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.
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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.
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