Massachusetts Coastal Land Cover Classifications from 1996

1994-1996 land cover classifications for the Massachusetts coastal zone, derived from 10 full or partial Landsat Thematic Mapper scenes. The data was produced by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics program for the Coastal Change Analysis Project to establish environmental baselines. It was later reprojected into the Massachusetts State Plane coordinate system by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management in October 2006.

Use Cases

• Analyze land cover change by comparing 1994-1996 classifications against later C-CAP data.
• Map coastal habitats like wetlands and forests using the land cover classification codes.
• Validate land use models for Massachusetts using the state-plane projected geospatial data.

Strengths

• Derived from 10 Landsat TM scenes, providing multi-scene coverage.
• Reprojected to a standard state coordinate system (NAD83 / Massachusetts State Plane) for regional analysis.

Limitations

• Data is from 1994-1996, making it temporally stale for current analysis.
• Specific classification schema, row counts, and file formats are not detailed in the description.

Provenance

Source

Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) program, Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP).

Collection Method

Analysis of Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite imagery according to C-CAP protocol.

Time Range

1994-1996 (specific scene dates range from 09/12/1994 to 07/29/1996).

Freshness

1996-07-29

Geography

Coastal zone of Massachusetts, United States.