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Field Campaign Data Field Campaigns combine ground-, aircraft-, and satellite-based measurements of biogeochemical features in specific ecosystems over multi-year time periods.
Land Validation Data The goal of the EOS Validation Program is the comprehensive assessment of all EOS science data products.
Regional and Global Data Regional and global biogeochemical dynamics data can be used to improve our understanding of the structure and function of various ecosystems.
Model Archive The Model Archive provides the methodological detail in numerical modeling studies needed to ensure the long-term reproducibility of experimental results.

Field Campaigns

Field Campaigns combine ground-, aircraft-, and satellite-based measurements of biogeochemical features in specific ecosystems over multi-year time periods. These studies focus on a particular issue or set of issues and are critical to providing an integrated understanding of biogeochemical dynamics that can be extended across biomes and across both spatial and temporal scales.

The ORNL DAAC compiles, archives, and distributes more than 600 field campaign data products from the following NASA-funded research projects:

ABoVE

The Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) is a NASA Terrestrial Ecology Program field campaign that will take place in Alaska and western Canada between 2016 and 2021. Five Pre-ABoVE projects were awarded in 2012 for data set development in support of ABoVE.

AirMOSS

The goal of NASA’s Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS) investigation is to provide high-resolution observations of root-zone soil moisture over regions representative of the major North American climatic habitats (biomes), quantify the impact of variations in soil moisture on the estimation of regional carbon fluxes, and extrapolate the reduced-uncertainty estimates of regional carbon fluxes to the continental scale of North America. The AirMOSS campaign used an airborne ultra-high frequency synthetic aperture radar flown on a Gulfstream-III aircraft to derive estimates of soil moisture down to approximately 1.2 meters. Extensive ground, tower, and aircraft in-situ measurements were collected to validate root-zone soil measurements and carbon flux model estimates. The AirMOSS soil measurements can be used to better understand carbon fluxes and their associated uncertainties on a continental scale. Additionally, AirMOSS data provide a direct means for validating root-zone soil measurement algorithms from the Soil Moisture Active & Passive (SMAP) mission and assessing the impact of fine-scale heterogeneities in its coarse-resolution products.

BOREAS and BOREAS Follow-On

The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) and BOREAS Follow-On studies were conducted in the boreal forest of Canada between 1990 and 1998 to investigate interactions between the boreal forest biome and the atmosphere. Data are available for: airborne fluxes, meteorology, hydrology, hydro-meteorology remote-sensing science, terrestrial ecology, derived surface parameters, carbon modeling, terrestrial ecology, tower fluxes, and trace gas biogeochemistry.

Carbon Monitoring System (CMS)

The NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) is designed to make significant contributions in characterizing, quantifying, understanding, and predicting the evolution of global carbon sources and sinks through improved monitoring of carbon stocks and fluxes. The System will use the full range of NASA satellite observations and modeling and analysis capabilities to establish the accuracy, quantitative uncertainties, and utility of products for supporting national and international policy, regulatory, and management activities. CMS will maintain a global emphasis while providing finer scale regional information, utilizing space-based and surface data.

CARVE

The Carbon Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) is a NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Mission . From 2011 to 2015, CARVE collected airborne measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide and relevant land surface parameters in the Alaskan Arctic. Continuous ground-based measurements provide temporal and regional context as well as calibration for CARVE airborne measurements. CARVE provides an integrated set of greenhouse gas data that provides experimental insights into Arctic carbon cycling.

FIFE and FIFE Follow-On

The First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) Field Experiment (FIFE) and FIFE Follow-On investigations were conducted in the Konza Prairie of central Kansas, U.S.A. from 1987 through 1993 to examine carbon and water cycles. Data are available for boundary layer fluxes; vertical atmosphere soundings and profiles; composition and biology of vegetation; hydrology; optical properties; satellite and aircraft observations; soil moisture and properties; and surface fluxes, meteorological and surface radiation measurements.

LBA

The Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA) is a multi-disciplinary, international research effort, designed to create new knowledge to understand the climatological, ecological, biogeochemical, and hydrologic functioning of Amazonia, its interaction with the Earth system, and its response to land use change. LBA is comprised of several scientific disciplines or components. Data from the Pre-LBA and LBA-ECO components lead by Brazil from 1995 through 2005 are available for atmospheric chemistry; carbon dynamics; human dimensions; land use and land cover change; nutrient dynamics, physical climate; surface hydrology and water chemistry; and trace gases.

NACP

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. Data on 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 are currently being prepared for archival at the ORNL DAAC.

OTTER

The Oregon Transect Ecosystem Research (OTTER) project was an interdisciplinary project conducted from 1989 through 1991 as a cooperative effort between NASA and several universities in the U.S.A. and Canada to discern the ecology of western coniferous forests through the use of remote sensing technology supported by ground observations. Available data include canopy chemistry, meteorology, field sunphotometer, airborne sunphotometer, and timber measurements.

