Long-term Vegetation Assessment in Wyoming using Landsat Multi Spectral Scanner (MSS) Data

Metadata also available as - [Outline] - [Parseable text] - [SGML] - [DIF]

Frequently-anticipated questions:


What does this data set describe?

    Title:
    Long-term Vegetation Assessment in Wyoming using Landsat Multi Spectral Scanner (MSS) Data
    Abstract:
    Dataset: North American Landscape Characterization Landsat Multi Spectral Scanner (MSS) Triplicates. Complete coverage for Wyoming, 15 scenes. MSS has 79 m by 79m instantaneous field of view, data were resampled to 60m by 60m, and geometrically corrected to a UTM projection 1:100,000 map scale. The aerial extent of each scene is 185 km swath by 170 km along-track; however, orbit differences between Landsats 1, 2 and 3 and Landsats 4 and 5 reduce the size of each scene. Also available as a dataset is change of NDVI (see below). Images and change in NDVI are in georeferenced TIFF format. Changes corrected for precipitation variability will be available in the future.

    What the dataset was used for: to estimate the change in vegetation amount over time in Wyoming. We used three Landsat Multi Spectral Scanner (MSS) images, one from the early-to-mid 1970s, one from the mid 1980s, and one from the early 1990s. Vegetation amount is determined from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, defined as (Band 4 - Band 2)/(Band 4 + Band 2), where Band 4 covers near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths from 0.8 to 1.1 Fm and Band 2 covers red wavelengths from 0.6 to 0.7 Fm. NDVI saturates with one-sided leaf area indices (LAI) of 4 and higher; however, this is not a problem for Wyoming grasslands and shrublands have low LAI. NDVI varies from -1 to 1, and are converted into digital numbers (DN) by: 100 (NDVI+1), so the DN varies from 0 to 200.

    Change detection is estimated as the NDVI(1990) - 0.5[NDVI(1980) - NDVI(1970)] for each image, except for areas covered with snow, clouds, and shadows caused by clouds. If two dates were available for these areas, we subtracted the NDVI of the earlier date from the NDVI of the later date. The dates of acquisition were usually collected towards the end of the growing season, and usually during years of drought (for example: 1992, 1985, 1972). We have developed an algorithm using the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data from the EROS Data Center to adjust NDVIs to average precipitation amounts, but these corrections were not applied to this dataset.

  1. How should this data set be cited?

    Hunt, E. R., Jr. and M. M. Barlow., 1997, Long-term Vegetation Assessment in Wyoming using Landsat Multi Spectral Scanner (MSS) Data: Spatial Data and Visualization Center, Laramie, Wyoming.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -111.26477012
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -103.83670034
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 44.99903411
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.94837176

  3. What does it look like?

    <URL:http://www.sdvc.uwyo.edu/wbn/mss.hmtl> (html)
    web page describing the project

  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

    Beginning_Date: 1972
    Ending_Date: 1992
    Currentness_Reference: ground condition at times images were collected by satellites

  5. What is the general form of this data set?

  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?

    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Raster data set.

    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 12-13
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: .09996
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -107
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.0
      False_Easting: 500000.
      False_Northing: 0.0

      Planar coordinates are encoded using row and column
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 1
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.25.

  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    The change in NDVI files contain raster values of the expression, 100 + NDVI(1990's) - 0.5[NDVI(1980's) + NDVI(1970's)], where NDVI is the digital number from 0 to 200. Colors are assigned for the resultant digital numbers for the amount of change:

    0            white (edges, no data)
    1            black
    2 - 72       red (large decrease in vegetation amount)
    73 - 83      coral
    84 - 94      yellow
    95 - 105     thistle (no change)
    106 - 116    green
    117 - 127    cyan
    128 - 255    blue (large increase in vegetation amount)
    
    There are also three-band false-color composite images showing the scene area. The three bands are MSS Band 4 (NIR) displayed as red, MSS Band 2 (red) displayed as green, and MSS Band 1 (green, 0.5 to 0.6 Fm wavelengths) displayed as blue. The dates for the false-color composite TIFF files are:

    Yellowstone   08/26/92
    Cody          08/19/92
    Greybull      07/27/92
    Sheridan      09/17/74
    Sundance      09/05/91
    Jackson       08/26/92
    Pinedale      08/27/92
    Riverton      09/30/92
    Casper        09/30/92
    Lusk          09/21/91
    Fontenelle    07/26/92
    Rock Springs  08/12/92
    Rawlins       06/02/92
    Laramie       07/01/75
    Pine Bluffs   08/15/92
    
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: Not Available


Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)

  2. Who also contributed to the data set?

  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?

    Data Manager
    Spatial Data and Visualization Center
    Box 4008 University Station
    Laramie, Wyoming 82071
    USA

    307-766-2735 (voice)
    n/a

    Hours_of_Service: 8 AM to 5 PM MST


Why was the data set created?

