NACP Data Sets Released

The ORNL DAAC  is pleased to announce the release of two data sets associated with The North American Carbon Program (NACP):

• ECHIDNA Lidar Campaigns: Forest Canopy Imagery and Field Data, U.S.A., 2007-2009 . Data set prepared by A. Strahler, C. Schaaf, C. Woodcock, D. Jupp, D. Culvenor, G. Newnham, R. Dubayah, T. Yao, F. Zhao, and X. Yang. This data set contains forest canopy scan data from the Echidna Validation Instrument (EVI) and field measurements data from three campaigns conducted in the United States: 2007 New England Campaign; 2008 Sierra National Forest Campaign; and 2009 New England Campaign. The New England field sites were located in Harvard Forest (Massachusetts), Howland Research Forest (Maine), and the Bartlett Experimental Forest (New Hampshire). The objective of the research was to evaluate the ability of the EVI ground-based, scanning near-infrared lidar to retrieve stem diameter, stem count density, stand height, leaf area index, foliage profile, foliage area volume density, and other useful forest structural parameters rapidly and accurately.

• NACP New England and Sierra National Forests Biophysical Measurements: 2008-2010 . Data set prepared by B. Cook, R. Dubayah, F.G. Hall, R. Nelson, J. Ranson, A.H. Strahler, P. Siqueira, M. Simard, and P. Griffith. This data set includes plot-level biophysical measurements collected in 2008 at one site in the Sierra National Forest, California, in 2009 at five New England sites: Bartlett Experimental Forest, Harvard Forest, Howland Research Forest, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, and the Penobscot Experimental Forest. Selected Howland plots were revisited in 2010. Plot-level biomass was calculated with allometric equations using measurement results.

The North American Carbon Program (NACP) is a multi-disciplinary research program designed to obtain scientific understanding of North America's carbon sources and sinks and of the changes in carbon stocks needed to meet societal concerns, and to provide tools for decision makers. NACP began in 2002 and continues to date. The NACP data collection contains continental carbon budgets, dynamics, processes, and management of the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide in North America and in adjacent ocean regions.

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