Data
Use the interface below to filter and download available NLCD products. Click (here) for NLCD Science Research Products which offer more comprehensive delineation of shrub and grass classes and information about change disturbance. For access to dynamic MRLC viewer applications and tools, click (here).
Land Cover
The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) provides nationwide data on land cover and land cover change at a 30m resolution with a 16-class legend based on a modified Anderson Level II classification system. NLCD 2016 represents the latest evolution of NLCD land cover products focused on providing innovative land cover and land cover change data for the Nation. NLCD 2016 offers 7 integrated epochs of land cover for years 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013, and 2016. Developed classes in these years are directly derived from and updated following the impervious surface cycle. These products update all previously released versions of landcover products for CONUS (NLCD 2001, NLCD 2006, NLCD 2011). New for NLCD 2016 is the NLCD Land Cover Change Index. The NLCD Land Cover change index provides a simple and comprehensive way to visualize change from all 7 dates of land cover in a single layer. The change index was designed to assist NLCD users to understand complex land cover change with a single product. NLCD 2016 does not yet contain updated products for Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. (Read More)
NOAA 2005 to 2011 High Resolution Land Cover Change (HAWAII)
Islands & Territories | 2005, 2011
Urban Imperviousness
NLCD imperviousness products represent urban impervious surfaces as a percentage of developed surface over every 30-meter pixel in the United States. NLCD 2016 updates all previously released versions of impervious products for CONUS (NLCD 2001, NLCD 2006, NLCD 2011) along with a new date of impervious surface for 2016. New for NLCD 2016 is an impervious surface descriptor layer. This descriptor layer identifies types of roads, core urban areas, and energy production sites for each impervious pixel to allow deeper analysis of developed features. No new imperviousness products for Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico are available from NLCD 2016. (Read More)
Tree Canopy
NLCD tree canopy cover is a 30 m raster geospatial dataset that is available for the conterminous United States, coastal Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. These data contain percent tree canopy estimates, as a continuous variable, for each pixel across all land covers and types and are generated by the United States Forest Service (USFS). The USFS derives tree canopy cover from multi-spectral Landsat imagery and other available ground and ancillary information. 2011 and 2016 Forest canopy products are available for the Continental United States, coastal Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. (Read More)
Rangeland – Basemap
NLCD 2016 Shrub Component products characterize the percentage of each 30-meter pixel in the Western United States covered by shrub, herbaceous, bare ground, litter, sagebrush, big sagebrush and annual herbaceous, along with estimating shrub height and sagebrush height. These products have been produced by USGS in collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management.Component products are designed to be used individually or combined to support a broad variety of applications. Please note these new Revised (071520) rangeland products will differ from the first generation of circa 2016 fractional cover maps, a more aggressive masking of tree canopy cover was applied to each rangeland component. Specifically, we have lowered the tree canopy cover threshold for exclusion from 40 to 25%. For pixels with 1-25% tree canopy cover we ensured that our primary components (shrub, herbaceous, litter, and bare ground) cover summed to 100% when added with the tree canopy. And, for the secondary components (sagebrush, big sagebrush, sagebrush height and shrub height) we reconciled to the primary component (shrub), excluding any pinyon-juniper woodlands. (Read More)
Rangeland - Historical Time-Series – BIT
NLCD shrub component historical (Back in Time [BIT]) products characterize the percentage of each 30-meter pixel in the Western United States covered by shrub, sagebrush, herbaceous, annual herbaceous, litter and bare ground for each year from 1985-2018 - providing change trends for 33 years (imagery for 2012 was unavailable). Because of file size limitations, individual component products are packaged in three historic intervals including 1985-1995, 1996-2006, and 2007-2018. Trend analysis for each component is also available as a zip file for the full 1985-2018 period to help users understand the magnitude of change. (Read More)
NLCD BIT Sagebrush Fractional Component (Time Series Trends)
Western U.S. | Time Series Trends
NLCD BIT Litter Fractional Component (Time Series Trends)
Western U.S. | Time Series Trends
NLCD BIT Herbaceous Fractional Component (Time Series Trends)
Western U.S. | Time Series Trends
NLCD BIT Bare Ground Fractional Component (Time Series Trends)
Western U.S. | Time Series Trends
NLCD BIT Annual Herbaceous Fractional (Time Series Trends)
Western U.S. | Time Series Trends
Rangeland - Future Projections - 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s
Projected NLCD Rangeland Cover Products characterize the fractional (i.e. percentage) cover of shrub, herbaceous, bare ground, litter, sagebrush, and annual herbaceous in each 30-meter pixel in the Western United States. Projected data include three time periods (2020s, 2050s, and 2080s) and two climate scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways [RCP] 4.5 and 8.5). Component cover were harmonized so that the sum of bare ground, shrub, herbaceous, and litter cover adds to ~100% and secondary components sagebrush and annual herbaceous cover were harmonized to their respective primary components of shrub and herbaceous cover, (so their cover could not be greater than their primary component). These products have been produced by USGS in collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management. Component products are designed to be used individually or combined to support a broad variety of applications. Data are packaged by time-period and climate scenarios (six). (Read More)
