Why can't I download the NLCD data from the USGS Seamless Data Warehouse?

There are two primary things to check. First make sure that any pop-up blocker software is turned off, including Google, Yahoo, and other built in windows popup blockers. The windows popup blocker can be turned off by going to tools, popup blocker, and turn off popup blocker in you Internet explorer window. Second, make sure you have selected a dataset for download by clicking the download tab in the center right next to the display tab, and picking the dataset to download. Then select an area by clicking on the download box to the left, and dragging the square over the area you would like. A series of popup windows will then allow you to save your selected area. The maximum download file size is 250Mb for the USGS Seamless Server.

Why can't I display my downloaded geotiff in Imagine?

The dataserver uses ARCMAP software to serve the data on the seamless site. Several things need to be modified in order to correctly use the dataset in Imagine. First, if you want to directly view the dataset as a geotiff, open the file as grayscale and not a pseudocolor. Next, it is recommended to import the file directly into Imagine before viewing to avoid other problems. After import, projection information is sometimes incomplete. Typically correct information must be entered using "image information" for the image, then edit, then change map model. Select meters for units, and Albers conical equal area for the projection information, go to edit, add/change projection, and click on the custom tab. Standard MLRC projection for the continental U.S. is

Projection type: Albers conical equal area
Spheroid name: GRS 1980
Datum name: NAD83
Latitude of 1st parallel: 29:30:00 N
Latitude of 2nd parallel: 45:30:00 N
Longitude of central meridian: 96:00:00 W
Latitude of origin of projection 23:00:00 N
False easting at central meridian: 0 Meters
False northing at origin: 0 meters.

After this click OK to set the projection for this particular dataset. You can save this projection to use for future layers by clicking save, and typing MRLC PROJECTION in category MLRC, and click OK. You will then be able to click on the dropdown in standard projections and choose the MRLC projection. ARCMAP also measures corner coordinates from the center, while Imagine measures from the corner. This creates a half pixel location error. To edit this in Imagine, go to "image information", edit, change map model. The corner location should be divisible by thirty, and the last number should be an even zero. To get the correct corner coordinates, you must subtract ~15m from the x coordinate, and add ~15m to the upper left y. For example, if your x coordinate was 835755.06589, you would subtract 15 and round to zero, giving you 835740. For the y, if your corner was 2373254.99875642, you would add 15 and round to zero, giving you 2373270. Pixel size for all NLCD datasets is exactly 30m. If there are trailing decimal points in the x y pixel size, go to image information, edit, change map model. Change the pixel size in both x and y to exactly 30 with no trailing decimals. This should fix any projection and viewing issues for imagine.