Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Greenness Loss from 1984 to 2005

Critical military training and testing on lands along the nation’s coastal and estuarine shorelines are increasingly placed at risk because of development pressures in surrounding areas, impairments due to other anthropogenic disturbances, and increasing requirements for compliance with environmental regulations. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) intends to enhance and sustain its training and testing assets and to optimize its stewardship of natural resources through the development and application of an ecosystem-based management approach on DoD installations. To accomplish this goal, particularly for installations in estuarine/coastal environments, the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) launched the Defense Coastal/Estuarine Research Program (DCERP) as a minimum 10-year effort at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (MCBCL) in North Carolina. The results of the first six years of the program (DCERP1) are presented here.The overarching objectives of DCERP are to: (1) understand the effects of military training activities, infrastructure development, and other coastal military installations; (2) develop models, tools, and indicators to evaluate ecosystem health; and (3) recommend adaptive management strategies to sustain ecosystem natural resources within the context of an active military installation.This data package measures Loss of Green Vegetation between 1984 and 2005 from Landsat TM5 images. Results are based on the difference in the Tassle Cap greenness band recorded in 1984 and the greenness recorded in 2005. This Intensity of green loss was then developed into a five category green loss classification using the mean and standard deviation of the green loss difference data set, standardized to the 1984-2007 time period: 0. No green loss, green gain, or background 1. No significant change; values > 0 to =< 0.0035 (mean - SD) 2. Light green loss, reduced forest, impacted veg, etc; values > 0.0035 to =< 0.04556 (mean) 3. Moderate green loss; values > 0.04556 to =< 0.0876 (mean + SD) 4. Heavy green loss; values > 0.0876 to max. Classes 2, 3, and 4 are retained as significant green loss locations. Polygon patches are labeled with the intensity value in the attribute 'GRIDCODE'. Greenness loss in this area is a good indicator of human impact and development.