BOREAS RSS-01: Forest Surface Reflectance and Transmittance

BOREAS RSS-01 data contains averaged reflectance factors and transmitted radiances measured by the PARABOLA instrument at three forested sites in the BOREAS Southern Study Area. Measurements were taken at different view angles and three wavelength bands throughout the day during multiple field campaigns. The data collection occurred during the 1994 growing season and extended into 1996, covering three Intensive Field Campaigns and two additional campaigns.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite surface reflectance algorithms based on ground-truth measurements at three wavelength bands.
• Modeling forest canopy bidirectional reflectance distribution functions using data collected at different view angles.
• Analyzing diurnal and seasonal changes in surface radiative properties from time-series measurements throughout the day and across campaigns.
• Studying the impact of forest structure on light transmission and reflectance for ecosystem energy balance models.

Strengths

• Data collection spans multiple years and campaigns, including three IFCs in 1994 and additional measurements in 1996, providing temporal depth.
• Measurements are from three distinct forested tower flux sites within the BOREAS SSA, offering spatial replication.
• Data includes both reflectance and transmittance at three specific wavelength bands, which is useful for spectral analysis.

Limitations

• Column names and detailed data structure are unknown, limiting immediate usability without further documentation.
• Conflicting metadata exists: one platform lists a last update date in 2026, while another indicates the data itself is from 1996, creating uncertainty about provenance.
• The dataset size, row count, and specific file formats within the ZIP archives are not provided.

Provenance

Source

BOREAS RSS-01 team, collected for the BOREAS project.

Collection Method

Field measurements using the PARABOLA instrument at selected tower flux sites.

Time Range

1994 growing season (IFCs) and early to mid-1996 (FFC-W, IFC-2).

Freshness

Last updated metadata varies by platform: 2026-03-13 (datagov) vs. 1996-07-30 (nasa_earthdata). The underlying data is from 1994-1996.

Geography

Three forested sites in the BOREAS Southern Study Area (SSA).