DS-777 Annual Model-Backcasted Land-Use/Land-Cover Rasters from 1949 to 2008 for the High Plains Aquifer in Parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming

These data were released prior to the October 1, 2016 effective date for the USGS’s policy dictating the review, approval, and release of scientific data as referenced in USGS Survey Manual Chapter 502.8 Fundamental Science Practices: Review and Approval of Scientific Data for Release. Estimates of land use categories are an essential component for computing the water budget of the High Plains aquifer. These raster land-use data represent yearly estimated land use for the High Plains from 1949 to 2008. These data were developed using the FOREcasting SCEnarios of future land cover (FORE-SCE) model (Sohl and others, 2007) and then processed using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The GIS software used to process these data was [...]