ABSTRACT: The U.S. National Land Cover Database (NLCD) encompasses three main products of landcover, urban imperviousness and tree canopy. NLCD was designed to provide five-year updates of product change. NLCD 2016 is expanding to include additional products of percent shrub, herbaceous and bare ground. NLCD 2016 land cover will also provide an increased frequency of two- to three-year product updates from 2001 to 2016, with new datasets that aid interpretation of the landcover change over time. The new NLCD landcover design incorporates four fundamental concepts of production including: spectral analysis, use of ancillary data with expert knowledge, shape and context, and succession and trajectory. These combine to create a land cover change product that is repeatable, consistent, and accurate, and that lays the foundation for the next generation of NLCD. In this talk, the NLCD 2016 design and product offerings will be overviewed, with special emphasis on what users can expect with the new landcover product.
