WISCLAND Land Cover

Abstract: The WISCLAND (Wisconsin Initiative for Statewide Cooperation on Landscape Analysis and Data) Land Cover data set is a raster representation of vegetation/land cover for the state of Wisconsin. The source data were acquired from the nationwide MRLC (Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium) acquisition of dual-date Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data primarily from 1992. The image processing technique followed was published in the UMGAP Image Processing Protocol (1998). The original pixel size of the source TM data is 30 meters, however the classified WISCLAND Land Cover data (excluding URBAN) are generalized or smoothed to an area no smaller than four contiguous pixels (equivalent to approximately one acre). The result of this smoothing is that any feature five acres or larger may be resolved in the data (i.e., Minimum Mapping Unit (MMU) of five acres). The Land Cover data are usable at nominal scales of 1:40,000 to 1:500,000 for a wide variety of resource management and planning applications. The classification scheme was designed to be compatible with existing classification schemes such as UNESCOs and Andersons.

Purpose Description: These data can be used for landscape scale analysis in various disciplines such as wildlife ecology, forestry, or land use planning. The data have been developed for inclusion in the Gap Analysis Program. The data should be used at a scale of at least 1:40,000. It is also suggested that the data be used at no less than the five acre MMU.

Access Constraints: None

Use Constraints: None; Recommendations/guidelines documented.

Currentness Reference: Publication date of source data

Geographic Extent: Statewide

Native Data Environment: TIFF image file

Maintenance Update Frequency: Maintenance based on user feedback

Progress Type: Complete

Beginning Date: 1991

Ending Date: 1993

Process Step Description: The geo-rectified MRLC data were processed according to the protocol published in the UMGAP Image Processing Protocol (1998), found at http://www.emtc.nbs.gov/umgaphome.html. The classified data (except URBAN) were generalized from their original 30-meter resolution to a one acre area of any four contiguous like pixels using a clump-sieve-fill algorithm devised within Imagine and described in detail within the in-house technical procedures document. Strata were clipped at the SCCU boundary, converted from Imagine v.8.3 files into ARC/INFO Grids, projected into WTM NAD83 with adjustment for 91, and then joined for continuous coverage.

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