Top 10 Applications for Land Cover and Land Use Data

Geospatial data is a powerful tool to help states, federal agencies, and other organizations make informed decisions. High-precision land cover with detailed layers relating to impervious surfaces, tree canopies, building footprints, and agricultural lands can reveal valuable information about an area. In this blog, we explore how AI-powered land cover data from Ecopia AI (Ecopia), including new agricultural land use data layers, plays a vital role in empowering communities and guiding critical decision-making for economic and environmental benefits. 

Overcoming challenges in geospatial data acquisition with Ecopia

Accurate geospatial data is crucial for informed decision-making, but obtaining precise land cover information has been a persistent challenge for communities. Traditionally, high-precision data has relied on manual digitization, a time-consuming and costly process that can take over a year to complete for just one city. This labor-intensive method makes it challenging to keep information current, particularly in our rapidly evolving world.

Fortunately, this is changing thanks to advancements in technology. Ecopia’s AI-based mapping systems can extract high-precision land use vector data from imagery for an entire state within weeks. This capability enables government agencies to develop comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date land cover databases across entire jurisdictions, ensuring data remains current for informed decision-making.

Developed using AI-powered technology, Ecopia’s 3D Nationwide Land Cover dataset is the most comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date land cover vector map of the US. Ecopia’s AI-driven mapping systems efficiently detect and extract both natural and manmade features from aerial imagery, classifying them into distinct layers that represent critical landscape elements and infrastructure. This dataset also includes height attributes for buildings, trees, and bridges. Currently, Ecopia’s high-precision land cover data supports a variety of planning applications across the US related to stormwater management, public safety, and more.

Ecopia’s new agricultural land use layers 

Ecopia has recently expanded our 3D Nationwide Land Cover product to include additional land use layers for even deeper analytics capabilities. Traditionally, obtaining detailed agricultural land cover data has been a costly and time-consuming challenge, involving field surveys and tedious manual digitization. However, the introduction of Ecopia’s new agricultural land vector data marks a significant breakthrough. Ecopia’s AI-powered systems offer a much more efficient means of mapping agricultural land use while maintaining the accuracy needed to inform decision-making. Adding a new level of detail to the 3D Nationwide Land Cover dataset, Ecopia’s new agricultural land use layers offer the classification of 'grass' as either 'developed open space' or 'wild grass,' and differentiates 'agriculture' features as either 'pasture' or 'cultivated crops.' These detailed planimetric vector data layers empower government agencies to conduct comprehensive geospatial analytics, supporting tasks such as tax assessment, land use planning, water management, and other intricate analyses. 

Top 10 use cases for land cover and land use data

Ecopia’s AI-based mapping capabilities enable organizations around the world to better understand land cover and land use, as well as their impacts on various economic, environmental, and social initiatives. While geospatial data can be used for virtually any analysis of our world, we tend to see land cover and land use mapping data applied in the following 10 use cases.

1. Supporting stormwater mapping and flood modeling with impervious surfaces

Ecopia's land cover data has played a pivotal role in enhancing stormwater mapping and flood modeling in communities across the US. When it comes to stormwater and flood management, the precise identification of impervious surfaces such as buildings, roads, and parking lots is essential as these areas significantly impact runoff patterns and flood risks. By precisely mapping these surfaces, Ecopia equips organizations with high-precision data for predicting and modeling flood events, optimizing stormwater infrastructure, and informing stormwater utility fees (SUFs).

A prime example is the City of Jacksonville, which selected Ecopia to supply comprehensive land cover data for both impervious and pervious surfaces in Duval County, Florida. Ecopia successfully mapped all natural and impervious surfaces across over 350,000 parcels within just four weeks, achieving 80%+ cost savings compared to other data creation methods and providers. The city utilizes this high-resolution data for stormwater planning, gaining valuable insights into stormwater management to enhance climate resilience.

2. Examining urban heat effects and access to green space with tree canopy data

The land cover data from Ecopia's AI-powered systems is also useful for urban planning initiatives related to shade assessment and access to green spaces. For example, municipalities can leverage detailed canopy data to strategically plan where to plant trees to maximize shade benefits along sidewalks and crosswalks, thereby creating safer and more comfortable community connections. This not only helps mitigate urban heat effects, but also supports efforts to combat climate-related challenges and promote sustainable urban development by enhancing access to green spaces throughout the community.

In Michigan, Ecopia partnered with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) to deliver high-precision land cover data across seven counties. Utilizing its advanced AI-powered mapping systems, Ecopia delivered detailed vector layers of both built and natural environments throughout Southeastern Michigan. This included detailed mapping of trees, tree canopy, buildings, sidewalks, driveways, roads, parking lots, railways, pavement, grasslands, bareland, and water bodies. The project also involved mapping over 24,000 miles of sidewalks and crosswalks to identify gaps and support strategic infrastructure planning. The data that Ecopia provided to SEMCOG has been instrumental in supporting numerous initiatives across the region, including green infrastructure planning.

