USGS Releases Latest Edition Of The National Land Cover Database -- May 21, 2019

From a reader, thank you.

New maps, and who doesn't love maps!

Link here.

Today, the U.S. Geological Survey released the latest edition of the National Land Cover Database for the U.S. – the most comprehensive land cover database that the USGS has ever produced.

The NLCD 2016 documents land cover change in the Lower 48 states from 2001 to 2016. During this 15-year period, 7.6 percent of the conterminous U.S. changed land cover at least once.

The database includes seven maps that portray the nation’s land cover and class change for 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2016.

The maps sort each 30-meter plot of land across the country into 16 thematic classes such as pasture/hay, deciduous forest or cultivated crops. The NLCD 2016 also characterizes the fractional proportion of urban imperviousness and tree canopy, and for the first time, shrub, bare ground and grassland areas in the Western U.S.

Now, if the USGS would just around to publishing a new survey of the Bakken/Three Forks. LOL or should it be a frown? Whatever. When we do see a new survey of the Bakken/Three Forks, we will see a lot of tears of joy.

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The Book Page

My books for the next two weeks:

Mrs Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names, Stephen Moss, c. 2018. Brand new! The author is a Brit, living in England. Why does that not surprise me?

Washington Crossing, David Hackett Fischer, c. 2004. Part of the "Pivotal Moments in American History." This is a 564-page book on a single event, the crossing of the Delaware. Wow.

• maps: 19
• text: 379 pages
• appendices, A - X: 44 pages
• historiography: 35 pages
• bibliography: 29 pages
• abbreviations: 2
• notes: 56
• sources for maps:2
• acknowledgments: 3
• index: 14

Why Does E=MC2? (and why should we care), Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw, c. 2009