Skip Links

USGS - science for a changing world

Fact Sheet 2014–3009

Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Using High-Resolution Digital Aerial Imagery To Map Land Cover

By Jennifer Dieck and Larry Robinson

Thumbnail of and link to report PDF (575 KB)Summary

The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) has used aerial photography to map land cover/land use on federally owned and managed lands for over 20 years. Until recently, that process used 23- by 23-centimeter (9- by 9-inch) analog aerial photos to classify vegetation along the Upper Mississippi River System, on National Wildlife Refuges, and in National Parks. With digital aerial cameras becoming more common and offering distinct advantages over analog film, UMESC transitioned to an entirely digital mapping process in 2009. Though not without challenges, this method has proven to be much more accurate and efficient when compared to the analog process.

First posted April 18, 2014

For additional information, contact:
Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
U.S. Geological Survey
2630 Fanta Reed Road
La Crosse, WI 54603
http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/

Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF). For best results viewing and printing PDF documents, it is recommended that you download the documents to your computer and open them with Adobe Reader. PDF documents opened from your browser may not display or print as intended. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.


Suggested citation:

Dieck, Jennifer, and Robinson, Larry, 2014, Using high-resolution digital aerial imagery to map land cover: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2014–3009, 4 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/fs20143009.

ISSN 2327-6932 (online)




Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

Take Pride in America logo USA.gov logo U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/fs/2014/3009/index.html
Page Contact Information: GS Pubs Web Contact
Page Last Modified: Tuesday, 29-Nov-2016 17:25:33 EST