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Land Cover Analysis
Coastal NLCD Classification SchemeThe following information provides explicit descriptions of the land cover classes used for C-CAP land cover mapping projects. Information included in these definitions explain the types of land cover features that are found in each class as well as threshold values for percent imperviousness and percent canopy coverage. These descriptions have been revised from the original NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP): Guidance for Regional Implementation, which summarizes original C-CAP methods and procedures. The definitions provided also reflect changes in the original C-CAP classification scheme that have occurred as a result of a partnership between NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This partnership establishes NOAA as the provider of land cover data for the coastal regions of the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). Click on a land cover class below to view its details or scroll down this page to learn more about the C-CAP classification scheme. Developed, High Intensity | Developed, Medium Intensity | Developed, Low Intensity | Developed, Open Space | Cultivated Crops | Pasture/Hay | Grassland/Herbaceous | Sedge/Herbaceous | Deciduous Forest | Evergreen Forest | Mixed Forest | Scrub/Shrub | Dwarf Scrub | Barren Land Palustrine Forested Wetland | Palustrine Scrub/Shrub Wetland | Palustrine Emergent Wetland | Estuarine Forested Wetland | Estuarine Scrub/Shrub Wetland | Estuarine Emergent Wetland | Unconsolidated Shore | Open Water | Palustrine Aquatic Bed | Estuarine Aquatic Bed | Tundra | Perennial Ice/Snow | Moss | Lichens 0 Background – areas within the image file limits but containing no data values 1 Unclassified – areas in which land cover cannot be determined; these include clouds and deep shadow. UplandsConsisting of areas above sea level where saturated soils and standing water are absent. Also, the Hydrologic regime is not sufficiently wet to support vegetation associated with wetlands. Upland features are divided into classes such as High, Medium, Low Intensity Development, Cultivated land, Grassland, Pasture/ Hay, Barren land, Scrub/Shrub, Dwarf Shrub, Deciduous, Evergreen and Mixed Forest. 2 Developed, High Intensity – Includes highly developed areas where people reside or work in high numbers. Impervious surfaces account for 80 to 100 percent of the total cover. Characteristic land cover features: Large commercial/industrial complexes and associated parking, commercial strip development, large barns, hangars, interstate highways, and runways. 3 Developed, Medium Intensity – Includes areas with a mixture of constructed materials and vegetation. Impervious surfaces account for 50 to 79 percent of the total cover. Characteristic land cover features: Small buildings such as single family housing units, farm outbuildings, and large sheds. 4 Developed, Low Intensity – Includes areas with a mixture of constructed materials and vegetation. Impervious surfaces account for 21 to 49 percent of total cover. Characteristic land cover features: Same as Medium Intensity Developed with the addition of streets and roads with associated trees and grasses. If roads or portions of roads are present in the imagery they are represented as this class in the final land cover product. 5 Developed, Open Space – Includes areas with a mixture of some constructed materials, but mostly vegetation in the form of lawn grasses. Impervious surfaces account for less than 20 percent of total cover. Characteristic land cover features: Parks, lawns, athletic fields, golf courses, and natural grasses occurring around airports and industrial sites. 6 Cultivated Crops – Areas used for the production of annual crops. Crop vegetation accounts for greater than 20 percent of total vegetation. This class also includes all land being actively tilled. Characteristic land cover features: Crops (corn, soybeans, vegetables, tobacco, and cotton), orchards, nurseries, and vineyards. 7 Pasture/Hay – Areas of grasses, legumes, or grass-legume mixtures planted for livestock grazing or the production of seed or hay crops, typically on a perennial cycle and not tilled. Pasture/hay vegetation accounts for greater than 20 percent of total vegetation. Characteristic land cover features: Crops such as alfalfa, hay, and winter wheat. 8 Grassland/Herbaceous – Areas dominated by grammanoid or herbaceous vegetation, generally greater than 80 percent of total vegetation. These areas are not subject to intensive management such as tilling, but can be utilized for grazing. Characteristic land cover features: Prairies, meadows, fallow fields, clear-cuts with natural grasses, and undeveloped lands with naturally occurring grasses. 9 Deciduous Forest – Areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall and greater than 20 percent of total vegetation cover. More than 75 percent of the tree species shed foliage simultaneously in response to seasonal change. Characteristic species: Maples (Acer), Hickory (Carya), Oaks (Quercus), and Aspen (Populus tremuloides). 