Development of a systemic land cover/land use database for the Upper Mississippi River System derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data

Procedures were developed for using 1989 Landsat Thematic Mapper
data to map land cover/land use for the Upper Mississippi River
System (UMRS).  The procedures include image mosaicking,
projection, atmospheric correction, floodplain extraction,
classification, editing, quality assurance, and distribution.  The
mapping classes include water, aquatic vegetation, grasses/forbs,
woody terrestrial, agriculture, urban/developed, and sand. 
Acreage summaries are provided for the 35 navigation pools as well
as the open river reaches.  Classification error was assessed and
confidence limits were generated for each of the seven Landsat
scenes required to map the UMRS.  The database provides resource
managers throughout the UMRS with access to site-specific land
cover/land use information.  In addition, these data will be used
to verify the adequacy of LTRMP sampling designs and to evaluate
the spatial distribution of habitats throughout the system which
includes 1,137,035 hectares (2,809,575 acres).