Coastal Landcover Trends & Applications in the NW

Coastal Landcover

Trends (1996-2010)

& Application in the Northwest

eric.morris@noaa.govRemote Sensing Specialist

www.coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/

Regional Land Cover and Change Information• 25% of the contiguous U.S., authoritative source for coastal landcover

• Coastal expression of the NLCD (National Land Cover Database)

• NLCD is 90%+ C-CAP in coastal areas

• National snapshot, updated every five years (1996, 2001, 2006, 2011)

(Some areas go further back)

• Added focus on wetlands detail

• Produced through “change detection

and update” mapping

Historic Dates of C-CAP and Data Partnerships

1992 Era•Mid-Atlantic with Chesapeake Bay Program Office (CBPO) funded by NOAA

•Washington State funded by WA Department of Ecology

•Lake MI Basin funded by Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)

1985 and 1975 Eras•Funded by GLRI

Water Open Water Palustrine Aquatic Bed Estuarine Aquatic Bed

Wetlands Woody Wetlands Palustrine Forested Wetland Palustrine Scrub/Shrub Wetland Estuarine Forested Wetland Estuarine Scrub/Shrub Wetland Herbaceous Wetlands Palustrine Emergent Wetland Estuarine Emergent Wetland

Perennial Ice/Snow

Alaska Only Classes* Dwarf Scrub Sedge/Herbaceous Lichens Moss

Developed Developed, High Intensity Developed, Medium Intensity Developed, Low Intensity Developed, Open Space

Agricultural Cultivated Crops Pasture/Hay

Rangeland Grassland and Herbaceous Scrub / Shrub

Forest Land Deciduous Forest Evergreen Forest Mixed Forest

Barren Land Barren Land Unconsolidated Shore

Coastal Land Cover Classes

C-CAP Regional Land Cover Change Reports

9,687 mi2 change

(6% of the entire area)

Total Change

1996 to

2010

+ 8,887 mi2

Development

1996 to

2010

Forest1996

to 2010

WetlandNet Losses = 10 mi2

1996 to

2010

Partnership funded through a U.S. EPA grant to the

Washington State Department of Ecology.

Wetland Improvements Pilot

Wetland Modeling Background

Background:

•Improve wetland accuracies

•Use data & methods extendable nationally

•Align to FGDC wetland mapping standard

•Allow for multiple “wetland” definitions

•Integrate RS & ancillary data

Challenges:

•Non-Wetland wetlands

•Dense canopies

•Landsat scale not best for wetlands

•Ancillary data not nationally available

•Best data still has problems

NOAA Wetland Modeling MethodTwo-Step Process

•Step 1: Create a wetland potential surface– From nationally available / standard data sets

– Using strengths of each to overcome the weaknesses of others

•Inputs:– Gridded Soil Survey Geographic (gSSURGO) database– National Wetlands Inventory (NWI)– National Hydrography Dataset (NHD)– National Elevation Data (NED)– Landsat TM Imagery– Existing Land Cover and (C-CAP)

Potential SurfaceWA Example

Compared to gSSURGO input data

NOAA Wetland Modeling Method

• Step 2: Flag and correct– Potential surface used as a

mask to flag possible uplands or lowland switches

– Spectral thresholds other models fixes applied

Before and After of the Wetland Improvements

Potential Wetland / Upland Flips

Before and After example

C-CAP Land Cover Atlas (LCA)www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

Use Snohomish

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

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2005

1996-2005

2013

2005-2010

1990

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccapatlas/

1996-2001

2001-2005

2005-2010

www.coast.noaa.gov/ccap-comparison

coast.noaa.gov/ccap-comparison

Hi-Resolution C-CAP Land Cover

Oahu, 2011

• Applies nat’l framework for the local level• Consistent with C-CAP nat’l products• Allows for “hot spot” analysis• Exemplifies a cost-share model• Response to customer demand • Partner driven

Moderate Resolution (30m) High Resolution (2.4m)

C-CAP Change Matrix

High Resolution C-CAP Land Cover

2009 Lower Columbia Estuary

Longview, WA

Digital Coast Tools using C-CAP

• Coastal county Snapshots• Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper• Habitat Priority Planner (HPP)• Impervious Surface Analysis Tool (ISAT)• OpenNSPECT• Landscape Fragmentation Tool (UCONN’s CLEAR)

*Landscape Fragmentation Tool has been developed by the University of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education & Research (CLEAR)

www.coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast

Eric L. MorrisEric.Morris@noaa.gov

Questions?