RCMAP (Rangeland Condition Monitoring Assessment and Projection) Long-term and Near-real time Rangeland Vegetation Monitoring
Start Date:
Sept. 22, 2026
End Date:
Sept. 22, 2026
Description:
Rangeland managers need information about current vegetation conditions and how landscapes have changed over time. To address this need, scientists from the USGS and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) developed RCMAP.
RCMAP provides annual maps of fractional cover for Western U.S. rangelands and the sagebrush biome of Canada, expressed as a percentage from 0-100 for ten components: the cover of annual herbaceous, bare ground, herbaceous, litter, non-sagebrush shrub, perennial herbaceous, sagebrush, shrub, and tree, as well as shrub height. Maps are produced using Landsat imagery for each year in a time-series stretching from 1985-current.
This long-term record helps users understand how vegetation responds to drought, invasive species, land management decisions, and disturbance. RCMAP time-series data can also be used to evaluate the effects of weather variability, vegetation treatments and changes in management practices.
RCMAP also produces a suite of weekly temporal resolution exotic annual grass (EAG) and herbaceous cover products that support near-real-time empowering fire and grazing management decisions. The RCMAP-EAG products map the extent of EAG invasion helping managers evaluate treatment success and protect core, uninvaded habitats.
We will close the webinar with a question-and-answer session for anything related to RCMAP data, or the tools used to access, process, and download the data.
Targeted Audience:
Any users interested in rangeland data over the Western U.S. rangelands and the sagebrush biome of Canada.
Expected Outcomes:
During this webinar you will learn about the Rangeland Condition Monitoring Assessment and Projection (RCMAP) data, see case studies on how the data can support decision making, and how to access the products.