3. Powering accurate agricultural tax assessment

In the US, agricultural taxation is pivotal for funding essential services, infrastructure development, and programs to support sustainable rural development. Geospatial data plays a crucial role in this process by providing precise information to help assess property values, determine appropriate tax rates, and ensure equitable taxation based on actual agricultural activities and land characteristics. The detailed classifications of Ecopia’s new agricultural land cover data are essential for accurately assessing land value based on specific agricultural uses. For example, distinguishing between ‘cultivated crops’ and ‘pasture’ ensures that tax assessments align with the actual agricultural practices on the ground. 

Moreover, accurate crop boundary detection helps tax assessors determine the exact crop extents or areas designated for crop cultivation. This information is important for municipalities using income-based methods, where property tax assessments rely on estimated yields and land use data. Additionally, detailed land use information supports subsidy programs and other agricultural incentives. Ecopia’s change-detection mapping abilities also enable state and local governments to identify changes in agricultural land boundaries over time, further enhancing the accuracy of land use management and policy-making. Overall, Ecopia’s new comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date agricultural land cover layers can support fair taxation practices and help prevent inaccuracies in reporting agricultural land use, thereby ensuring an equitable tax for farmers and optimized revenue collection for governments.

4. Informing property taxation and population estimation

Ecopia's land cover data includes precise building footprints, which are polygon representations of individual building structures. Building footprint data is indispensable for local tax assessment offices, enabling them to accurately assess property values based on size, type, and location. For example, in 2023 Ecopia teamed up with Sutter County, California to create a precise map of every building in the county. Before this collaboration, Sutter County faced challenges in identifying unregistered buildings, which are crucial for accurate property tax assessments. Traditionally, many municipalities manually review and digitize geospatial imagery to track unregistered constructions—a process that is both time-consuming and expensive, especially in an area like Sutter County that spans more than 600 square miles. Looking to improve efficiency, Sutter County partnered with Ecopia to map every building in the county. Using high-resolution aerial imagery, Ecopia’s AI technology identified 54,000 buildings, including nearly 500 unregistered ones, in just four weeks. The county was able to use this detailed building footprint data to ensure fairer tax assessments.

Ecopia’s building footprint data also plays a key role in estimating population and density metrics, as demonstrated by the Digitize Africa program. In collaboration with various humanitarian organizations, Ecopia developed the region's first comprehensive map, digitizing every building and road in 51 African countries in just eight months. GRID3, an organization focused on using spatial data for development, further attributed Ecopia’s foundational building footprint maps with population estimates, settlement names, and points of interest. This enriched data has been crucial for field crews and government aid groups in planning public health outreach. For example, GRID3 is aiding the Zambian Government in planning the distribution of bed nets to combat malaria. Precise population estimates derived from Ecopia’s building footprints are instrumental in identifying communities and ensuring an adequate supply of nets.

By providing a detailed and up-to-date view of building footprints, Ecopia empowers urban planners, policymakers, NGOs, and other stakeholders to make informed decisions regarding tax assessment, infrastructure development, aid deployment, resource allocation, and community planning.

5. Enhancing water management

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that droughts are increasing in frequency and severity in the US, particularly on the West Coast, due to climate change. Droughts significantly reduce crop yields and strain water resources, posing challenges for agricultural productivity and food security. Ecopia’s new agricultural land cover data can help governments better manage water usage in agricultural contexts more effectively. In regions like California, where drought is a persistent concern, detailed mapping of irrigated crops such as vineyards and orchards becomes crucial. This data helps authorities assess water consumption per property accurately, informing decisions on infrastructure investments, like retention ponds or smart irrigation technology.

Even in states not currently experiencing drought, detailed agricultural data remains invaluable for comprehensively understanding irrigation patterns. This knowledge can optimize water usage efficiency in agricultural regions, significantly reducing overall water requirements and associated costs. Ultimately, ​​comprehensive agricultural land cover data can help inform estimates for statewide and regional planning efforts to enhance understanding of agricultural practices and their impact on water usage. 

Beyond water availability, insights from detailed agricultural land vector data can offer a more comprehensive understanding of potential water quality implications. This is especially important in areas of the country that have experienced environmental impacts from agricultural runoff, like in Washington, where agricultural runoff has affected salmon populations due to impaired water quality. By integrating precise agricultural land cover data into their analyses, governments can enhance modeling and inform planning efforts related to mitigating the environmental impacts of fertilizers and pesticides.

6. Detecting landscape changes over time

Ecopia's AI-powered systems also excel at change detection. Ecopia leverages its extensive partner network to continuously update its systems with the latest high-resolution imagery. This enables Ecopia to deliver current land cover maps that incorporate the most recent available data, ensuring the data reflects real-world changes. Ecopia’s change detection produces distinct layers for individual features, noting whether they have been modified, removed, or added since the time of the last imagery capture. While most commonly used for buildings, this change detection methodology can be applied to any vector feature that needs to be analyzed.

