Chesapeake Bay Land Use/Land Cover and Change Data
Empowering Data-Driven Decision Making
The Chesapeake Bay Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) Database provides unprecedented detailed, high-resolution, 1-meter spatial classification maps across the entire watershed and adjacent counties. Developed through a collaboration between the Chesapeake Conservancy, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Lab (UVM SAL), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Chesapeake Bay Program, these foundational, authoritative, and transformative data monitor the landscape and its management throughout the region. Spanning three time periods, these data supply policymakers and conservationists with precise data and trends for better decision making. These comprehensive and versatile datasets include 56 detailed land use classes and 11 unique land cover types that can be used to address complex land management challenges, community planning strategies, conservation efforts, flood predictions, and environmental restoration work across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
These data are unique in both the spatial and categorical resolution they hold. This project is the largest dataset for open LULC data at a 1-meter resolution, boasting 900 times more detail than the readily available 30-meter resolution National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD). Additionally, the CBP 1-meter LULC data has over 50 unique classes, providing more categorical context than the 13-class CBP land cover data or the 17-class NLCD data. This detailed classification scheme is necessary to ensure these data are widely applicable for supporting data-driven decision-making by the Chesapeake Bay Program and other regional stakeholders.
The LULC data are 95% accurate and, when used in combination with the new Hyper-Resolution Hydrography Data, can be used to track progress toward multiple goals and outcomes in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. In addition, these data inform the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) planning efforts, helping watershed jurisdictions meet their pollutant reduction goals.
Land use/land cover changes over time due to natural events like severe storms and flooding, as well as human activities such as agriculture, housing and business development, and timber harvests. Monitoring these changes provides insights into development patterns and habitat alterations that inform evidence-based strategies and policies. From 2013 to 2022, our data accurately tracks patterns of change, capturing 96% of LULC changes with a mapped accuracy of 77%. These data, covering 99,000 square miles across three time periods, have undergone extensive review to ensure accuracy and consistency and uniquely demonstrate how 1-meter high-resolution LULC and change data can be produced at scale with streamlined classification practices that promote consistency and comparability over space and time.
Chesapeake Bay watershed LULC Snapshot:
- 62% natural lands (forests and wetlands)
- 18% agriculture (cropland, pasture, and hay)
- 12% developed (roads, structures, parking lots, turf grass, and other developed lands)
- The majority of developed lands are pervious surfaces (turf grass, trees over turf grass, and other developed lands)
- 40% are hard surfaces and impervious, of these:
- 30% are roads
- 21% are structures
- 40% are parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks
- 10% fall into any of these categories but are covered by the canopy of nearby trees
2024 Database User Guide
Visit our LULC Viewer to access county-scale LULC data. State-scale mosaics can be found at the ScienceBase release.
LULC Viewer
LULC Change from 2013/14 - 2021/22
