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EarthSat GeoCover LC Overview
The first consistently prepared, moderate-resolution land cover (LC) database. Derived from spectral analysis of consistently orthorectified Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery, GeoCover LC features a standard 13-class land cover legend designed to provide a basic understanding of the landscape.
GeoCover LC (Land Cover)
MDA introduces the world's first consistently prepared, moderate-resolution land cover (LC) database...GeoCover LCTM. Derived from spectral analysis of consistently orthorectified Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery, GeoCover LC features a standard 13-class land cover legend designed to provide a basic understanding of the landscape.
MDA has generated thousands of GeoCover LC products globally. Land cover categorizations are based on Landsat TM imagery from CY 1990 and CY 2000. Many areas of the world were first categorized using CY 1990 imagery and subsequently updated using CY 2000 imagery. For all other areas of the world covered with GeoCover LC, categorizations exist for either CY 1990 or CY 2000. See Production Status for data availability.
As the Earth's population grows, the stresses on the environment increase dramatically. Until recently, no consistently prepared, moderate-resolution land cover database had existed to help scientists and decision-makers track environmental changes....MDA is well on it's way to creating such a database!
Formats and Media
GeoCover LC data are available in the following formats (click on type for more information):
- Vectors as ARC/INFO coverages
- Rasters as ERDAS IMAGINETM 8.4 files:
- with no Minimum Mapping Unit for TM Scene
- with Minimum Mapping Unit for TM Scene
- with Minimum Mapping Unit for One-degree by One-degree Cells
Uses and Features
Uses and features of GeoCover LC data include:
- An off-the-shelf resource providing comprehensive land cover information at moderate resolution
- A useful tool as part of a multi-stage sampling approach
- A source for change detection, and monitorig of renewable resource usage (forests, etc.)
- Available as pre-clustered data (240 classes) for grouping into your own legend classes
Customization
MDA will customize GeoCover LC products to meet customer specifications
- Land cover legend - modified or expanded upon
- MMU - larger or smaller than 1.4 ha
- Resolution - raster data resampled to custom resolution
- Tiles - raster data subset to custom tile size
- Projection - data reprocessed to custom projection
- Format - data converted to custom file format
- Medium - data delivered on requested medium
GeoCover LC - Land Cover Change
