Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

LCMAP Change Stories

Active
By Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection December 3, 2021

Sequoias Under Seige

See More

Phosphate Mining in Florida's Bone Valley

See More

Washaway Beach

See More

Disney World

See More

Palm Springs, CA

See More

Click "Science" above to see how we track change over time.

Land Cover Animation of Palm Springs, CA area
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Land cover animation of growth in the Palm Springs, CA area. 

Every pixel tells a story.

That’s because a Landsat pixel is more than a speck of satellite data. It’s a piece of ground on planet Earth. Ground that changes with the seasons, though the years, through assault by rapid disaster or the slow churn of natural cycles. Cities grow. Forests burn, then return. Lakes and rivers swell and shift.

That work of the USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) initiative takes place with this understanding top of mind. Its datasets use Landsat information to follow the land cover and change story of every pixel in the conterminous United States, year by year, from 1985 on.

In doing so, LCMAP data products open the door to a deeper understanding of our nation. Its deep time series approach also offers guidance to satellite-based land cover science, helping the research community to improve land cover mapping for the entire planet.

LCMAP Change Stories are designed to offer a small window into the wealth of possible inquiry made possible by the initiative’s approach to land cover mapping.

Click “Related Science” to explore these stories. You’ll see the impact of hurricanes and tornadoes, urban sprawl and industrial expansion, landslides and erosion, and much more. Check back for more stories as the months pass, and be sure to follow USGS EROS on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for news and updates.

Follow the links to see each LCMAP Change Story

link
color image of 2020 Castle Fire in California, as seen by USGS LCMAP SCSTAB data product

LCMAP Change Stories: Sequoias under Siege, Progression of a Wildfire

Sequoia National Park encompasses over 400,000 acres across the Sierra Nevada mountains. The park’s giant old growth sequoias are the largest trees in the world, growing 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter and 250 feet (76.2 m) tall over their 3,000-year lifespans.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Sequoias under Siege, Progression of a Wildfire

Sequoia National Park encompasses over 400,000 acres across the Sierra Nevada mountains. The park’s giant old growth sequoias are the largest trees in the world, growing 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter and 250 feet (76.2 m) tall over their 3,000-year lifespans.
Learn More
link
Flames consume woody fuels in a managed wildfire, New Mexico

LCMAP Change Stories: Where the Forests Fall, the Grasses Grow

The forests and rangelands of the Western U.S. face fire dangers on multiple fronts. The trees themselves provide fuel for wildfires, of course, but there are additional factors at play in this mountainous, forested stretch of land at the Idaho-Montana border.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Where the Forests Fall, the Grasses Grow

The forests and rangelands of the Western U.S. face fire dangers on multiple fronts. The trees themselves provide fuel for wildfires, of course, but there are additional factors at play in this mountainous, forested stretch of land at the Idaho-Montana border.
Learn More
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Outfitting the Ozarks

The meandering shoreline is the claim to fame for the Midwestern tourist oasis that is Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri. The Missouri Division of Tourism’s website leads its page on the state’s most popular visitor destination by noting that the lake’s 1,100 miles of freshwater coast are more than even California has to offer.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Outfitting the Ozarks

The meandering shoreline is the claim to fame for the Midwestern tourist oasis that is Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri. The Missouri Division of Tourism’s website leads its page on the state’s most popular visitor destination by noting that the lake’s 1,100 miles of freshwater coast are more than even California has to offer.
Learn More
link
color animation of land cover change in Indiana

LCMAP Change Stories: Crops Give Way to Concrete

Less than 15 miles separate the city of Plainfield from the nearby metropolis of Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana and the state’s largest urban center.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Crops Give Way to Concrete

Less than 15 miles separate the city of Plainfield from the nearby metropolis of Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana and the state’s largest urban center.
Learn More
link
Land Cover animation of Washaway Beach

LCMAP Change Stories: Where the Ocean Eats the Land

The unincorporated hamlet of North Cove, WA is the owner of a rather unfortunate superlative: fastest-eroding place in the West Coast.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Where the Ocean Eats the Land

The unincorporated hamlet of North Cove, WA is the owner of a rather unfortunate superlative: fastest-eroding place in the West Coast.
Learn More
link
Land Cover Animation of Palm Springs, CA area

LCMAP Change Stories: Building a Boomtown, Block by Block

The desert outpost of Palm Springs, California and the surrounding Thousand Palms region has experienced explosive population growth over the past four decades, with tract after tract of development filling in previously barren landscapes along Interstate 10.
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Building a Boomtown, Block by Block

