Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium

National Land Cover Database 2011 (NLCD2011)

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References

Homer, Collin G., Dewitz, Jon A., Yang, Limin, Jin, Suming, Danielson, Patrick, Xian, George, Coulston, J., Herold, N.D., Wickham, J.D., Megown, K., Completion of the 2011 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States—Representing a decade of land cover change information: Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, v. 81, no. 5, p. 345–354, at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asprs/pers/2015/00000081/00000005/art00002

National Land Cover Database 2011 (NLCD2011) Statistics

Read more about National Land Cover Database 2011 (NLCD2011) Statistics

Conterminous United States

NLCD 2011 Pie Chart

A generalized summary of the main NLCD2011 land cover classes for the conterminous United States (Note: Some NLCD2011 land cover classes have been grouped for display purposes. A detailed conterminous United States class proportions are described in the table below).

National Land Cover Database 2011 (NLCD2011) Legend

Read more about National Land Cover Database 2011 (NLCD2011) Legend

The classification system used by NLCD2011 is modified from the Anderson Land Cover Classification System*.

Download the NLCD2001 land cover classification legend.
Download the per pixel estimates of percent imperviousness legend.

A map of Western CONUS with RCMAP Tree Cover Trend

New Generations of RCMAP and EAG Data Available

Published May 11, 2026

The U.S. Geological Survey Rangeland Condition Monitoring Assessment and Projection (RCMAP) Exotic Annual Grass (EAG) team is pleased to announce the release of a new generation of weekly resolution maps. We initially release weekly data for 2026 weeks 10-16 (March 11 – April 15) for total herbaceous, total EAG, cheatgrass, medusahead, field brome, and Sandberg’s Bluegrass. This will be followed by weekly releases through week 38 (late September) of 2026. Weeks 10-38 of 2016-2025 will also be processed and distributed in summer 2026.

A new generation of RCMAP (Rangeland Condition, Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection) fractional component time-series data spanning 1985-2025 are now available.

Both RCMAP and RCMAP-EAG data are available for download and on the rangelands viewer at www.mrlc.gov, and ArcGIS Online.

Rangelands Viewer

TCC OCONUS

Annual NLCD OCONUS Tree Canopy Cover Data Now Available

Published Feb 11, 2026

The USDA Forest Service Geospatial Office (GO) builds and maintains the National Tree Canopy Cover (TCC) dataset as part of the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). Annual data for areas outside the contiguous United States is now available from 1985-2023. This includes Southeast Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The TCC datasets are derived from Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery along with USDA Forest Service - Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data, based on a spatial resolution of 30 meters. Each Tree Canopy Cover (TCC) value is determined using photo interpretation methods and machine learning models, to produce the percentage of the area covered by tree canopy and interannual change between all years.

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Annual NLCD image of CONUS showing Validation Points

Annual NLCD Reference Data and Validation Metrics Now Available on MRLC

Published Sep 24, 2025

The U.S. Geological Survey has added a new outlet for Reference and Validation (R&V) data for Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Conterminous U.S. (CU), Collection 1.0. In addition to availability on the USGS ScienceBase-Catalog, the R&V data are now hosted right here on MRLC.gov.
These R&V data provide Annual NLCD users with a statistical accuracy assessment of the land cover products, as well as the source reference data. This information helps users understand the accuracy of Annual NLCD and supports better decisions in research, land use planning, and resource management.

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