Modeled Plant Functional Type Cover for Alaska and Yukon, 1985-2020

Modeled top cover estimates for 7 plant functional types across Arctic and Boreal Alaska and Yukon at 5-year intervals from 1985 to 2020. The dataset includes root mean square error and source year information, produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Estimates were derived from stochastic gradient-boosting models using environmental and Landsat spectral covariates from 1984-2020.

Use Cases

• Tracking tundra shrub expansion over time based on the modeled cover of deciduous and evergreen shrubs.
• Analyzing vegetation response to fire and climate disturbances based on the multi-decadal time series of plant functional type cover.
• Validating ecological models using the provided root mean square error (RMSE) estimates for the cover maps.
• Mapping changes in forest composition based on the conifer and broadleaf tree cover estimates.

Strengths

• Covers a 35-year time series with estimates at 5-year intervals from 1985 to 2020.
• Includes 7 distinct plant functional types, such as conifer trees, shrubs, graminoids, and lichens.
• Models incorporate multiple environmental and spectral covariate layers from Landsat data spanning 1984-2020.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived through stochastic gradient-boosting models using environmental and Landsat spectral covariates.

Time Range

1985-2020

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 19:52:27.059086; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Arctic and Boreal Alaska and Yukon regions