Land Cover 2005

U.S. Geological Survey

The North American Land Change Monitoring System (NALCMS) is a collaborative initiative among Canada, Mexico, and the United States to monitor land cover and its changes over time. The NALCMS is a dynamic land-cover monitoring system and a vital long-term information source for users of land-cover change products across North America.

The NALCMS data displayed in this map represents land cover based on 2005 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer monthly composites at 250-meter spatial resolution. Nineteen land-cover classes were defined using the Land Cover Classification System standard developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Multiple national agencies within each country collaboratively developed respective land-cover products for their national areas of stewardship. These were combined into a seamless continental product.

Courtesy of the National Atlas of the United States^®.

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