New Hampshire Land Cover Classification from Landsat Imagery

Land cover and land use classification for the state of New Hampshire at 30-meter resolution, featuring 23 distinct classes. The dataset was created by analyzing 12 Landsat Thematic Mapper scenes and incorporating over 2,600 training data points from new and archived field sites. It represents a snapshot of land conditions spanning from 1996 to 2001.

Use Cases

• Validating automated land cover classification algorithms using the 23 distinct land cover classes.
• Analyzing historical patterns of urban development or forest change across New Hampshire.
• Modeling habitat connectivity and fragmentation for wildlife conservation planning.
• Calibrating regional climate or hydrological models with historical land surface data.

Strengths

• Classification is based on a substantial ground truth dataset of over 2,600 training sites.
• Provides a consistent, statewide product at a moderate 30-meter spatial resolution.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData indicates established credibility.

Limitations

• The temporal coverage is a composite snapshot from 1996-2001, not a continuous time series.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata, with Data.gov showing 2026 and NASA showing 2001.
• Specific column names and the exact data structure within the provided file formats are unknown.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Analysis of 12 Landsat TM/ETM+ images supplemented by over 2,600 field-collected training sites.

Time Range

1996 to 2001

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:21:47.851842

Geography

State of New Hampshire, USA