Coastal Services Center

1 Unclassified

Includes areas in which land cover cannot be determined such as clouds and deep shadow.

2 Commercial/Industrial Developed

Includes areas that contain little or no vegetation and have between 80 and 100 percent impervious surfaces. Mainly warehouses, urban industrial sites, office buildings, central business districts, and commercial retail structures are in this class.

Standard C-CAP Class: High-Intensity Developed

3 High-Intensity Urban Residential

Contains little or no vegetation and has between 80 and 100 percent impervious surfaces. Typical features include multi-family housing units, large apartment buildings and condominiums.

Standard C-CAP Class: High-Intensity Developed

4 Low-Intensity Urban Residential

Contains little or no vegetation and between 50 and 79 percent impervious surfaces. This class includes warehouses, urban industrial sites, office buildings, central business districts, and commercial retail structures.

Standard C-CAP Class: Low-Intensity Developed

5 Suburban Residential

Contains more vegetated features than impervious surfaces, which are between 25 and 49 percent. This class generally contains single-family housing outside highly populated urban areas.

Standard C-CAP Class: Low-Intensity Developed

6 Rural Residential

Impervious surfaces account for 0 to 24 percent of the total area. This class is characterized by single-family housing usually in sparsely populated areas. This class also includes farm houses.

Standard C-CAP Class: Low-Intensity Developed

7 Row Crop

Includes herbaceous vegetation grown on an annual basis. Includes nurseries.

Standard C-CAP Class: Cultivated

8 Orchards

Includes woody-stemmed vegetation planted for food production. Includes vineyards.

Standard C-CAP Class: Cultivated

9 Managed Grassland

Includes land dominated by grass species deliberately planted or managed that cannot otherwise be identified as a park, lawn, golf course, or pasture.

Standard C-CAP Class: Grassland

10 Golf Courses

Includes golf courses.

Standard C-CAP Class: Grassland

11 Park/Lawn

Includes grass areas regularly mowed and often fertilized and watered. These maintained, short grassy areas are usually associated with structures. Includes maintained grassy areas in urban parks and athletic fields.

Standard C-CAP Class: Grassland

12 Pasture

Includes areas maintained for the use of grazing livestock. These are always surrounded by fencing and sometimes occur near row crops.

Standard C-CAP Class: Grassland

13 Unmanaged Grassland

Dominated by naturally occurring grasses and nongrasses (forbs) that are not fertilized, cut, tilled, or planted regularly and that cannot otherwise be identified as rangeland or unmanaged grassland parks.

Standard C-CAP Class: Grassland

14 Rangeland

Similar to pasture but much greater in extent and with grass that is generally taller and less maintained. Rangeland areas rarely occur near row crops and may or may not be confined by fences. These areas also tend to cover all types of terrain, whereas pasture is usually flat.

Standard C-CAP Class: Grassland

15 Unmanaged Grassland Park

Includes areas of national, state, or city parks where grass is not maintained in any way. The grasses are typically naturally occurring stands or planted native species.

Standard C-CAP Class: Grassland

16 Deciduous Forest

Includes areas dominated by single-stemmed, woody vegetation unbranched 0.6 to 1 meter (2 to 3 feet) above the ground and having a height greater than 6 meters (20 feet).

Standard C-CAP Class: Deciduous Forest

17 Deciduous Park

Includes areas dominated by single-stemmed, woody vegetation unbranched 0.6 to 1 meter (2 to 3 feet) above the ground and having a height greater than 6 meters (20 feet) within urban park areas or national, state, or local parks.

Standard C-CAP Class: Deciduous Forest

18 Evergreen Forest

Includes areas in which more than 67 percent of the trees remain green throughout the year. Both coniferous and broad-leaved evergreens are included in this category.

Standard C-CAP Class: Evergreen Forest

19 Evergreen Park

Includes areas in which more than 67 percent of the trees remain green throughout the year and are within national, state, or local parks. Both coniferous and broad-leaved evergreens are included in this category.