SAFARI 2000 (S2K)

The SAFARI 2000 (S2K) Project was an international science initiative to study the linkages between land and atmosphere processes in the southern African region, including the relationships of biogenic, pyrogenic, and anthropogenic emissions and the consequences of their deposition to the functioning of the biogeophysical and biogeochemical systems. This initiative was conducted from 1999 through 2001, and built around a number of ongoing, already-funded activities by NASA, the international community, and African nations. Available data include: atmospheric and airborne studies; background land cover and soils; climate and meteorology; field based measurements; hydrology studies; regional assessments; and remote sensing.

Superior National Forest (SNF)

During the summers of 1983 and 1984, NASA conducted an intensive experiment in a portion of the Superior National Forest (SNF) near Ely, Minnesota, U.S.A. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the ability of remote sensing to provide estimates of biophysical properties of ecosystems, such as leaf area index (LAI), biomass, and net primary productivity (NPP). Detailed vegetation data were collected for about 100 sample sites which represented a range of stand density and age for spruce, aspen, jackpine and mixed stands. Available data include: biomass; biophysical parameters; canopy composition and reflectance; climatology from 1972 through 1990; leaf optical properties; and vegetation.

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Land Validation Campaigns

The goal of the EOS Validation Program is the comprehensive assessment of all EOS science data products. ORNL DAAC supports these assessments by compiling data such as leaf area index (LAI), and net primary productivity (NPP) for global test sites to compare with satellite-derived products. These data are unique in having ground-based observations coincident with satellite data. In addition, this information is useful to develop, calibrate, and validate ecosystem models.

The ORNL DAAC compiles, archives, and distributes more than 20 land validation data products from the following NASA-funded research projects:

and through the following resources:

Accelerated Canopy Chemistry Program (ACCP)

The Accelerated Canopy Chemistry Program (ACCP) was an investigation to determine the theoretical and empirical basis for remote sensing of nitrogen and lignin concentrations in vegetation canopies of different ecosystems conducted at various U.S.A. sites between 1991 and 1993. Available data include: Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) images, laboratory chemical analysis of field samples, laboratory spectra and chemical analysis from several mini-canopy experiments, and canopy modeling data.

BigFoot

The goal of the BigFoot Project was to support the validation of land products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) onboard NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra satellite. Reflectance data from MODIS were used to produce several science products including land cover, leaf area index (LAI), and net primary production (NPP). The BigFoot project began in 1999, concluded in 2003, and was funded by NASA's Terrestrial Ecology Program.

EOS Land Validation

The objective of the EOS Land Validation Project is to achieve consistency, completeness, and a timely flow of data in support of the validation of EOS Land Products, especially MODIS, ASTER, MISR, and LANDSAT 7. The 31 EOS Land Validation Core Sites span a range of biome types and represent consensus amongst the instrument teams and validation investigators. Available data include site leaf are index (lai). EOS Land Validation is an active project.

FLUXNET

FLUXNET, a network of regional networks, coordinates regional and global analysis of observations from micrometeorological tower sites that use eddy covariance methods to measure exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. FLUXNET is comprised of more than 500 tower sites from about 30 regional networks across five continents. FLUXNET is an active project.

Prototype Validation Exercise (PROVE)

The Prototype Validation Exercise (PROVE) was a mini field campaign conducted in May 1997 near Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S.A, at the Jornada Experimental Range. Prove sought to gain experience in the collection and use of field data for EOS product validation, to develop protocols for coordination, measurement, and data- archival, and to compile a synoptic land and atmosphere data set for testing algorithms.

MODIS Land Product Subsets

The goal of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land Product Subsets project is to provide summaries of selected MODIS Land products for community use in the validation of models and remote-sensing products and in the characterization of field sites. Output files contain pixel values in text and GeoTIFF format, with time series plots and grids for composite periods. The MODIS Land Product Subsets Project is an active project.

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Regional and Global Data

Regional and global biogeochemical dynamics data can be used to improve our understanding of the structure and function of various ecosystems; to enable prediction across spatial and temporal scales; and to parameterize and validate terrestrial ecosystem models. The ORNL DAAC compiles, archives, and distributes more than 150 products from the following projects:

Climate Collections

Climate collections include measured and modeled values for variables such as temperature, precipitation, humidity, radiation, wind velocity, and cloud cover. Climate holdings include station measurement data as well as gridded mean values for the aforementioned variables.

Daymet

Daymet is a collection of algorithms and computer software designed to interpolate and extrapolate from daily meteorological observations to produce gridded estimates of daily weather parameters. Weather parameters generated include daily surfaces of minimum and maximum temperature, precipitation, humidity, and radiation produced on a 1 km X 1 km gridded surface over the conterminous United States, Mexico, and Southern Canada.

Hydroclimatology Collections

Hydroclimatology is an aspect of climatology that is exclusively concerned with the atmosphere. The hydroclimatology data collections project contains data that are suitable for the study of surface-water conditions, and are focused primarily on North America.

