The ORNL DAAC announces the release of two data sets from the LBA-ECO Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA):
LBA-ECO LC-15 NDVI Composite Images of the Amazon Basin: 1999-2000 . Data set prepared by S. Saatchi, M. Steinenger, C.J. Tucker, B. Nelson, and M. Simard. This data set provides Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) composite images of the Amazon Basin for the years 1999-2000 at approximately1-km spatial resolution. The images were from the VEGETATION 1 sensor, aboard the SPOT 4 satellite. Ten-day composite images were reprocessed through several filters for cloud removal. Monthly NDVI data were used to create five metrics: maximum NDVI, minimum of 6 greenest months, range of NDVI between min and max, mean NDVI dry months, and mean NDVI wet months. There is one data file for each metric.
LBA-ECO LC-02 Biophysical Measurements of Forests, Acre, Brazil: 1999-2002 . Data set prepared by D. Selhorst and I.F. Brown. This data set provides diameter at breast height (DBH) measurements for 1,063 trees located at the Catuaba Experimental Farm, and 812 trees located in the Humaita Forest Reserve. Both sites are in the state of Acre, southwest Amazonia, Brazil. Measurements were made on individuals with DBH between 10 and 35 cm and individuals with DBH > 35 cm. The Catuaba Experimental Farm is part of a forest fragment of approximately 800 ha. The Humaita Forest Reserve is located in a 1,500-ha forest band with dominant bamboo characteristic. Ten-ha areas were inventoried at both sites.
LBA was an international research initiative under the leadership of Brazil. The project focused on the climatological, ecological, biogeochemical, and hydrological functions of Amazonia; the impact of land use change on these functions; and the interactions between Amazonia and the Earth system. The LBA-ECO component, which was funded by NASA, focused on the question: "How do tropical forest conversion, regrowth, and selective logging influence carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, trace gas fluxes, and the prospect for sustainable land use in Amazonia? "
The ORNL DAAC is one of twelve NASA-funded Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) and is responsible for archiving and distributing terrestrial ecology and biogeochemical dynamics data.