The desert outpost of Palm Springs, California and the surrounding Thousand Palms region has experienced explosive population growth over the past four decades, with tract after tract of development filling in previously barren landscapes along Interstate 10.
Learn More
link
Land Cover animation of Oso Landslide

LCMAP Change Stories: Gone in 60 Seconds

At first glance, the most striking patterns in land cover change over time in this animation of the Oso, Washington area would appear to be forest harvest and regrowth, but a more dramatic change emerged in 2014.
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Gone in 60 Seconds

At first glance, the most striking patterns in land cover change over time in this animation of the Oso, Washington area would appear to be forest harvest and regrowth, but a more dramatic change emerged in 2014.
Learn More
link
LCMAP land cover animation of Disney World resort area

LCMAP Change Stories: It's a Sprawl World After All

The man-made Florida playland of Walt Disney World has grown outward on all sides since the amusement park’s construction commenced in the 1960s. Much of that growth has overtaken the wetlands, tree cover and grassland/shrublands near Orlando.
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: It's a Sprawl World After All

The man-made Florida playland of Walt Disney World has grown outward on all sides since the amusement park’s construction commenced in the 1960s. Much of that growth has overtaken the wetlands, tree cover and grassland/shrublands near Orlando.
Learn More
link
land change map for south Florida, 1992, showing day

LCMAP Change Stories: Hurricanes in the Everglades

When Atlantic hurricanes make landfall in south Florida, the coastal marshes and mangrove forests of the Everglades often act as a buffer that protects residents from rising sea levels, high winds and storm surge.
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Hurricanes in the Everglades

When Atlantic hurricanes make landfall in south Florida, the coastal marshes and mangrove forests of the Everglades often act as a buffer that protects residents from rising sea levels, high winds and storm surge.
Learn More
link
LCMAP Landcover Change Data Product showing Birmingham, Alabama area

LCMAP Change Stories: Alabama Tornadoes

The USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection initiative aims to identify where the landscape is changing and why.
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Alabama Tornadoes

The USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection initiative aims to identify where the landscape is changing and why.
Learn More

Check out our geonarrative.

LCMAP Assessment: Florida Phosphate Mining

Florida's Bone Valley is the source for about 60 percent of the phosphate mined in the U.S. for the production of chemical fertilizer. LCMAP data offers insight on the frequent land cover changes that accompany the mining process.

Click "Science" above to see how we track change over time.

Land Cover Animation of Palm Springs, CA area
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Land cover animation of growth in the Palm Springs, CA area. 

Every pixel tells a story.

That’s because a Landsat pixel is more than a speck of satellite data. It’s a piece of ground on planet Earth. Ground that changes with the seasons, though the years, through assault by rapid disaster or the slow churn of natural cycles. Cities grow. Forests burn, then return. Lakes and rivers swell and shift.

That work of the USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) initiative takes place with this understanding top of mind. Its datasets use Landsat information to follow the land cover and change story of every pixel in the conterminous United States, year by year, from 1985 on.

In doing so, LCMAP data products open the door to a deeper understanding of our nation. Its deep time series approach also offers guidance to satellite-based land cover science, helping the research community to improve land cover mapping for the entire planet.

LCMAP Change Stories are designed to offer a small window into the wealth of possible inquiry made possible by the initiative’s approach to land cover mapping.

Click “Related Science” to explore these stories. You’ll see the impact of hurricanes and tornadoes, urban sprawl and industrial expansion, landslides and erosion, and much more. Check back for more stories as the months pass, and be sure to follow USGS EROS on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for news and updates.

Follow the links to see each LCMAP Change Story

link
color image of 2020 Castle Fire in California, as seen by USGS LCMAP SCSTAB data product

LCMAP Change Stories: Sequoias under Siege, Progression of a Wildfire

Sequoia National Park encompasses over 400,000 acres across the Sierra Nevada mountains. The park’s giant old growth sequoias are the largest trees in the world, growing 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter and 250 feet (76.2 m) tall over their 3,000-year lifespans.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Sequoias under Siege, Progression of a Wildfire

Sequoia National Park encompasses over 400,000 acres across the Sierra Nevada mountains. The park’s giant old growth sequoias are the largest trees in the world, growing 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter and 250 feet (76.2 m) tall over their 3,000-year lifespans.
Learn More
link
Flames consume woody fuels in a managed wildfire, New Mexico

LCMAP Change Stories: Where the Forests Fall, the Grasses Grow

The forests and rangelands of the Western U.S. face fire dangers on multiple fronts. The trees themselves provide fuel for wildfires, of course, but there are additional factors at play in this mountainous, forested stretch of land at the Idaho-Montana border.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Where the Forests Fall, the Grasses Grow

