The ORNL DAAC is pleased to announce the release of a land validation data set:
Forest Structure and Biomass Data, La Selva, Costa Rica, 2006. Data set prepared by F.G. Goncalves, R.N. Treuhaft, J.R. Santos, and P.M.L.A. Graca. This data set provides field measurements of diameter, tree height, and crown dimensions for 1,513 trees in 30 plots at the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. Fourteen of the plots were in undisturbed primary forest, six were in primary forest which had been selectively logged, seven were secondary forests, and three were abandoned pastures reverting to forest. Aboveground biomass was calculated from the diameter and tree height data, and crown measurements were used to estimate a vertical profile for each plot. These ground data can be and have been used to calibrate and validate remote sensing measurements (e.g. LiDAR and InSAR) taken over the same plots.
The ORNL DAAC is a NASA-funded data center archiving and distributing terrestrial ecology and biogeochemical dynamics data.