Species and canopy cover map development using Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper imagery for Grand Canyon National Park

Overstory vegetation maps of species and canopy cover were developed from Landsat 7 Thematic Enhanced Thematic Mapper satellite imagery. Ecosystem Monitoring plot data, collected during the 1997-2001 field seasons, were used as training sites for the image classification. Sixty-two species classes and four canopy cover classes were mapped. The maps will be used to support a Joint Fire Science Program funded project to model long-term fire regimes and ecological change using fire history, climate, and forest structure data. The calibrated model will then be used to assess fire behavior under current fuel conditions and to evaluate and compare future fuel treatments that may include prescribed burning and thinning