BigFoot Leaf Area Index Surfaces for Nine American Biomes

Nine EOS Land Validation Sites from Alaska to Brazil provide leaf area index (LAI) surfaces from 2000 to 2003. The BigFoot project measured LAI using direct harvest, allometric equations, and Li-Cor LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzers across diverse biomes including tundra, boreal forest, and tropical forest. Data consists of 25-meter resolution geotiff images covering 7x7 km extents for each site.

Use Cases

• Validating MODIS land surface products like LAI and NPP using ground-measured data from nine distinct biomes.
• Modeling seasonal phenology and carbon cycling by analyzing LAI surfaces captured 3-6 times per year per site.
• Comparing direct (harvest, allometry) and indirect (optical sensor) LAI measurement methods across forest and non-forest ecosystems.
• Studying spatial vegetation patterns at a 25-meter resolution within 7x7 km representative site extents.

Strengths

• Data spans nine distinct biomes across a wide latitudinal gradient from Arctic tundra to tropical forest.
• LAI was measured for at least two years per site using multiple standardized methods (direct harvest, allometry, and optical sensors).
• High-resolution (25-meter grain) LAI surfaces were created by radiometrically normalizing Landsat ETM+ imagery.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, file sizes, and a complete column list are not provided by any source.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata, with dates ranging from 2003-12-31 to 2026-03-13.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD (Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center)

Collection Method

LAI measured at field plots using direct (area harvest, allometric equations) and indirect (Li-Cor LAI-2000) methods; surfaces derived from Landsat ETM+ imagery.

Time Range

2000 to 2003

Freshness

2026-03 13 10:26:17.784229

Geography

Nine sites located from Alaska to Brazil, representing Arctic, boreal, temperate, desert, and tropical biomes.