BigFoot Field Data for North American Biome Validation
Updated 2mo ago
15filesPDF
Available on 2 platforms
Sign in to view source links and access this dataset
Description
From 1999 to 2003, the BigFoot project collected multi-year, in-situ field data at selected EOS Land Validation Sites across North America. The dataset includes measurements of FPAR, nitrogen content, root biomass, LAI, tree biomass, soil respiration, NPP, and vegetation inventories across six to nine sites representing distinct biomes. NASA organized this project to validate MODIS satellite-derived products like land cover, LAI, and NPP by combining ground measurements with high-resolution remote sensing and ecosystem models.
Use Cases
Validating MODIS-derived Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Net Primary Production (NPP) products using ground-measured LAI and NPP.
Analyzing spatial patterns of ecosystem characteristics like tree biomass and soil respiration within a 7x7 km area around flux towers.
Studying inter-annual variability in carbon cycle components such as FPAR and root biomass across Arctic tundra to desert grassland biomes.
Developing or calibrating allometry equations for biomass estimation using site-specific vegetation inventory data.
Strengths
Covers a multi-year time series from 1999 to 2003, enabling analysis of inter-annual variability.
Includes data from six to nine sites representing six distinct biomes, from Arctic tundra to desert shrubland.
Designed for validation with a sampling scale of 49 MODIS pixels (7x7 km) per site, linking ground data to satellite products.
Contains a wide array of in-situ measurements including FPAR, LAI, biomass, nitrogen, and soil respiration.
Limitations
Exact row count, column names, and dataset size are unspecified across all sources.
Sources conflict on the last update date: one lists 2003-12-31, another lists a future date of 2026-03 13.
The license is ambiguously noted as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.
Provenance
Source
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Collection Method
Combined ground measurements, high-resolution remote-sensing data, and ecosystem process models at flux tower sites.
Time Range
1999 to 2003
Freshness
2003-12-31 23:59:59.999000
Geography
Selected EOS Land Validation Sites in North America
License is listed as 'other-license-specified'; users must investigate specific terms. Data is packaged in multiple formats including ZIP, PDF, and PNG.