Abstract
Human use of the land has a large effect on the structure of terrestrial ecosystems and the dynamics of biogeochemical cycles. For this reason, terrestrial ecosystem and biogeochemistry models require moderate resolution (e.g., ≤0.5°) information on land use in order to make realistic predictions. Few such data sets currently exist. To create a land use data set of sufficient resolution, we developed models relating land cover data derived from optical remote sensing and a census database on land use for the conterminous United States. The land cover product used was from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme DISCover global product, derived from 1 km advanced very high resolution radiometer imagery, with 16 land cover classes. Land use data at state-level resolution came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Major Land Uses database, aggregated into four general land use categories: Cropland, Pasture/Range, Forest, and Other. We developed and applied models relating these data sets to generate maps of land use in 1992 for the conterminous United States at 0.5° spatial resolution.
Department
Earth Sciences, Earth Systems Research Center
Publication Date
9-2001
Journal Title
Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Publisher
Wiley
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1029/2000GB001299
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Hurtt, G. C., L. Rosentrater, S. Frolking, and B. Moore III (2001), Linking remote-sensing estimates of land cover and census statistics on land use to produce maps of land use of the conterminous United States, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 15(3), 673–685, doi:10.1029/2000GB001299.
Rights
Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union.