ISLSCP_II

The International Satellite Land-Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) is part of the Global Energy and Water Experiment (GEWEX) project and is responsible for process modeling, data retrieval algorithms, field experiment design and execution, and the development of global data sets.

Net Primary Production (NPP)

The Net Primary Production (NPP) data collection contains field measurements of biomass and estimated NPP for terrestrial sites worldwide. It includes data for 65 intensive study sites in boreal forests, croplands, grasslands, multi-biomes, temperate forest, tropical forest, and Alaskan tundra. This project was sponsored by the Terrestrial Ecology Program of NASA's Office of Earth Science, and ran 1997 through 2005.

River Discharge (RIVDIS)

The Global River Discharge (RivDIS) data set contains monthly discharge measurements for 1018 stations located throughout the world. The period of record varies widely from station to station, with a mean of 21.5 years from 1807 through 1991.

Russian Land Cover (RLC)

The Russian Land Cover (RLC) project provides 12 digital map data products containing landcover, forested area, forest carbon content, and administrative information for Russia and the former USSR from 1984 through 1993. These data were produced by scientists at the Woods Hole Research Center and originally distributed in 2001 on CD-ROM.

Soil Collections

Soil Collections contain data on the physical and chemical properties of soils including: soil carbon and nitrogen; soil water-holding capacity; soil respiration, and soil textures.

TransCom

The Atmospheric Tracer Transport Model Intercomparison Project (TransCom) was sponsored by a task force of the International Geosphere-Biosphere (IGBP) called Global Analysis, Integration, and Modeling (GAIM) to quantify and diagnose the uncertainty in inversion calculations of the global carbon budget that result from errors in simulated atmospheric transport. TransCom began in 1993, and to date consists of four phases: TransCom 01, TransCom 02, TransCom 03, and TransCom 04. The first three phases are complete, while TransCom 04 has just been initiated.

Vegetation Collections

Vegetation regulates the flow of numerous biogeochemical cycles, most critically those of water, carbon, and nitrogen; it is also of great importance in local and global energy balances. Vegetation collections data include: biomass; biome characteristics; litter chemistry and decomposition; geocology; root biomass, nutrient concentration, profiles, and turnover; global fire emissions, vegetation, and lai; ecosystem structure and function; phenoregions; and carbon flux.

Vegetation-Ecosystem Modeling (VEMAP)

The Vegetation/Ecosystem Modeling and Analysis Project (VEMAP) was a multi-institutional, international effort that addressed the response of biogeography and biogeochemistry to environmental variability in climate and other drivers in both space and time domains. The project began in 1996 and concluded in 2001.

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Model Archive

The Model Archive provides the methodological detail in numerical modeling studies needed to ensure the long-term reproducibility of experimental results. Because numerical models evolve continuously over time, the most complete description of many numerical models is the specific version of the model itself used in a particular manuscript. The rationale and approach for the Model Archive is presented in Thornton et al. (2005)PDF .

The Model Archive at the ORNL DAAC serves three distinct purposes:

  • A long-term, stable archive for release of benchmark model versions, including the associated documentation as well as example inputs and outputs.
  • Archive of a model associated with a published research manuscript including model code, boundary conditions, parameterizations, and any analysis routines required to reproduce the published results.
  • Archive of key data processing algorithms used to generate data sets, including well-documented code, and example inputs and outputs.

Current archived model products

  • Biogeochemical process models
  • Biosphere simulation models
  • Ecosystem process and response models
  • Land surface models
  • Scalable vegetation models

Interested in submitting your model for archival? Check out our Data Management for Data Providers pages.

Get Model Archive Data

Find and order Model Archive data sets:

Example Model Archive

LPJ_WHyMe_permafrost_distribution_fig1.jpg

The Lund-Potsdam-Jena Wetland Hydrology and Methane DGV Model (LPJ-WHyMe v1.3.1) simulates peatland hydrology, permafrost dynamics, peatland vegetation, and methane emissions.

Other Model Archive Resources

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Search for Data

The ORNL DAAC offers several ways to find data of interest.

Data Search

The ORNL DAAC Data Search is the Mercury metadata search system. It provides options for keyword, spatial, and temporal searches across ORNL DAAC archived data.

Browse Data

Browse ORNL DAAC Data Holdings.

Website Search

Get Search Results from the ORNL DAAC website using a Google site search.

Search by DOI

Search by DOI using the ORNL DAAC DOI search for data sets that are cited or referred to in an article, enter the article's digital object identifier (DOI). Related data sets are also displayed.

THREDDS Data Server (TDS) Catalog Service

For a limited number of ORNL DAAC data products, the ORNL DAAC offers a TDS Catalog Service.

Complete Data Set List

The Complete Data Set List provides a list by category of the number of data sets available within each project. The project name is a link to the list of available data sets within each project, where the data set can be downloaded.

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