BOREAS TE-18: Landsat Land Cover Classification of the Northern Study Area

Northern Study Area (NSA) land cover is classified using a Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper image from June 21, 1995. A geometric optical canopy model generated spectral trajectories from land cover reflectances to train the classification algorithm. The resulting data product characterizes boreal forest land cover for the BOREAS investigation.

Use Cases

• Analyzing boreal forest composition based on spectral trajectory classification
• Validating land cover models using a geometric optical canopy model approach
• Studying historical land cover change in the Northern Study Area using the 1995 baseline
• Comparing classification techniques that use reflectance-based training data

Strengths

• Uses a specific, documented Landsat-5 TM image from June 21, 1995
• Classification method employs a geometric optical canopy model to generate training data
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata signals importance and preservation

Limitations

• Metadata conflict on last updated date: datagov lists 2026-03-13, while nasa_earthdata lists 1995-06-21
• Column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are unknown across all sources
• Documentation is limited to the classification objective and method description

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from a Landsat-5 TM image using a geometric optical canopy model to create spectral trajectories for classification.

Time Range

1995-06-21

Freshness

2026-03-13 12:12:57.689833

Geography

BOREAS Northern Study Area (NSA)