Change detection enables GIS professionals to efficiently monitor and analyze changes in geospatial features over time without manual image inspection, offering valuable insights across multiple industries. For example, change detection can help insurance companies with risk assessment by identifying property changes affecting risk profiles and premiums. Municipalities use change detection for stormwater management, tracking the expansion of impervious surfaces over time to reduce flooding risks and better plan stormwater infrastructure. Additionally, change detection can aid transportation safety planning and property tax assessment by identifying new construction or developments and adapting policies accordingly.

7. Improving public safety and next-generation 911 systems 

High-precision land cover data is crucial for enhancing community safety, as emergency service departments across the US rely on mapping technology to optimize response routes. To ensure swift and effective 911 call responses, it is essential that the geospatial data used in emergency response applications is comprehensive and up-to-date.

In Collier County, Florida, first response teams frequently faced misrouting issues when responding to calls due to poor foundational data in their routing system. The system relied on street centerlines, which associate addresses with the nearest road segment rather than the property access points where emergency services are needed. Recognizing the need for improvement, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office GIS department aimed to enhance emergency service dispatch by developing a more detailed application. However, due to the lack of reliable data, the county had to manually digitize features. This task was time-consuming and labor-intensive, taking the team four years to meticulously digitize thousands of address points and access roads across the county’s 2,300 square miles.

Seeking a more efficient solution, Collier County partnered with Ecopia, which swiftly and accurately digitized over 132,000 driveways and access roads across the County in under a month. Since integrating Ecopia’s data, the Collier County GIS department has significantly enhanced response times for emergency teams.

Response teams can also face significant challenges locating callers in multistory buildings. To address this, Ecopia partnered with NextNav to provide public safety answering points (PSAPs) with the ability to visualize z-axis coordinates of emergency calls on 3D building data. This data has been essential in helping first responders identify the exact floor of a call in a multistory building, enabling them to reach those in need more quickly. You can read more about this project here. 

8. Managing erosion control and soil conservation

Soil erosion reduces soil fertility, adversely affecting crop yields. Ecopia’s detailed land cover data can inform decision-making for erosion control and soil conservation efforts. Different land cover types have varying risks associated with soil degradation. Governments and organizations can use high-precision geospatial data to identify vulnerable land cover areas prone to erosion, helping to prioritize conservation measures.

For instance, distinguishing between 'developed open space' and 'wild grass' is crucial in the context of soil erosion, as each has unique characteristics affecting erosion risk. Wild grasses typically have deeper root systems compared to turf grasses commonly found in developed open spaces, which can stabilize soil while also providing a habitat for biodiversity, contributing to ecosystem health. Wild grasses play a distinct role in water management by regulating flow and minimizing runoff, contrasting sharply with impervious surfaces such as pavement. The nuanced distinctions between land cover types are crucial, and Ecopia’s detailed land cover classifications can help identify different land cover types to support targeted strategies aimed at preventing soil degradation and sustaining agricultural productivity in vulnerable regions.

9. Expanding broadband access and 5G network planning

Ecopia's detailed land cover data has played an important role in expanding broadband access across the US. This data was pivotal in helping states such as Arizona and Alaska secure funding through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The BEAD program, established to address disparities in internet access across the US, provides $42 billion in federal grants aimed at improving broadband infrastructure. As part of the application process, Ecopia’s AI-based mapping systems efficiently provided accurate building footprints in each state, which was instrumental in identifying broadband serviceable locations (BSLs). Ultimately, the grant funding will help expand access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet, fostering economic development and enhancing connectivity for communities in these regions.

Ecopia's 3D vector layers are also invaluable for optimizing 5G network planning. Governments and civil engineering firms can leverage precise geospatial data to pinpoint expansion opportunities and strategically plan telecommunications infrastructure. For instance, improving 5G connectivity in urban areas requires accurate 3D data on buildings, trees, and bridges to evaluate how signal dynamics are affected by tall structures.

10. Leveraging agricultural land cover data for high-precision land use planning 

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects a 70 to 100 percent increase in food demand by 2050 due to population growth and rising incomes, even as agricultural land, once comprising half of the US total, continues to diminish in part due to urban expansion. In this context, maintaining the integrity of agricultural lands is crucial in our growing world to ensure sustainable food production, economic stability, and environmental health. 

Ecopia’s detailed agricultural land cover data offers governments invaluable insights for making informed land development decisions. When considering zoning and land use planning, high-precision land cover data provides clarity on optimal locations for residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial sectors. This precision allows policymakers to assess how different developments might impact existing agricultural operations. Moreover, Ecopia’s change detection mapping abilities help identify variations in agricultural land boundaries over time. By understanding these dynamics, governments can strategically plan to balance urban growth with agricultural sustainability, fostering efficient land utilization.

Unlocking high-precision land use insights with Ecopia’s land cover data

Ecopia’s land cover data is invaluable for informing decision-making from economic, environmental, and social perspectives. It aids in tax revenue assessments, policy-making, water use optimization, climate change adaptation, food security, and more. By enriching decision-making processes with comprehensive and precise data, Ecopia empowers communities to understand our dynamically changing world, enhance resilience, and promote sustainable development.

To learn more about how our high-precision land cover data could support your organization, get in touch today.