Classification and Mapping of Agricultural Land for National Water-Quality Assessment

By Robert J. Gilliom and Gail P. Thelin

U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1131

---

PDF Version (1.2 MB) Download Acrobat Reader

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
CLASSIFYING AGRICULTURAL LAND FOR NATIONAL WATER-QUALITY ASSESSMENT
EXISTING CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS AND DATA SOURCES

General Land-Use Classification
Agricultural Land-Use Classification

CLASSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND BY CROP DISTRIBUTION

Row Crops
Level I
Level II
Unclassified Counties
Results
Orchard, Vineyard, and Nursery Crops
Level I
Level II
Results

APPLICATION TO LAND-USE CHARACTERIZATION
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES CITED

FIGURES

1.-3. Maps showing:

1. Study Units of the National Water-Quality Assessment
2. General land use in the Lower Susquehanna River Basin NAWQA Study Unit based on U.S. Geological Survey National Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) data
3. Twelve multicounty clusters showing patterns of agricultural diversity in the United States
4. Summary of decision process for creating categories for row-crop classification

5.-13. Maps showing:

5. Distribution of row crops in the United States
6. Distribution and classification of counties not initially classified by numerical criteria for row crops
7. Distribution of row crops in the "corn, soybeans, hogs" cluster
8. Distribution of row cops in the "poultry" cluster
9. Distribution of orchard, vineyard, and nursery crops in the United States
10. Distribution and classification of counties not initially classified by numerical criteria for orchard, vineyard, and nursery crops
11. Distribution and classification of cropland and of orchard, vineyard, and nursery areas in the Lower Susquehanna River Basin
12. Distribution and classification of cropland areas of the United States based on Major Land Uses of the United States and the row-crop classification system
13. Distribution and classification of cropland areas of the Lower Susquehanna River Basin based on Major Land Uses of the United States and the row-crop classification system

TABLES

1. Anderson land-use and land-cover classification system for use with remote sensor data
2. Row crop census data codes and national harvested area used to develop classification system
3. National harvested area of individual row crops in counties classified in each row crop category
4. National characterization of irrigation and fertilizer use and number of cattle, hogs, poultry, and turkeys within each row crop category
5. Orchard, vineyard, and nursery crops used in developing orchard, vineyard, and nursery crop categories
6. National area of orchard, vineyard, and nursery crops within each orchard, vineyard, and nursery category

---

CONVERSION FACTORS AND ACRONYMS

---------------------------------------------------------------------
         Multiply           By	             To obtain
---------------------------------------------------------------------

             acre           0.4047           hectare
             acre	4,047	             square meter
square mile (mi2)         259.0              hectare
square mile (mi2)           2.590	     square kilometer

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Acronyms

GIRAS, Geographic Information Retrieval and Analysis System
LULC, Land Use and Land Cover
MLU, Major Land Uses
NAWQA, National Water-Quality Assessment
USDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture
USGS, U.S. Geological Survey

---

Copies of this report are available from:

U.S. Geological Survey
Information Services
Box 25286, Federal Center
Denver, CO 80225

For additional information write to:

Chief, Pesticides National Synthesis Project, NAWQA
U.S. Geological Survey
Placer Hall, Suite 2012
6000 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95819-6129

---

Next - Abstract