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Arkansas Land Use/Land Cover

 

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The Arkansas Land Use / Land Cover Mapping Project


Project History: Since 1999, three statewide land use / land cover (LULC) mapping projects have been conducted for the state of Arkansas.  This map series was created from satellite imagery and represents a detailed mapping of Arkansas' landscape since 1999. The results of the LULC mapping program can be accessed by study year: 1999, 2004, and 2006.  The datasets provide a way for a wide variety of users, such as natural resource managers, urban planners, educators, as well as academic and private researchers in the natural and social sciences, to assess important economic, agricultural, and environmental changes across Arkansas.  The digital map datasets were created by researchers at the University of Arkansas' Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST), with funding from the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) and AmericaView.

Purpose: Land use maps are an essential component of land and natural resource planning efforts.  However, because these maps are infrequently updated, dynamic landscape changes such as urban expansion may not be adequately represented.  The Arkansas Land Use / Land Cover (LULC) Project is working to provide up-to-date land use information in a scale and format that has wide applicability to many end users.  The production of regularly-scheduled and categorically consistent digital land use databases is a worthy goal and a practical one for many stakeholders.

Most of the social and natural resource challenges facing Arkansans are related, either directly or indirectly, to landscape characteristics.  "Land cover" refers to what actually covers the land surface and includes categories such as forest, water, etc.  The term "land use" refers to how the land is being used or modified by human activity and includes categores such as single family residential, soybean field, etc.  Because landscape changes and their effects take place in both space and time, regularly updated LULC maps present the public with a doubly useful source of information.  With the aid of spatial analysis tools, LULC datasets can be used to identify meaningful spatial and temporal patterns.

The 2006 LULC dataset is the latest in an ongoing effort to map the landscape of Arkansas.  This new digital map is a continuation of a project of the initial statewide LULC created for the year 1999.  In 1996 the pilot MAVA-LULC (Mississippi Alluvial Valley of Arkansas - Land Use & Land Cover) project was completed for 27 counties in eastern Arkansas which depicted the landscape of the Delta in 1992. Maps from these different times can be used to see how land use has changed.  For example, between 1992 and 2004 the amount of land used for aquaculture (fish farms) in Chicot county in southeast Arkansas jumped from 8,453 acres to 20,862 acres.  In that same time period on the Grand Prairie of Arkansas, an important rice growing region, rice production went from 228,974 acres in 1992 to 209,138 acres in 2004.  The data also show considerable urban growth in Pulaski county in central Arkansas.  Land use in the high density urban category (industrial and commercial lands) went from 18 mi2 in 1992 to just under 29 mi2 in 2004.  Similar urban growth has taken place in Northwest Arkansas.  The three projects have been funded by the Arkansas state legislature with the support of a number of state senators and representatives.  During that time ANRC and CAST also collaborated on the production of other important natural resources digital data sets including new, extensive soil maps for the 75 counties of Arkansas.  ANRC and other state agencies recognize the value of spatial data, and use it in their various programs.

Land use Maps are useful for monitoring urban growth. The two images above depict urban growth (shown in shades of red) occuring in the greater Little Rock area between 1984 and 2006.

Data Specifics: The LULC data was derived from moderate resolution satellite imagery from the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor onboard the Landsat 5 satellite.  The TM sensor measures reflected and emitted energy from the Earth's surface, views the landscape from an altitude of 438 miles, and travels in a polar orbit around the Earth at a speed of approximately 4 miles per second.  The satellite images the same area on the Earth's surface every 16 days.  CAST, through its participation in the AmericaView consortium, receives a substantial discount on the price of satellite imagery.  More information about ArkansasView and its parent organization AmericaView can be found on their websites.  The LULC datasets should be of particular interest to those studying land use or land cover changes.  If plans to map the landscape of Arkansas on a regular basis are made a reality, it will provide means for end users of the data to spot trends, identify potential future challenges, and to make more informed decisions. The data can be accessed on GeoStor, Arkansas' online spatial data warehouse.

LULC data for specific watersheds, including pie charts comparing 1999, 2004, and 2006 data, can be found here.

Contact: For more information about LULC mapping in Arkansas please contact Turn on JavaScript! or Turn on JavaScript!.   An informative bulletin on LULC mapping was developed and released through the National Consortium for Rural Geospatial Innovations and can be found here.