Development of 2016 national imperviousness product

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Land Cover Database (NLCD) has been developed to provide consistent land cover products for the nation since 2001. The database includes land cover, percent impervious surface, and percent tree canopy. The percent impervious surface area (ISA), which was estimated with satellite imagery and represents the fraction of impervious area in a 30 m grid, has been used to quantify urban land cover types and extents. Changes of land cover and impervious surface that have occurred during these 5-year intervals since 2001 are also provided. This study focused on new strategies that have been developed for producing NLCD 2016 imperviousness product. The method updates ISA change following Landsat footprints using both NOAA's VIIRS and Landsat 8 images in circa 2016. The method has been applied in five different geographic locations in the United States. Analyses of ISA changes associated with urban developments in these five pilot areas have also been performed.