This dataset was used for the purpose of estimating the change in vegetation amount over time in Wyoming.


How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

    images (source 1 of 1)
    EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, SD, unknown, North American Landscape Characterization Landsat Multi Spectral Scanner (MSS) Triplicates.

    Type_of_Source_Media: satellite images
    Source_Scale_Denominator: 100000
    Source_Contribution: raw data for calculating NDVI

  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

    Date: 1997 (process 1 of 1)
    The dataset was developed from 15 rows/paths covering Wyoming, 3 images each (one from the 1970's, one from the 1980's, and one from the 1990's). Change detection is estimated as the NDVI(1990) - 0.5[NDVI(1980) - NDVI(1970)] for each image, except for areas covered with snow, clouds, and shadows caused by clouds. If two dates were available for these areas, we subtracted the NDVI of the earlier date from the NDVI of the later date. Included is the name and dates of each of the images.

    Path 38 Row 29 (Yellowstone)   08/01/73, 08/02/86, 08/26/92
    Path 37 Row 29 (Cody)          08/01/73, 08/27/86, 08/19/92
    Path 36 Row 29 (Greybull)      07/25/74, 07/19/86, 07/27/92
    Path 35 Row 29 (Sheridan)      09/17/74, 08/29/86, 08/29/92
    Path 34 Row 29 (Sundance)      09/08/72, 09/17/84, 09/05/91
    Path 38 Row 30 (Jackson)       08/15/74, 08/15/85, 08/26/92
    Path 37 Row 30 (Pinedale)      08/06/72, 08/27/86, 08/27/92
    Path 36 Row 30 (Riverton)      07/30/73, 07/19/86, 07/27/92
    Path 35 Row 30 (Casper)        09/17/74, 10/16/86, 09/30/92
    Path 34 Row 30 (Lusk)          09/08/72, 09/17/84, 09/21/91
    Path 37 Row 31 (Fontenelle)    08/05/72, 08/08/85, 07/26/92
    Path 36 Row 31 (Rock Springs)  08/05/72, 08/17/86, 08/12/92
    Path 35 Row 31 (Rawlins)       07/01/75, 06/07/85, 06/02/92
    Path 34 Row 31 (Laramie)       07/01/75, 07/02/85, 07/05/92
    Path 33 Row 31 (Pine Bluffs)   08/19/72, 08/15/86, 08/15/92
    
    See the USGS metadata for Landsat MSS for more detailed description of collection and processing of the satellite imagery. <URL:http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/nsdi/html/landsat_mss/landsat_mss>

  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?


How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?

    This attribute accuracy statement is taken from USGS metadata for Landsat MSS:

    The identification of features is provided by the distinct electromagnetic energy it emits, reflects, or otherwise transmits. This is called the spectral signature. Other signatures are tone (lightnes or darkness), texture (surface roughness or smoothness), pattern, shadow, shape and size are as important. Thus, through the use of multispectral scanners, such elements as water features, soils, and vegetation can be identified and distinguished from each other.

  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

    MSS has 79 m by 79m instaneous field of view. Data were resampled to 60m by 60m, and geometrically corrected to a UTM projection 1:100,000 map scale.

    This accuracy statemend is taken from the USGS metadata for Landsat MSS:

    The MSS sensor scanned the Earth's surface from west to east as the satellite moved in its descending (north-to-south) orbit over the sunlit side of the Earth. Six detectors for each spectral band provided six scan lines on each active scan. The combination of scanning geometry, satellite orbit, and Earth rotation produced the global coverage necessary for studying land surface change. The resolution of the MSS sensor was approximately 80 m with radiometric coverage in four spectral bands from the visible green to the near-infrared (IR) wavelengths. Only the MSS sensor on Landsat 3 had a fifth band in the thermal-IR.

  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

    The Landsat platforms operate from a sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit imaging the same 185 km (115 miles) ground swath every 16 days (formerly 18 days on Landsats 1 through 3). Multispectral scanner (MSS) data were received directly from Landsats 4 and 5 by a network of 16 worldwide ground stations.

  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

    does not apply to imagery data


How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: none
Use_Constraints: none

  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)

    Data Manager
    Spatial Data and Visualization Center
    Box 4008 University Station
    Laramie, Wyoming 82071
    USA

    307-766-2735 (voice)
    n/a

  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

    The distributor shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of this data, based on the description of appropriate/inappropriate used described in this metadata document. The distributor makes no claims for the data's suitability for other purposes.

  4. How can I download or order the data?


Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: May-1998

Metadata author:
Margo Berendsen
Box 4008 University Station
Laramie, Wyoming 82071
USA

307-766-2751 (voice)
meh@uwyo.edu

Metadata standard:
FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)


This page is <http://www.wygisc.uwyo.edu/clearinghouse/metadata/mss.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.7.27 on Fri Sep 23 22:03:03 2005