Development of a systemic land cover/land use database Laustrup, M. S., and C. D. Lowenberg. 1994. Development of a systemic land cover/land use database for the Upper Mississippi River System derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data. National Biological Survey, Environmental Management Technical Center, Onalaska, Wisconsin, May 1994. LTRMP 94-T001. 103 pp. (NTIS # PB94-186889) ABSTRACT Procedures were developed for using 1989 Landsat Thematic Mapper data to map land cover/land use for the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). The procedures include image mosaicking, projection, atmospheric correction, floodplain extraction, classification, editing, quality assurance, and distribution. The mapping classes include water, aquatic vegetation, grasses/forbs, woody terrestrial, agriculture, urban/developed, and sand. Acreage summaries are provided for the 35 navigation pools as well as the open river reaches. Classification error was assessed and confidence limits were generated for each of the seven Landsat scenes required to map the UMRS. The database provides resource managers throughout the UMRS with access to site-specific land cover/land use information. In addition, these data will be used to verify the adequacy of LTRMP sampling designs and to evaluate the spatial distribution of habitats throughout the system which includes 1,137,035 hectares (2,809,575 acres). KEYWORDS Landsat Thematic Mapper, satellite, land cover/land use mapping, Upper Mississippi River System, classification, accuracy assessment