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1999 Arkansas Statewide LULC Pilot

 

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1999 Arkansas Statewide LULC Pilot

In 1998 the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) provided funding to the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies at the University of Arkansas to develop 3-season digital land-use/land-cover maps focusing on agricultural land-use for the 75 counties of Arkansas. Moderate resolution satellite imagery: Landsat Thematic Mapper 5 (TM5) imagery was the chief data source for producing the digital LULC maps. Extensive ground-truth data was also collected to aid in the land-use/cover classification process. Combined with existing spatial data, the information produced from this project will serve as a basis for the formulation of water and soil resource management policies and practices.

Overall, the results of the study are quite positive. The crop accuracies achieved in this study exceeded those of all previous crop mapping studies conducted in Arkansas, including those for the 1992 MAVA-LULC study. The dataset produced for this project has several deficiencies mostly dealing with issues of resolution. Increased frequency in temporal resolution offers the most promise for improving agricultural studies. An increase in spectral resolution: hyperspectral sensors, or the addition of thermal IR data, will also improve future agricultural land-use mapping projects. Fine spectral detail will allow analysts to detect subtle differences between and within various crop types, making it feasible to conduct large-scale studies of crop varieties.

The data products generated for the project are not intended for site specific planning or research. They were designed primarily for planning and research at the county, regional, or statewide level. The 1999 LULC datasets should be of particular interest to those studying land-use change or land-cover changes. This dataset fits well with the 1992 LULC data for the 27 counties of the Mississippi of Arkansas with only minimal reclassification.

 

            Differences in Aquaculture acreage (in blue) between 1992 on left and 1999 on right. 

Final datasets can be accessed on GeoStor, Arkansas' online spatial data source on the world wide web. be sure to use the keyword "LULC" in GeoStor's "Find Data" tool. The original project home page, the final project report, some sample images, as well as a downloadable county map series for the LULC data are available online. For more information about the 1999 LULC study or for further information about remote sensing activities at CAST, please contact Turn on JavaScript!.