Acquiring Land-Cover Modeling Data from USGS / EROS Center

Please contact the principal investigator for any questions regarding the projects below, or for queries about data access.

Conterminous United States Landscape Projections from 1992 to 2100:  The USGS LandCarbon project assessed the potential storage and emissions of carbon and greenhouse gases in biological systems across the United States. A component of the work was an assessment of historic, current, and future landscape change on biogeochemical cycling.  Historic landscape change from 1992 to 2005 was mapped and modeled for the conterminous United States, while scenarios of future LULC through 2100 were modeled for four IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES). Data characteristics and access through ScienceBase are as follows:

• Geographic Coverage – Conterminous United States
• Spatial Resolution – 250-meter pixel
• Thematic Resolution – 17 land-use and land-cover classes
• Temporal Resolution – Annual raster maps from 1992 through 2100
• Additional data layers on forest age over time

Data Access: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5b96c2f9e4b0702d0e826f6d

Recommended Citation: Sohl, TL, Sayler, KL, Bouchard, MA, Reker, RR, Freisz, AM, Bennett, SL, Sleeter, BM, Sleeter, RR, Wilson, T, Soulard, C, Knuppe, M, and Van Hofwegen, T, 2014, Spatially explicit modeling of 1992 to 2100 land cover and forest stand age for the conterminous United States. Ecological Applications 24(5):1115-1136. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1245.1

Land-use and Land-cover Backcasting from 1938 to 1992:  Annual, historical land-cover maps were modeled from 1938 to 1992, based on best available tabular and statistical data, including data from the Agriculture Census, Population Census, USGS Land Cover Trends, and other sources. The data are thematically and spatially consistent with the land-cover projections produced as part of the National Assessesment of Ecosystem Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes project. The combined data from the two projects thus provides consistent, annual land-cover maps from 1938 to 2100 for the conterminous US. Data characteristics and access through ScienceBase are as follows:

• Geographic Coverage – Conterminous United States
• Spatial Resolution – 250-meter pixel
• Thematic Resolution – 17 land-use and land-cover classes
• Temporal Resolution – Annual raster maps from 1938 through 1992

Data Access: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/59d3c73de4b05fe04cc3d1d1

Recommended Citation: Sohl, T.L., Reker, R., Bouchard, M., Sayler, K., Dornbierer, J., Wika, S., Quenzer, R., and Friesz, A., 2016, Modeled historical land use and land cover for the conterminous United States.  Journal of Land Use Science 11(4):476-499. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2016.1147619

Bird Species Modeling in the Conterminous United States:  Species distribution models often use climate change information to assess potential changes in bird species range in the future, but rarely use projected land use information. We used projected land use data, projected climate data, and information on current bird species' distributions to model the relative impacts of land use and climate on both current and future distributions. Results for 50 modeled species indicate that both climate and land-use change may strongly impact bird species distributions in the conterminous United States by 2075. Data characteristics and access through ScienceBase are as follows:

• Geographic Coverage – Conterminous United States
• Current and projected estimated range for 50 bird species
• Scenarios including climate change, land-cover change, and both
• Spatial Resolution – 250-meter pixel

Data Access: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5bb390e3e4b08583a5d75096

Recommended Citation: Sohl, T.L., 2014, The relative impacts of climate and land-use change on conterminous United States bird species from 2001 to 2075, PLoS ONE 9(11): e112251.

High-resolution, parcel-based modeling in the Great Plains:  A new version of FORE-SCE was developed to produce high spatial- and thematic-resolution land-cover projections across broad geographic areas, using real land ownership and management boundaries to mimic parcel-level change. Eleven land-use scenarios and 3 climate realizations are being modeled, with 33 unique scenario combinations. The Great Plains are being modeled in three individual regions, two of which are available for download.  Data characteristics and access through ScienceBase are as follows:

• Geographic Coverage – Great Plains (two of three regions currently complete)
• Spatial Resolution – 30-meter pixel
• Thematic Resolution – 29 land-use and land-cover classes, including crop type
• Temporal Resolution – 10-year intervals from 2014 through 2100
• Scenarios – 11 anthropogenic land-use scenarios and 3 climate realizations.

Prairie Potholes Access: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5b683db2e4b006a11f75b06a

Southern/Central Great Plains Access: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/59fc7d9be4b0531197b2ea75

Long-Term (1680-2100), high-resolution, parcel-based modeling in the Delaware River Basin:  The FORE-SCE model was used to generate land cover datasets reaching back in time to 1680 and forward in time to 2100 with similar spatial and thematic resolution to contemporary-era land use and land cover products. Historical reconstruction utilizes both spatial and nonspatial historical reference datasets. Future projections were conducted under multiple economic and climate scenarios. This prototype, conducting in the Delaware River Basin, demonstrates the results of an extensible modeling methodology with potential for national scale application. Data characteristics and access through ScienceBase are as follows:

• Geographic Coverage – Delaware River Basin 
• Spatial Resolution – 30-meter pixel 
• Thematic Resolution – 20 land-use and land-cover classes, including multiple crop types 
• Temporal Resolution – 10-year intervals from 1680 through 2100 
• Future Scenarios – 7 anthropogenic land-use scenarios, under 3 climate realizations (2018-2100)

Data Access: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/605c987fd34ec5fa65eb6a74 

Recommended Citation: Dornbierer, J.; Wika, S.; Robison, C.; Rouze, G.; Sohl, T. Prototyping a Methodology for Long-Term (1680–2100) Historical-to-Future Landscape Modeling for the Conterminous United States. Land 2021, 10, 536. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10050536