Abstract: The National Land Cover Database 2001 tree canopy layer
was produced through a cooperative project conducted by the
Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium, a
partnership of federal agencies (www.mrlc.gov), consisting of
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the National Park
Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS). One of the primary goals of the
project is to generate a current, consistent, seamless, and
accurate National Land cover Database (NLCD) circa 2001 for the
United States at medium spatial resolution. This landcover map
and all documents pertaining to it are considered "provisional"
until a formal accuracy assessment can be conducted. For a
detailed definition and discussion on MRLC and the NLCD 2001
products, refer to <
http://www.mrlc.gov/>. The
NLCD 2001 is created by partitioning the U.S. into mapping
zones. A total of 66 mapping zones were delineated within the
conterminous U.S. based on ecoregion and geographical
characteristics, edge matching features and the size requirement
of Landsat mosaics. Zone 13 (the northeastern U.S.) consists of
mapping zones 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, and 66, which collectively
encompasses the entirety of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Delaware, and Maryland, as well as portions of Pennsylvania,
West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina.