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Two New Pre-LBA Data Sets

Submitted by ORNL DAAC Staff on

The ORNL DAAC announces the release of two data sets associated with the Pre-LBA data compilation component of the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA), which focused on providing data collected in Amazonia during the 20 years prior to 1998. These data were originally distributed on a three volume CDROM set, but are now being archived as 12 individual data sets.

Pre-LBA Carbon in the Amazon River Experiment (CAMREX) Data. Data set prepared by Jeffrey E. Richey, Reynaldo L. Victoria, J.L. Hedges, Thomas Dunne, Luis A. Martinelli, and J. Adams.
The objective of CAMREX (Carbon in the Amazon River Experiment) project, which was conducted from 1982 to 1991, was to define by mass balances and direct measurements those processes which control the distribution of bioactive elements (C, N, P, and O) in the mainstem of the Amazon River in Brazil. The CAMREX data set represents a time series unique in its length and detail for large river systems. The central sampling strategy was to obtain representative flow-weighted water samples for comprehensive chemical analysis and to make rate measurements over 18 different sites within a 2,000 km reach of the Brazilian Amazon mainstem, including major intervening tributaries. Samples were collected on 13 different cruises (1982-1991) during contrasting hydrographic stages.

Data or figures are provided for (1) water chemistry, (2) daily river discharge, (3) monthly estimates for 1989 of some model drivers and structure including NPP, Evapotranspiration, Precipitation, Temperature, and AVHRR data (figures), (4) daily precipitation, and (5) air temperature anomalies.

Pre-LBA FLOODAMA Project Data. Data set prepared by Yosio E. Shimabukuro and Evlyn M. Novo. This data set provides a digital mosaic of the Amazon River floodplain in geoTIFF format that was compiled using Landsat TM images. This mosaic was planned in July 1995 as an activity of the EOS-IDS Project that was developed with cooperation among INPE, CENA, University of Washington in Seattle (UW), University of California in Santa Barbara (UCSB), and NASA. The mosaic is composed by 29 Landsat TM images covering a period from 1986 to 1995 that were selected with minimum cloud cover and within the July to September high water season of the Amazon River. These images were geometrically corrected using ground control points extracted from topographic charts and image charts at 1:250,000 scale.

The mosaic data are provided in geoTIFF-formatted files, rectified and geocoded, for six TM bands (1 to 5 and 7) with a 90- meter spatial resolution. The mosaic is divided in two parts:

* Part 1, from the mouth of the Amazon river in Brazil to the Brazil/Peru boundary and
* Part 2, from the Brazil/Peru boundary to its spring. There is also a 500- meter resolution mosaic covering all the Amazon River (from spring to the mouth) with geoTIFF-formatted data files for TM bands 3, 4, and 5.

LBA is an international research initiative under the leadership of Brazil. The project focuses 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 is funded by NASA, focuses 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?"

See the LBA Project page for further information about the study and to access associated data and documentation maintained by the ORNL DAAC.

The ORNL DAAC is a NASA-funded data center archiving and distributing terrestrial ecology and biogeochemical dynamics data.

The LBA Data and Information System (LBA-DIS) has been developed by INPE with NASA's participation.