Global Land Cover Data
Q: What is the Global Land Cover data used with TAP?
A: With TAP6.0.2203 or later, the Land Use module, and a Maintenance Subscription date of December 31, 2007, or later, you can use Global Land Cover (GLC) data files with TAP.
Note that all values in this example are for demonstration purposes only. You should determine appropriate settings for your application.
The TAP Land Use module provides a way to include the effects of the local environment (urban area, agricultural land, industrial region, etc.) in your TAP coverage studies. You can include information about the land use categories along a path profile, and you can include signal losses based on frequency and the type of area in field strength calculations.
To use the GLC files with TAP you will need to set the configuration for the file locations.
The original Land Use module uses data based on the USGS Land Use Land Cover data, available only for the U.S. The Land Use module includes the ability to create your own files for an area.
The Global Land Cover data is available for the entire world, based on the “UMD 1km Global Land Cover” data (Copyright University of Maryland, used with permission):
The “1km” data is actually based on a grid of 30-arcseconds of latitude and longitude.
The GLC data provides a classification for each 30x30-arcsecond grid point. The data contains 14 numeric classifications:
|
0 |
Water |
|
1 |
Evergreen Needleleaf Forest |
|
2 |
Evergreen Broadleaf Forest |
|
3 |
Deciduous Needleleaf Forest |
|
4 |
Deciduous Broadleaf Forest |
|
5 |
Mixed Forest |
|
6 |
Woodland |
|
7 |
Wooded Grassland |
|
8 |
Closed Shrubland |
|
9 |
Open Shrubland |
|
10 |
Grassland |
|
11 |
Cropland |
|
12 |
Bare Ground |
|
13 |
Urban and Built-up |
TAP associates each GLC value with a corresponding USGS Land Use Classification value. You can edit and change the default associations. The association between the GLC values and the USGS values enables the GLC data to be used with TAP just as the USGS data.
The GLC data files for use with TAP are in 1x1-degree areas to enable you to customize the area with data you want to use.
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Copyright 2007 by SoftWright LLC