U.S. Forest Carbon Stocks and Fluxes from NFCMS Model

ORNL_CLOUD's National Forest Carbon Monitoring System (NFCMS) dataset provides modeled estimates of forest carbon stocks and fluxes for the conterminous United States. It offers 30-meter resolution data for benchmark years 1990, 2000, and 2010, derived from an inventory-constrained Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) carbon cycle model. The dataset includes core model inputs such as disturbance history, forest type, and site productivity.

Use Cases

• Monitoring national forest carbon dynamics using estimates of aboveground woody biomass (AGB) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP).
• Assessing the impact of disturbances by analyzing the year and type of the most recent stand-replacing event.
• Modeling carbon sequestration potential by combining forest-type group and site productivity classification with biomass estimates.
• Evaluating climate mitigation strategies through time-series analysis of total ecosystem carbon across three benchmark decades.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a process-based model (CASA) constrained by national forest inventory data.
• Provides high-resolution (30 m) spatial coverage for the entire conterminous United States.
• Includes three decades of benchmark data (1990, 2000, 2010) for analyzing trends.

Limitations

• Exact row/record count and dataset size are not specified on any platform.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist: one source lists 2026-03-13, another lists 2010-12 31.
• Column names and a complete data dictionary are not provided.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD, derived from the National Forest Carbon Monitoring System (NFCMS).

Collection Method

Modeled estimates from an inventory-constrained version of the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) carbon cycle process model, incorporating disturbance data from NAFD and MTBS.

Time Range

1990 to 2010

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:43:34.461755

Geography

Conterminous United States