Description: High resolution land cover dataset for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and Delaware River Watershed including: Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Twelve land cover classes were mapped: (1) Water; (2) Emergent Wetlands; (3) Tree Canopy; (4) Scrub/Shrub; (5) Low Vegetation; (6) Barren; (7) Structures; (8) Other Impervious Surfaces; (9) Roads; (10) Tree Canopy over Structures; (11) Tree Canopy over Other Impervious Surfaces; (12) Tree Canopy over Roads; (0) Background. The primary sources used to derive this land cover layer: for Delaware 2014 leaf-off LiDAR data, 2012 leaf-off imagery, and 2013 leaf-on imagery; for New Jersey 2013 leaf-on orthoimagery, 2015 leaf-off orthoimagery, and 2006-2015 leaf-off LiDAR; for New York 2013 Leaf-On NAIP (1m resolution), 2015 Leaf Off Lidar (1m resolution) and 2015 Orthoimagery (1ft resolution); for Pennsylvania 2006-2008 leaf-off LiDAR data, 2005-2008 leaf-off orthoimagery, and 2013 leaf-on orthoimagery. Ancillary data sources included GIS data provided by Chesapeake Conservancy or created by the UVM Spatial Analysis Laboratory. Object-based image analysis techniques (OBIA) were employed to extract land cover information using the best available remotely sensed and vector GIS datasets. OBIA systems work by grouping pixels into meaningful objects based on their spectral and spatial properties, while taking into account boundaries imposed by existing vector datasets. Within the OBIA environment a rule-based expert system was designed to effectively mimic the process of manual image analysis by incorporating the elements of image interpretation (color/tone, texture, pattern, location, size, and shape) into the classification process. A series of morphological procedures were employed to insure that the end product is both accurate and cartographically pleasing. Following the automated OBIA mapping a detailed manual review of the dataset was carried out at a scale of 1:5000 and all observable errors were corrected.Twelve land cover classes and one background class were mapped:1 – Water2 - Emergent Wetlands3 - Tree Canopy4 - Scrub/Shrub5 - Low Vegetation6 – Barren7 – Structures8 - Other Impervious Surfaces9 – Roads10 - Tree Canopy over Structures11 - Tree Canopy over Other Impervious Surfaces12 - Tree Canopy over Roads0 – BackgroundThe complete class definitions and standards can be viewed at the link below.https://goo.gl/Ba4rhL
Copyright Text: This land cover dataset was developed by the University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Laboratory. Funding for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed portion was provided by the National Park Service and Environmental Protection Agency under a collaborative grant with the Chesapeake Conservancy. Funding for the Delaware River Watershed was provided by the William Penn Foundation under a collaborative grant with the Center for Land Use & Sustainability at Shippensburg University.