This image shows the land cover types of the United States in different colors. Each land cover type plays a different role in carbon, climate, and water cycles. Land cover maps help scientists understand how human and natural activities affect the Earth system. Midwest
Grasslands that once covered much of the central United States have been converted to agricultural land. Expanding human populations will increase pressure on grassland ecosystems, and land cover mapping will be necessary to monitor both the extent and quality of farmland as well as to protect important plant and animal habitat. Northeast
Urban growth is a key land cover issue for the Northeast. Baltimore and Washington appear to be growing into a single urban corridor, replacing the few remaining patches of forest and mixed vegetation landscapes. Recent evidence that urbanization alters climate and rainfall patterns means mapping the urban areas will be important for land use planning and regional weather forecasting. Northwest
The expansive forests of the Pacific Northwest are an important ecological and commercial asset. Land cover mapping helps assess forest extent and quality. While urban sprawl may be the concern near Seattle, on the eastern slopes of the mountains, water availability for dry-land farming across the Columbia River Plateau is key. Rocky Mountains
Evergreen forests cover the slopes of the Rockies, while lowlands receive less moisture and support grasslands to the east and open shrublands to the west. Land use planners are battling urban sprawl along the Front Range in Colorado. Although dominated by Denver, other areas north and south hint at a rapidly expanding urban corridor. Land-cover mapping at the wildland-urban interface is important for resource management in fire-prone areas. Southeast
Farmlands and forests dominate the Southeast. Mapping land cover along coastal regions will become increasingly more important if sea levels continue to rise. In southern Florida, a blue patch of land marks one of the U.S.' largest remaining wetlands-the Florida Everglades. Its proximity to the Miami urban corridor to the east means land cover and land use must be carefully observed to maintain ecosystem quality. Southwest
Open shrubland dominates the semi-arid Southwest, with considerable amounts of barren or sparsely vegetated land as well. Different land cover types have varied influences on the regional water cycle. In an area where moisture is in short supply, large urban areas such as Los Angeles and agricultural areas must carefully plan water use. Accurate mapping of land cover is critical to regional climate models that forecast water resources, as well as for resource management in fire-prone areas, particularly at the wildland-urban interface. South-central US
The Mississippi River Valley looks vastly different than it would have three hundred years ago. Millions of acres of wetlands have been lost as humans have altered the river and its flood plain to create agricultural land along the river, contributing to catastrophic floods. Mapping land cover along river systems helps scientists predict where floods are likely to occur and to plan land cover change carefully. Launched December 18, 1999, Terra is the flagship of the Earth Observing System series of satellites and is a central part of NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise. The mission of the Earth Science Enterprise is to develop a scientific understanding of the Earth system and its response to natural and human-induced changes to enable improved prediction capability for climate, weather, and natural hazards. Images by Boston University and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center For more information and images, see: http://geography.bu.edu/landcover/index.html Lynn Chandler
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone: 301/286-2806)
Lynn.Chandler.1@gsfc.nasa.gov Bob Zalisk
Boston University, Boston, Mass.
(Phone: 617/353-7628)
bzalisk@bu.edu | 
