dataset · USA
NLCD 2021: USGS National Land Cover Database, 2021 release
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with several federal agencies, has now developed and released seven National Land Cover Database (NLCD) products: NLCD 1992, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2019, and 2021. Beginning with the 2016 release, land cover products were created for two-to-three-year intervals between 2001 and the most recent year. These products provide spatially explicit and reliable information on the Nation’s land cover and land cover change. NLCD continues to provide innov
Visit source ↗Source details
Licence: CC0-1.0
Evidence quality: 36.3
Listed in gee public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- land cover classification (30 m) · impervious surface percent (0-100) · impervious descriptor (road class and non-road impervious) · land cover change count (2001-2021) · first land cover change date · land cover change index · forest disturbance date (1986-2021) · shrub/grass-to-forest transition product
- Coverage docs-verified
- U.S. (Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico not yet updated in NLCD 2021) · 2021 land cover epoch (dataset dated 2021); change products span 2001-2021
- Resolution docs-verified
- 30 m pixel (all bands)
- Update frequency docs-verified
- Two-to-three-year release intervals since 2016; NLCD 2021 is update-based on the 2019 release
- Formats docs-verified
- Google Earth Engine ImageCollection (raster)
- Access docs-verified
- Free, public domain per USGS (metadata licence CC0-1.0); accessed via Google Earth Engine
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Land cover and impervious % baseline for FRA catchment runoff assessment · Impervious surface inputs for drainage strategy runoff coefficients · 2001-2021 land cover change context for habitat or BNG baseline reporting · Forest disturbance dating to support environmental due diligence on site history
- Audience llm-inferred
- flood consultants · drainage engineers · hydrologists · ecologists · GIS analysts · planners
Limitations
- Constraints docs-verified
- No 2021 updates for Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico · 2021 land cover and impervious products are unchanged from the 2019 release; only science products and change index are updated · Shrub-Forest and Herbaceous-Forest classes are spectral separations without extensive ecological validation · Requires Google Earth Engine access to use the collection
Evidence
- ee.ImageCollection('USGS/NLCD_RELEASES/2021_REL/NLCD')
- https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/USGS_NLCD_RELEASES_2021_REL_NLCD
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.