Description: This forest patch layer was created using a 2017/18 high-resolution urban tree canopy map of Baltimore City derived from LiDAR and NAIP imagery (CBPO 2022). To identify forest area, tree canopy over impervious surfaces was first subtracted from the canopy layer, including buildings and roads identified from planimetric data available from Baltimore City (https://data.baltimorecity.gov/). Morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA; Vogt et al. 2007) was then used to distinguish forest patches from remaining tree canopy using an edge parameter of 15 m based on observed changes in vegetation composition and structure (Baker, unpublished data). MSPA applies the edge parameter to distinguish interiors (i.e. ‘cores’) from surrounding edges, as well as five other morphometric primitives (i.e. branches, bridges, loops, and islets) that reflect how canopy is or is not connected to cores. Patches always include core areas and their surrounding edges, as well as any perforations. Patches are separated into two size classes: Forested Natural Areas are patches with greater core area and thickness than Groves. Patches are classified by land ownership categories using local parcel data available from Baltimore City (https://data.baltimorecity.gov/). Ownership categories include: Federal, State, Municipal, Commercial/Industrial, Institutional, and Private Residential owners. Parcels with unknown ownership were assigned Municipal ownership.
Copyright Text: Chesapeake Bay Program Office (CBPO), 2022. One-meter Resolution Land Cover Dataset for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 2017/18. Developed by the
University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Lab, Chesapeake Conservancy, and U.S. Geological Survey. [Accessed July 1, 2024], [https://www.chesapeakeconservancy.org/conservation-innovation-center/high-resolution-data/lulc-data-project-2022/].
Vogt P, Riitters K H, Estreguil C, Kozak J, Wade T G and Wickham J D 2007 Mapping spatial patterns with morphological image processing Landsc. Ecol. 22 171–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-006-9013-2