Project Name:
RaBET: Rangeland Brush Estimation Tool
Collaborators:
USDA-ARS SWRC scientists, NRCS, and remote sensing and rangeland management collaborators
Goals/purpose:
The Rangeland Brush Estimation Tool (RaBET) is an interactive, map-based tool to quantify spatial and temporal changes in woody vegetation canopy cover at a 30-meter resolution across western U.S. rangelands. RaBET provides Landsat-based historical composites of woody canopy cover estimates spanning 2000 to 2021 across 15 Major Land Resource Areas (MLRAs), a coverage of over 350 million acres. 
RaBET maps using the 2006 boundaries for 15 MLRAs (38, 40, 41, 42, 65, 69, 70A, 70B, 71, 73, 81B, 81C, 83A, 84B, and 85) from 2000 to 2021 are available. Areas outline in pink are not yet available.Developed through a multi-institutional collaboration between the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the University of Arizona, the tool is designed to support conservationists, ranchers, and other land managers in assessing woody encroachment. The web application allows users to determine woody canopy cover amounts, observe change in woody cover over time, identify and strategize on focal areas in need of treatment, and track effectiveness of the NRCS Brush Management conservation practice standard. The interactive features of RaBET allow the user to create or upload polygons of areas of interest and to customize woody canopy cover classes. Summary graphics of analyses to assess woody cover change over space and time can be downloaded.