based landcover database with several independent data layers, which allow users a wide variety of potential applications. Primary components in the database include:

1. normalized imagery for three time periods per path/row,
2. ancillary data including a 30 m DEM, slope, aspect and a positional index,
3. per-pixel estimates of percent imperviousness and percent tree canopy,
4. 21 classes of land-cover data derived from the imagery, ancillary data and derivatives using a Decision tree,
5. classification rules, confidence estimates and metadata from the land cover classification.

This database is being developed using a mapping zone approach, with 65 zones in the continental U.S. and 23 zones in Alaska.

Major NLCD 2001 Land Cover Mapping Partners

For a comprehensive overview please read:
Homer, C. C. Huang, L. Yang, B. Wylie and M. Coan. 2004. Development of a 2001 National Landcover Database for the United States. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, Vol. 70, No. 7, July 2004, pp. 829-840.

For a graphic introduction see below: