Land cover classification of central Arizona-Phoenix using Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) data, year 2005

A fundamental dataset required for ecosystem analysis consists of the major types of land cover present in the study area and their areal percentages. Land cover refers to the physical nature of the surficial materials present in a given area such as water, grass, clay-rich soil, asphalt, or concrete. Land cover classification can be used as input into a variety of ecological models, and land cover maps can be constructed to aid in planning field sampling strategy. The land cover types can also be linked to different land use categories to investigate temporal and spatial changes in the urban ecosystem.