Alaska Land Cover Mapping Project

Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: U.S.G.S. EROS Alaska Field Ofice/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Publication_Date: 19990526

Title: Alaska Land Cover Mapping Project

Edition: 1

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: remote-sensing image

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Anchorage AK

Publisher: USGS-EROS Alaska Field Office

Online_Linkage: <http://agdc.usgs.gov>

Description:

Abstract:

Since the early 1980's the EROS Alaska Field Office (AFO) has been involved in the acquisition, classification, and analysis of digital land cover data over the State of Alaska, and to a limited extent, northwestern Canada and Wrangle Island, Russia. The digital data currently covers approximately 77% of the land and water within the boundaries of the State of Alaska. These data are currently being made available via the AFO web site to land managers and researchers who may be interested in land cover conditions over various portions of Alaska. The land cover maps as a result of digital analysis of Landsat multispectral scanner, Landsat thematic mapper, and SPOT multispectral scanner satellite data. Some data however, are missing from the database due to data degradation on storage media or loss of data tapes, although a limited number of hard copy map products may be in existence, for example, U.S. Forest Service land cover data for southeast Alaska. The land cover data are stored online in a series of directories and are available via the web. Each directory name is indicative of the area for which the land cover data exists. Some directories connote a U.S. Geological Survey 1:250,000 quadrangle (for example, anchorage_int), while others indicate a particular project area (for example, anwr represents Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) or the agency responsible for producing the data. For example, nowitna.fws indicates that the data were produced for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Directories with an '_int' suffix denote that the data correspond to the Interim Landcover Mapping project. Each directory contains five files with the following extensions: .bil, .blw, .hdr, .prj, and .stx. As a group, one or more of the files can be read by most image analysis and GIS software packages. The .bil file contains the binary raster land cover data and the others are ASCII files. The .bil file does not contain any header or footer records, and can be easily imported into image processing software by using the information contained in the .blw and .hdr files. The .blw file provides pixel size information as well as the upper left corner coordinate. The .hdr contains number of rows and columns of the data set, as well as band format (band interleave). The .prj file gives projection information, and the .stx file gives information on minimum/maximum/ mean values of the data. Projection parameters for the data sets are either in Universal Transverse Projection (UTM) or Alaska Albers Equal Area Conic.

Purpose:

The data base provides researchers and managers a central area to obtain this information and is continuously being updated as new data become available. Access to the data may be found at <http://agdc.usgs.gov>.

Supplemental_Information:

Nowitna National Wildlife refuge Landcover Class Legend

Class Class Name ----- ---------- 1 Closed needleleaf forest 2 Open needleleaf forest 3 Needleleaf woodland 4 Broadleaf forest/tall scrub 5 Mixed forest 6 Lowland broadleaf scrub 7 Subalpine broadleaf scrub 8 Dwarf shrub-graminoid tussock peatland 9 Prostrate dwarf shrub tundra 10 Graminoid marsh-meadow 11 Clear water/aquatic forb 12 Turbid water 13 Scarcely vegetated floodplain/mud flat 14 Scarcely vegetated scree 15 Turbid water 16 Shadow 17 No class 18 Digitized hydrography 19 Alluvial scrub

Talbot, S.S., and Markon, C.J., 1986. Vegetation mapping of Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska using Landsat MSS digital data, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 52:791-799.

***** Spatial Reference Information (Beg) *****

Projection Parameters

Spatial Information Raster: Number of Columns: 3800 Number of Rows: 3600 Pixel Resolution (m): 50 Data Type: byte

***** Spatial Reference Information (End) *****

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 19800501

Ending_Date: 20000201

Currentness_Reference: publication date

Status:

Progress: In work

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: 0

East_Bounding_Coordinate: 0

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 0

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 0

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE> Land Use/Land Cover

Theme_Keyword: Land Use/Land Cover

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: U.S.A. > Alaska

Place_Keyword: Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge

Temporal:

Temporal_Keyword_Thesaurus: USGS/EROS/Alaska Field Office

Temporal_Keyword: 1980 -1999

Access_Constraints: None Known

Use_Constraints:

Full acknowledgement given to data owner/producer, or the EROS Alaska Field Office

Browse_Graphic:

Browse_Graphic_File_Name: None

Browse_Graphic_File_Description: None

Browse_Graphic_File_Type: None

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Raster

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Data Base Administrator

Contact_Organization: U.S.G.S EROS Alaska Field Office

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: 4230 University Dr.

City: Anchorage

State_or_Province: AK

Postal_Code: 99508-4664

Country: U.S.A.

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 786-7000

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 907-786-7036

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: agdcweb@usgs.gov

Distribution_Liability:

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 19990526

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Data Base Administrator

Contact_Organization: U.S.G.S EROS Alaska Field Office

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: 4230 University Dr.

City: Anchorage

State_or_Province: AK

Postal_Code: 99508-4664

Country: U.S.A.

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 786-7000

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 907-786-7036

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: agdcweb@usgs.gov

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998