Standard C-CAP Class: Evergreen Forest

20 Mixed Forest

Contains all forested areas in which both evergreen and deciduous trees are growing and neither predominate.

Standard C-CAP Class: Mixed Forest

21 Mixed Forest Park

Contains all forested areas within national, state, or local parks in which both evergreen and deciduous trees are growing and neither predominate.

Standard C-CAP Class: Mixed Forest

22 Scrub/Shrub

Areas dominated by woody vegetation less than 6 meters (20 feet) in height. This class includes true shrubs, young trees, and trees or shrubs that are small or stunted because of environmental conditions.

Standard C-CAP Class: Scrub/Shrub Forest

23 Scrub/Shrub Park

Includes areas within national, state, or local parks dominated by woody vegetation less than 6 meters in height. This class includes true shrubs, young trees, and trees or shrubs that are small or stunted because of environmental conditions.

Standard C-CAP Class: Scrub/Shrub Forest

24 Sage

Short, deciduous, woody vegetation dominated by the sage assemblage of scrubby species. This class includes sage and sage-type species, prevalent on the coast of California.

Standard C-CAP Class: Scrub/Shrub Forest

25 Sage Park

Short deciduous woody vegetation dominated by the sage assemblage of scrubby species within national, state, or local parks.

Standard C-CAP Class: Scrub/Shrub Forest

26 Chaparral

Includes areas with short, evergreen, woody vegetation dominated by chaparral assemblage. Can have needle leaves (interior) or small broad leaves (coastal).

Standard C-CAP Class: Scrub/Shrub Forest

27 Chaparral Park

Short evergreen woody vegetation dominated by chaparral assemblage. Can have needle leaves (interior) or small broad leaves (coastal). Found within national, state, or local parks.

Standard C-CAP Class: Scrub/Shrub Forest

28 Palustrine Forested Wetland

Includes all nontidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation greater than or equal to 6 meters in height, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is below 0.5 parts per thousand (ppt).

29 Palustrine Scrub/Shrub Wetland

Includes all nontidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation less than or equal to 6 meters in height, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is below 0.5 ppt.

30 Palustrine Emergent Wetland

Includes all nontidal wetlands dominated by trees, shrubs, persistent emergents, 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 ppt.

31 Estuarine Forested Wetland

Includes all tidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation greater than or equal to 6 meters in height, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is above 0.5 parts per thousand (ppt).

32 Estuarine Scrub/Shrub Wetland

Includes all tidal wetlands dominated by woody vegetation less than or equal to 6 meters in height, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas in which salinity due to ocean-derived salts is above 0.5 ppt.

33 Estuarine Emergent

Includes areas characterized by erect, rooted, herbaceous hydrophytes (excluding mosses and lichens) that are present for most of the growing season in most years. Perennial plants usually dominate these wetlands. All water regimes are included except those that are subtidal and irregularly exposed.

34 Unconsolidated Shore

Includes areas 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, such as beaches, bars, and flats, all of which are included in this class.

35 Bare Land

Includes areas composed of bare soil, rock, sand, silt, gravel, or other earthen material with little or no vegetation.

Standard C-CAP Class: Bare Land

36 Bare Land Park

Includes areas composed of bare soil, rock, sand, silt, gravel, or other earthen material with little or no vegetation that are found within national, state, or local parks.

Standard C-CAP Class: Bare Land

37 Water

Includes all areas of open water with less than 30 percent cover of trees, shrubs, persistent emergent plants, emergent mosses, or lichens.

38 Palustrine Aquatic Bed

Includes wetlands and deepwater habitats dominated by plants that grow principally on or below the surface of the water for most of the growing season in most years.

39 Estuarine Aquatic Bed

Includes widespread and diverse algal beds in the marine and estuarine systems, where they occupy substrates characterized by a wide range of sediment depths and textures. They occur in both the subtidal and intertidal subsystems and may grow to depths of 30 m (98 feet). This class includes kelp forests.