New High-Resolution Land Cover Data
NOAA is announcing the availability of new, high-resolution land cover data—used to document key geographic and landscape features covering Earth’s surface—for coastal communities across the country. This new data can be used to improve planning for sea level rise, protect communities from flooding, inform wetland restoration projects, and enable other activities to build climate resilience.
The new land cover data has 1-meter resolution, making the product 900 times more detailed than the traditional land cover available for the nation. “The higher resolution product is something local leaders have been asking about for years, but it is often prohibitively expensive for communities to acquire this type of data,” says Rick Spinrad, PhD, NOAA administrator. “Technological advances and funding supplied through the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are allowing NOAA to acquire comprehensive land cover data to meet the needs of coastal communities.”
For this project, $8 million was provided to NOAA from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Partnerships with the private sector and other organizations also contributed to this effort. The funding allowed for the bulk purchase of land cover data from private sector vendors, which means coastal communities previously unable to obtain these important information resources now have equal access.
Geographic coverage of NOAA’s high-resolution Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) land cover data
Land cover data is frequently used in coastal management applications, and is the backbone of key predictive models for sea level rise and stormwater management. Initial data layers, now released, focus on impervious surfaces, tree canopy, and water features.
Impervious Surfaces
Impervious surfaces include buildings, parking lots, and roads developed from asphalt, concrete, or other constructed surfaces, but can also include unpaved roads and similar features (driveways, parking areas, etc.) that are highly trafficked and often compacted, leading to their functioning like a paved, impervious surface.
Explore the map to the right to see the impervious features in your coastal geography. You can pan, zoom, and even search for a specific location or address
Canopy Features
Canopy features include woody vegetation. If that vegetation is greater than 5 meters (15 feet) in height, it is considered a tree, while vegetation below 5 meters is considered scrub/shrub.
Explore the map to the right to see the shrub and tree features in your coastal geography. You can pan, zoom, and even search for a specific location or address
Water Bodies
Water bodies include features such as rivers, ponds, lakes, and the ocean.
Explore the map to the right to see the water body features in your coastal geography. You can pan, zoom, and even search for a specific location or address
Putting the Pieces Together
The above impervious, canopy, and water data represent just the first step for NOAA in achieving our larger vision of monitoring coastal land cover change at this level of detail. We are already taking the next steps, building upon these foundational data layers, to create a full-scheme C-CAP land cover data offering, which includes up to 20 data categories and up to nine wetland types.
Explore the map to the right, which compares that 20-category high-resolution land cover (left side) to our past 30-meter mapping (right side). NOAA’s goal is to complete this mapping for all coastal areas prior to 2026, when future updates would begin. This example is from Hillsborough County in the Tampa, Florida area.
Access the Data
The data is available for download from NOAA’s Digital Coast website. The C-CAP Version 2 High-Resolution Data Download page provides links to download each layer for coastal states.
Visit the C-CAP High-Resolution Land Cover homepage to learn more about our data and how land cover can support many critical applications to understand and address coastal change, such as:
- Assessing flood risk
- Developing predictive models
- Understanding land use impacts
- Documenting land cover change
- Modeling for stormwater management
- Fostering tree equity
- Hydrodynamic modeling
- Site mapping for development and infrastructure
- Studying urban forestry
- Wetland mapping
- Wetland restoration monitoring
- Monitoring urban heat islands