10 Evergreen Forest – Areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall and greater than 20 percent of total vegetation cover. More than 75 percent of the tree species maintain their leaves all year. Canopy is never without green foliage. Characteristic species: Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), slash pine (Pinus ellioti), shortleaf pine (Pinus echinta), loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), and other southern yellow (Picea); various spruces and balsam fir (Abies balsamea); white pine (Pinus strobus), red pine (Pinus resinosa), and jack pine (Pinus banksiana); hemlock (Tsuga canadensis); and such western species as Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), ponderosa pine (Pinus monticola), Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanni), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla). 11 Mixed Forest – Areas dominated by trees generally greater than 5 meters tall, and greater than 20 percent of total vegetation cover. Neither deciduous nor evergreen species are greater than 75 percent of total tree cover. Characteristic species: Those listed in 9 and 10. 12 Scrub/Shrub – Areas dominated by shrubs less than 5 meters tall with shrub canopy typically greater than 20 percent of total vegetation. This class includes tree shrubs, young trees in an early successional stage, or trees stunted from environmental conditions. Characteristic species: Those listed in 9 and 10 as well as chaparral species such as chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), chaparral honeysuckle (Lonicera interrupta), scrub oak (Quercus beberidifolia), sagebrush (artemisia tridentate), and manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.). WetlandsAreas dominated by saturated soils and often standing water. Wetlands vegetation is adapted to withstand long-term immersion and saturated, oxygen-depleted soils. These are divided into two salinity regimes: Palustrine for freshwater wetlands and Estuarine for saltwater wetlands. These are further divided into Forested, Shrub/Scrub, and Emergent wetlands. Unconsolidated Shores are also included as wetlands. 13 Palustrine Forested Wetland – Includes all tidal and nontidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation greater than or equal to 5 meters in height, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is below 0.5 percent. Total vegetation coverage is greater than 20 percent. Characteristic species: Tupelo (Nyssa), Cottonwoods (Populus deltoids), Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum), American elm (Ulmus Americana), Ash (Fraxinus), and tamarack. 14 Palustrine Scrub/Shrub Wetland – Includes all tidal and non tidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation less than 5 meters in height, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is below 0.5 percent. Total vegetation coverage is greater than 20 percent. The species present could be true shrubs, young trees and shrubs, or trees that are small or stunted due to environmental conditions (Cowardin et al. 1979). Characteristic species: Alders (Alnus spp.), willows (Salix spp.), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), red osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera), honeycup (Zenobia pulverenta), spirea (Spiraea douglassii), bog birch (Betula pumila), and young trees such as red maple (Acer rubrum) and black spruce (Picea mariana). 15 Palustrine Emergent Wetland (Persistent) – Includes all tidal and nontidal wetlands dominated by persistent emergent vascular plants, emergent mosses or lichens, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is below 0.5 percent. Plants generally remain standing until the next growing season. Total vegetation cover is greater than 80 percent. Characteristic species: Cattails (Typha spp.), sedges (Carex spp.), bulrushes (Scirpus spp.), rushes (Juncus spp.), saw grass (Cladium jamaicaense), and reed (Phragmites australis). 16 Estuarine Forested Wetland – Includes all tidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation greater than or equal to 5 meters in height, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is equal to or greater than 0.5 percent. Total vegetation coverage is greater than 20 percent. Characteristic species: Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) and White Mangrove (Languncularia racemosa) 17 Estuarine Scrub / Shrub Wetland – Includes all tidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation less than 5 meters in height, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is equal to or greater than 0.5 percent. Total vegetation coverage is greater than 20 percent. Characteristic species: Sea-myrtle (Baccharis halimifolia) and marsh elder (Iva frutescens). 