The National Land Cover Database 2001 urban imperviousness layer was produced through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium, a partnership of federal agencies (www.mrlc.gov), consisting of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). One of the primary goals of the project is to generate a current, consistent, seamless, and accurate National Land cover Database (NLCD) circa 2001 for the United States at medium spatial resolution. This landcover map and all documents pertaining to it are considered "provisional" until a formal accuracy assessment can be conducted. For a detailed definition and discussion on MRLC and the NLCD 2001 products, refer to . The NLCD 2001 is created by partitioning the U.S. into mapping zones. A total of 66 mapping zones were delineated within the conterminous U.S. based on ecoregion and geographical characteristics, edge matching features and the size requirement of Landsat mosaics. Zone 13 (the northeastern U.S.) consists of mapping zones 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, and 66, which collectively encompasses the entirety of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, as well as portions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. The goal of this project is to provide the Nation with complete, current and consistent public domain information on its land use and land cover.