Abstract:
A land cover change analysis data set is available on CD-ROM for the
St. Croix Estuary region of Maine (United States) and New Brunswick
(Canada). The data set uses Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery from
1985 to 1992 to provide regional change analysis.
Steady increases in coastal development bring with it non-point source
pollution, erosion and other
... environmental threats. Trying to improve
our understanding of these changes, the Coastal Change Analysis
Program (C-CAP) has strived to develop a nationally accepted,
standard protocol for monitoring land cover and habitat changes for
coastal regions of the U.S.
The St. Croix Estuary product consists of three parts: (1) a land
cover analysis of a Thematic Mapper image of 23 May 1985, (2) a land
cover analysis of a Thematic Mapper image of 26 May 1992, and (3) a
land cover change detection analysis between 1985 and 1992. Fifteen
land cover classes are defined for the land cover analyses, and 225
potential classes result from the various combinations of changes
between 1985 and 1992.
The 15 land cover classifications are:
1. Developed-High Intensity
2. Developed-Low Intensity
3. Cultivated Land
4. Grassland
5. Deciduous Forest
6. Evergreen Forest
7. Mixed Forest
8. Mixed Shrub/Scrub
9. Palustrine Woody Wetland
10. Estuarine Emergent Wetland
11. Palustrine Emergent Wetland
12. Palustrine Woody Wetland Mixed Scrub/Shrub
13. Marine/Estuarine Unconsolidated Shore
14. Bare Land
15. Water
The CD-ROM includes GeoVu display software, enabling users to select
and view a specific data set, browse the data documentation, identify
a geographic area of interest, and view the land-cover classification
codes.
The software will operate on any IBM-PC/AT or compatible personal
computer with MS Windows 3.1 and a compatible CD-ROM reader (2x or
faster). The software will also operate on UNIX. Minimum
requirements include 3 Mb of hard disk space to load and execute the
software. To save large files, a high capacity hard disk is also
necessary. A minimum of 8 Mb of RAM and a math copressor are also
recommended.
For more information and to order data products online, see the
National Oceanographic Data Center home page:
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov
[This summary was based on NOAA Environmental Information Bulletin
No. 95-5.] 
