# USGS National Land Cover Database (NLCD) The [National Land Cover Database (NLCD)](https://www.usgs.gov/programs/national-geospatial-program/land-cover) offers comprehensive, nationwide land cover data at a 30-meter resolution, using Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery. It provides detailed information on characteristics like thematic classes (urban, agriculture, forest), impervious surfaces, and tree canopy cover. NLCD uses real-time data and supports a range of applications, including ecosystem health assessment, biodiversity mapping, climate change prediction, and land management policy development. Created by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium, led by the U.S. Geological Survey, NLCD data is freely available to the public. ## NLCD Land Cover Types * Forest * Water * Wetlands * Barren * Herbaceous * Shrubland * Perennial Ice/Snow * Developed * Planted/Cultivated --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.basin.global/appendix/land-cover-classification-and-ecosystem-typologies/ecosystem-classification-frameworks/usgs-national-land-cover-database-nlcd.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.