USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Badlands National Park, South Dakota [and associated files]

Von Loh, Jim; Cogan, Dan; Faber-Langendoen, Don; Crawford, Doug; Pucherelli, Michael

The USGS Biological Resources Division (USGS/BRD) in cooperation with the Inventory and Monitoring Program of the National Park Service has initiated a multi-year project to classify, describe, and map vegetation for 250 national parks. As a contractor under this program, the Bureau of Reclamation’s Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Group with assistance from The Nature Conservancy has classified and mapped the vegetation occurring in and around Badlands National Park (near Interior, South Dakota). Twenty-three vegetation map classes and ten Anderson Level II land-use classes were used for interpretation of approximately 1.3 million acres encompassing the Park (approximately 242,755 acres) and surrounding environs. From this, approximately 0.9 million acres in and around the Park were digitally transferred into a Geographic Information Systems database. Vegetation map classes were determined through extensive field reconnaissance, data collection, and analysis in accordance with the National Vegetation Classification System. The vegetation map was created from photographic interpretation of 1997, 1:12,000 scale color infrared aerial photography (0.5 hectare minimum mapping unit). All vegetation and land-use information was then transferred to 1995, black-and-white USGS digital orthophoto quarter-quads using a combination of on-screen digitizing and scanning techniques. Arc/Info™ (ESRI, Inc.) software was used throughout the project for digitizing, scanning, transforming, registering, and plotting the interpreted data. Overall map accuracy for the entire mapping effort was assessed at 80.6% (78.2% Kappa Index). Final map products comply with national map accuracy standards, are described in this report.

USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Badlands National Park, South Dakota [and associated files]

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