The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Geospatial Technology and Applications Center (GTAC) builds and maintains tree canopy cover (TCC) datasets. Scientific development of data, techniques, and algorithms for the TCC project are supported by the Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis program, which is part of USFS Research and Development. Because the TCC datasets are derived for all lands, including federal, state, and private lands, multiple divisions of the USFS contribute funding that supports the development and production of the TCC datasets and project outputs. These supporting USFS divisions include: National Forest Systems, State and Private Forestry, in addition to USFS Research and Development. The TCC datasets built by USFS/GTAC are Landsat-based and available at 30-m resolution for the conterminous United States, coastal Alaska in the southern portion of the state, Hawai'i, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The most recent TCC product suite is the 2016 TCC Product Suite, which was released in 2019 and includes several components. The 2016 TCC Product Suite includes:
TCC maps and data nominally for the years 2011 and 2016, in multiple versions, to serve multiple user communities. One of the versions is the TCC dataset built for the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) that is maintained by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC).
A TCC change layer that provides estimates of where and how much TCC change has occurred between the nominal years of 2011 and 2016 (included with the 2016 NLCD-TCC product).
Metadata for all products
See Table 1 for a tabular overview of the 2016 TCC Product Suite components.
Additional documentation describing the components of the 2016 TCC Product Suite (workflows, inputs, models, QC and review processes, etc.) is available at the bottom of this page.
In addition to the 2016 TCC Product Suite, a previous version of the 2011 TCC datasets built by the USFS (i.e., the “2011 TCC Product Suite”) is also archived and available below. The 2011 TCC products are the same as those released as part of the overall 2011 NLCD. Please note that the nominal 2011 products included in the 2016 Product Suite released in 2019 are updated and different datasets from the nominal 2011 products included in the 2011 TCC Product Suite that was originally released in 2014. The 2011 TCC Product Suite is provided for user communities who still need access to the previous iteration of the 2011 TCC products. See Table 2 for a tabular overview.
Table 1:
Components of the 2016 TCC Product Suite released in 2019
FS “Analytical” TCC
FS “Cartographic” TCC
NLCD TCC
Description:
Two-layer dataset, with modeled TCC values on every pixel, along with a standard error value + metadata
Closest to objective numerical model outputs
Masks are not applied to the Analytical version to clean up the visual appearance of the data. In the Analytical version, raw modeled tree cover in water bodies or non-tree croplands (e.g., center-pivot irrigated fields) may be present.
Data for the years of 2011 and 2016 are available
Description:
Single-layer dataset, with TCC values only (no standard error layer included) + metadata
TCC layer from the upstream “FS-Analytical” version of the product + application of masks to refine dataset visual appearance
Masks are applied to remove modeled TCC in water bodies, non-tree croplands, and in areas where the standard error is much higher than the TCC value itself. Essentially, pixels for which confidence in the pixel being tree-covered is very low are filtered out.
Data for the years of 2011 and 2016 are available
Description:
Three-layer dataset that is an integrated data stack (i.e., 2011 TCC + change = 2016 TCC for all pixels)
Data for the years of 2011 and 2016 are available, as well as estimated TCC change between the nominal years of 2011 and 2016
Produced by FS/GTAC as a partner in the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium (MRLC)
Primary User Community:
This version serves a user community that prizes statistics over visual appearance.
This community typically has access to advanced geospatial and statistical analysis resources.
Primary User Community:
This version serves a user community desiring better visual appearance of 2011 and 2016 timesteps for cartographic purposes.
Primary User Community:
This version serves a large part of the NLCD user community that desires:
an integrated data stack with 2011 TCC + change = 2016 TCC
an estimate of change beyond simple subtraction on all pixels, everywhere across all AOIs
maps with reasonable cartographic appearance, yet this user community is willing to trade minor visual artifacts for the integrated data stack, where values “line up” (i.e., 2011 TCC + change = 2016 TCC)
Components of the 2011 TCC Product Suite (released in 2014)
FS “Analytical” TCC
FS “Cartographic” TCC
Description:
Released in 2014 as part of the 2011 NLCD
Two-layer dataset, with modeled TCC values on every pixel, along with a standard error value + metadata
Closest to objective numerical model outputs
Masks are not applied to the Analytical version to clean up the visual appearance of the data. In the Analytical version, raw modeled tree cover in water bodies or non-tree croplands (e.g., center-pivot irrigated fields) may be present.
Data for the year 2011 are available
Description:
Released in 2014 as part of the 2011 NLCD
Single-layer dataset, with TCC values only (no standard error layer included) + metadata
TCC layer from the upstream “FS-Analytical” version of the product + application of masks to refine dataset visual appearance
Masks are applied to remove modeled TCC in water bodies, non-tree croplands, and in areas where the standard error is much higher than the TCC value itself. Essentially, pixels for which confidence in the pixel being tree-covered is very low, are filtered out.
Data for the year 2011 are available
Primary User Community:
This dataset serves a user community that prizes statistics over visual appearance and still needs access to the previous version of the 2011 TCC Products.
This community typically has access to advanced geospatial and statistical analysis resources.
Primary User Community:
This dataset serves a user community desiring better visual appearance of data for cartographic purposes and still needs access to the previous version of the 2011 TCC Products.
Q: Where can I find the 2001 NLCD tree canopy cover data? A: The 2001 data were actually produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), not the Forest Service. The Forest Service produced the tree canopy cover component of the NLCD for 2011 and 2016. We're currently working on building datasets for subsequent timesteps, post-2016. If you are seeking the 2001 NLCD tree canopy cover data, built by the USGS, you can find those data here: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5dfbcddfe4b0ff479b8c45a8.
Q: Are the TCC datasets available as public assets on Google Earth Engine (GEE)? A: The NLCD version of the TCC data is available within the “USGS/NLCD_RELEASES/2016_REL” public asset on GEE for convenience. Please note that the official source of NLCD data remains the MRLC website (www.mrlc.gov, then click “Data” in the menu at the top of the website). The FS Analytical and FS Cartographic versions are not available as public assets in GEE. Users will need to upload those versions of the data to their own asset space within GEE if they want to use the FS Analytical or FS Cartographic data in GEE.
Q: I've found what looks like a hard line in the data. What is that? A: The line may be due to seamlines that are rooted in Landsat path/rows used in the FS TCC production workflows for the 2016 product suite. Read more here.
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