Task 12 Denali National Park and Preserve Landcover Classification

Study Area:

Denali National Park and Preserve is approximately 6 million acres in size, spanning the Alaska Range in Central Alaska.  The Park encompasses a diversity of vegetation and land forms in a landscape that is largely unchanged by human development.    Coastal influences dominate producing higher rainfall and denser forests south of the Alaska Range.   Interior climate prevails with boreal forest transitioning to arctic and alpine tundra north of the Alaska Range.

Project Background:

The Alaska Support Office (AKSO) of the National Park Service (NPS) seeks to develop a digital landcover map of Denali National Park and Preserve (DENA).  This project is part of the Inventory and Monitoring Program of the NPS, a program designed to provide reliable and consistent scientific information to assess the status and trends in condition of national park ecosystems.  Vegetation mapping is conducted under the inventory portion of the program in order to provide basic information immediately useful in the parks for making resource management decisions, to provide data that can be aggregated on a service wide level, and to design monitoring programs.  This map will be used to understand habitat and fuel availability, model the occurrence of archeological sites and sensitive species for park planning, and to provide baseline information about natural resources in DENA.  It is recognized that the largeness and remoteness of Alaska's parks requires that mapping be done at coarser resolution than for other areas of the NPS system.

Project Objective

The objective of this task order is to develop a landcover map of DENA at intermediate scales (1:63,360 - 1: 100,000) and at a level of classification detail appropriate to the intended uses describes above.  We anticipate that mapping under this task order will be at the formation and alliance level of the National Vegetation Classification System or Viereck's level III and IV, with approximately 30 classes.  Final landcover classes will be similar to the Proposed List presented here (but are subject to change as their spectral mappability becomes better known).

Landcover map development will include collection and analysis of ground truth data, evaluation of the final classes to be mapped, selection of the best available remotely sensed imagery (satellite or aerial photography or both), image analysis and interpretation, accuracy assessment and documentation of procedures and findings.  The analysis may include preprocessing, classification, reclassing, and development and application of models using ancillary digital data to distinguish among confused spectral classes, interpretation of aerial photography, polygon delineation, and automation.

Accuracy Requirements:

All final products will be required to meet the spatial accuracy of the National Mapping Accuracy Standards (NMAS) for 1:63,360 scale products.  Target overall classification accuracy of the interpretation shall be approach 80% (for approximately 30 mapping classes).  Minimum mapping unit will vary depending on the class and the methods used, but should be no more than 5 acres.
Project completion date is scheduled for Fall 2000.