Cropland Data Layer Benefits
lInternal
–Digitize the entire June Agricultural Survey (JAS)
–Cleans up JAS problems
–Produce numerical cropland acreage indications at the county and state level
–Unbiased statistical estimator of crop area
–Data sharing among partners
lExternal
–Ortho-rectified image product Commercial image formats
–Released annually after county estimates are published
–Detailed breakdown of cropland area via large training sample
–Distribute to public at the cost of reproduction
l
•This Program is repeated every year in participating CDL states, using the current June Agriculture Survey as training, and the best available Landsat imagery for categorization.  This is a one of a kind program, where the entire agricultural inventory in a state is categorized annually.
•A spatial data archive of training data is created each year for participating CDL states.  Ground truth problems such as large acreage variance or misidentified crops in fields can be corrected during the JAS, providing a better official acreage estimate, when the digitizing is performed in concert with the JAS.
•It is possible for cooperative partners to now import their own training data sets along with the NASS training set to create a better categorized image of a state.  The partner’s training data is imported via ESRI’s shapefile format.