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New Dataset: Explore U.S. Environmental Summaries and Land Cover Data on Social Explorer
TUESDAY, JAN 16, 2018
You can now explore the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) environment data in Social Explorer's reports and maps. NHGIS computed 2001, 2006 and 2011 land cover summaries for counties and census tracts from satellite imagery or aerial photography by assigning each pixel to a type of land cover, such as vegetation, wetlands, water, etc. (Learn more about the data source here.) Data scientists at Social Explorer prepared all the land cover summaries.
These data are available for 2000, 2010 and 2015 geographical boundaries. Now, Social Explorer users can learn about 16 different kinds of land use types–from barren lands to high intensity developed areas and open waters to cultivated crops.
For example, examine the different kinds of land cover in Utah–the state where the Trump administration just announced plans to reduce two national monuments that span over 3.2 million acres of land. The proposal would cut Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent and the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument by almost half.
The following maps highlights San Juan, Kane and Garfield counties where these two monuments are located. The first map showcases many of the area’s most common environmental covers–from forests to shrubs to barren land. Click around to see the natural land types (based on 2011 data on 2015 boundaries):
The second map shows how much of the area has been developed (based on 2011 data on 2015 boundaries):
The new land use data offers more detail on types of growth as well. For example, Raleigh, NC, was one of the fastest growing areas of the country from 2000 to 2010. Using Social Explorer, we can take a closer look at the metropolis and surrounding area of Wake County, NC.
From 2000 to 2010, the population density in Wake County increased more than one third from 754.7 persons per sq. mile to 1,018.4 (up 34.9 percent).
Social Explorer’s new environmental data helps describe the kinds of growth the area experienced and the impact on the land. Looking at the environmental summaries data from 2001 and 2011, we can see how land use has changed during this growth period.
As the following table highlights, different types of developed land increased over the decade while forest and pasture areas decreased.