The forests and rangelands of the Western U.S. face fire dangers on multiple fronts. The trees themselves provide fuel for wildfires, of course, but there are additional factors at play in this mountainous, forested stretch of land at the Idaho-Montana border.
Learn More
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Outfitting the Ozarks

The meandering shoreline is the claim to fame for the Midwestern tourist oasis that is Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri. The Missouri Division of Tourism’s website leads its page on the state’s most popular visitor destination by noting that the lake’s 1,100 miles of freshwater coast are more than even California has to offer.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Outfitting the Ozarks

The meandering shoreline is the claim to fame for the Midwestern tourist oasis that is Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri. The Missouri Division of Tourism’s website leads its page on the state’s most popular visitor destination by noting that the lake’s 1,100 miles of freshwater coast are more than even California has to offer.
Learn More
link
color animation of land cover change in Indiana

LCMAP Change Stories: Crops Give Way to Concrete

Less than 15 miles separate the city of Plainfield from the nearby metropolis of Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana and the state’s largest urban center.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Crops Give Way to Concrete

Less than 15 miles separate the city of Plainfield from the nearby metropolis of Indianapolis, the capital of Indiana and the state’s largest urban center.
Learn More
link
Land Cover animation of Washaway Beach

LCMAP Change Stories: Where the Ocean Eats the Land

The unincorporated hamlet of North Cove, WA is the owner of a rather unfortunate superlative: fastest-eroding place in the West Coast.
By
Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Where the Ocean Eats the Land

The unincorporated hamlet of North Cove, WA is the owner of a rather unfortunate superlative: fastest-eroding place in the West Coast.
Learn More
link
Land Cover Animation of Palm Springs, CA area

LCMAP Change Stories: Building a Boomtown, Block by Block

The desert outpost of Palm Springs, California and the surrounding Thousand Palms region has experienced explosive population growth over the past four decades, with tract after tract of development filling in previously barren landscapes along Interstate 10.
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Building a Boomtown, Block by Block

The desert outpost of Palm Springs, California and the surrounding Thousand Palms region has experienced explosive population growth over the past four decades, with tract after tract of development filling in previously barren landscapes along Interstate 10.
Learn More
link
Land Cover animation of Oso Landslide

LCMAP Change Stories: Gone in 60 Seconds

At first glance, the most striking patterns in land cover change over time in this animation of the Oso, Washington area would appear to be forest harvest and regrowth, but a more dramatic change emerged in 2014.
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Gone in 60 Seconds

At first glance, the most striking patterns in land cover change over time in this animation of the Oso, Washington area would appear to be forest harvest and regrowth, but a more dramatic change emerged in 2014.
Learn More
link
LCMAP land cover animation of Disney World resort area

LCMAP Change Stories: It's a Sprawl World After All

The man-made Florida playland of Walt Disney World has grown outward on all sides since the amusement park’s construction commenced in the 1960s. Much of that growth has overtaken the wetlands, tree cover and grassland/shrublands near Orlando.
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: It's a Sprawl World After All

The man-made Florida playland of Walt Disney World has grown outward on all sides since the amusement park’s construction commenced in the 1960s. Much of that growth has overtaken the wetlands, tree cover and grassland/shrublands near Orlando.
Learn More
link
land change map for south Florida, 1992, showing day

LCMAP Change Stories: Hurricanes in the Everglades

When Atlantic hurricanes make landfall in south Florida, the coastal marshes and mangrove forests of the Everglades often act as a buffer that protects residents from rising sea levels, high winds and storm surge.
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Hurricanes in the Everglades

When Atlantic hurricanes make landfall in south Florida, the coastal marshes and mangrove forests of the Everglades often act as a buffer that protects residents from rising sea levels, high winds and storm surge.
Learn More
link
LCMAP Landcover Change Data Product showing Birmingham, Alabama area

LCMAP Change Stories: Alabama Tornadoes

The USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection initiative aims to identify where the landscape is changing and why.
By
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection
link

LCMAP Change Stories: Alabama Tornadoes

The USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection initiative aims to identify where the landscape is changing and why.
Learn More

Check out our geonarrative.

LCMAP Assessment: Florida Phosphate Mining

Florida's Bone Valley is the source for about 60 percent of the phosphate mined in the U.S. for the production of chemical fertilizer. LCMAP data offers insight on the frequent land cover changes that accompany the mining process.

Was this page helpful?