18 Estuarine Emergent Wetland – Includes all tidal wetlands dominated by erect, rooted, herbaceous hydrophytes (excluding mosses and lichens). Wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is equal to or greater than 0.5 percent and that are present for most of the growing season in most years. Perennial plants usually dominate these wetlands. Total vegetation cover is greater than 80 percent. Characteristic species: Cordgrass (Spartina spp.), needlerush (Juncus roemerianus), narrow leaved cattail ( Typha angustifolia), southern wild rice (Zizaniopsis miliacea), common pickleweed (Salicornia virginica), sea blite (Suaeda californica), and arrow grass (Triglochin martimum). 19 Unconsolidated Shore – Unconsolidated material such as silt, sand, or gravel that is subject to inundation and redistribution due to the action of water. Characterized by substrates lacking vegetation except for pioneering plants that become established during brief periods when growing conditions are favorable. Erosion and deposition by waves and currents produce a number of landforms representing this class. Characteristic land cover features: Beaches, bars, and flats. 20 Barren Land – (rock/sand/clay) Barren areas of bedrock, desert pavement, scarps, talus, slides, volcanic material, glacial debris, sand dunes, strip mines, gravel pits, and other accumulations of earth material. Generally, vegetation accounts for less than 10 percent of total cover. Characteristic land cover features: Quarries, strip mines, gravel pits, dunes, beaches above the high-water line, sandy areas other than beaches, deserts and arid riverbeds, and exposed rock. 21 Open Water – All areas of open water, generally with less than 25 percent cover of vegetation or soil. Characteristic land cover features: Lakes, rivers, reservoirs, streams, ponds, and ocean. 22 Palustrine Aquatic Bed – Includes tidal and nontidal wetlands and deepwater habitats in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is below 0.5 percent and which are dominated by plants that grow and form a continuous cover principally on or at the surface of the water. These include algal mats, detached floating mats, and rooted vascular plant assemblages. Total vegetation cover is greater than 80 percent. Characteristic species: Vascular – Pondweed, horned pondweed (Zannichellia palustris), ditch grass (Ruppia), wild celery, waterweed (Elodea), riverweed (Podostemum ceratophyllum), water lilies (Nymphea, Nuphar), floating-leaf pondweed (Potamogeton natans), and water shield (Brasenia schreberi), water smartweed (Polygonum amphibium). Floating Surface – Duckweeds (Lemna, Spirodela), water lettuce (Pista stratiotes), water hyacinth (Eichhornia crasspies), water nut (Trapa natans), water fern (Salvinia spp.), and mosquito ferns (Azolla). Floating Below Surface – Bladderworts (Utricularia), coontails (Ceratophyllum) and watermeals (Wolffia). 23 Estuarine Aquatic Bed – Includes tidal wetlands and deepwater habitats in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is equal to or greater than 0.5 percent and which are dominated by plants that grow and form a continuous cover principally on or at the surface of the water. These include algal mats, kelp beds, and rooted vascular plant assemblages. Total vegetation cover is greater than 80 percent. Characteristic species: Kelp (Macrocystis and Laminaria), rockweeds (Fucus and Ascophyllum), red algae (Laurencia), green algae (Halimeda and Penicillus, Caulerpa, Enteromorpha and Ulva), stonewort (Chara), turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum), shoal grass (Halodule wrightii), manatee grasses (Cymodocea filiformis), widgeon grass (Ruppia maritime), sea grasses (Halophila spp.), and wild celery (Vallisneria americana). 24 Tundra – Treeless cover beyond the latitudinal limit of the boreal forest in poleward regions and above the elevation range of the boreal forest in high mountains. In the United States, tundra occurs primarily in Alaska, several areas of the western high mountain ranges, and isolated enclaves in the high mountains of New England and northern New York. 25 Perennial Ice/Snow – All areas characterized by a perennial cover of ice and/or snow, generally greater than 25 percent of total cover. 26 Dwarf Scrub – (Alaska only) Areas dominated by shrubs less than 20 centimeters tall with shrub canopy typically greater than 20 percent of total vegetation. This type is often associated with grasses, sedges, herbs, and nonvascular vegetation. 27 Sedge / Herbaceous – (Alaska only) Areas dominated by sedges and forbs, generally greater than 80 percent of total vegetation. This type can occur with significant other grasses or other grass like plants, and includes sedge tundra and sedge tussock tundra. 28 Moss – (Alaska only) Areas dominated by mosses, generally greater than 80 percent of total vegetation. 29 Lichens – Areas dominated by fruticose or foliose lichens, generally greater than 80 percent of total vegetation. |
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