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The Science Tree Canopy Cover (TCC) product provides objective numerical model outputs, without applying masks or thresholds. Annual data for the contiguous United States is available from 1985-2023. Data for Hawaii, Southeast Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are expected to be released later in 2025.
For additional information regarding the creation of Science TCC products:
While each Science Tree Canopy Cover (TCC) pixel has a mean predicted value for each year, it also has a standard deviation of the predicted values from all regression trees (we refer to this as standard error). To provide a depiction of the variability of expected model error we simulated a model error statistic referred to as tau, following guidance from Coulston et al. (2016).
For additional information regarding the creation of Science TCC Standard Error products:
Published
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.
Published
A new generation of RCMAP Ecological Potential (EP) vegetation cover components are now available. Rangelands have immense inherent spatial and temporal variability, yet assessments of land condition and trends are often assessed relative to the condition of a limited number of representative points or in some cases reference data for comparison is lacking. Understanding of the potential vegetation conditions of a site in an undisturbed state is invaluable for interpreting trends, disturbance impact, and restoration targets. EP was defined as the potential fractional cover of components (bare ground, herbaceous, litter, shrub, sagebrush, and tree) in the least disturbed and most productive spaces and times of western North America since 1985. This dataset enables: 1) setting realistic expectations for restoration and management targets, 2) better understanding of the extent of vegetation departure from potential and 3) improved spatial understanding of vegetation composition and productivity variation.
Published
Land Cover Characteristics in a Suite of Six Products