Forest Canopy Cover Above Mean Height for Canada, 1985–2011

1985–2011 time-series of forest canopy structure metrics for Canada's forested ecosystems, covering approximately 650 million hectares. The dataset was developed by Natural Resources Canada within the National Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring System (NTEMS) framework. It provides a 30-meter resolution raster layer representing the percentage of first lidar returns above the mean canopy height.

Use Cases

• Model forest biomass and carbon stocks based on lidar-derived canopy structure metrics.
• Monitor long-term changes in forest canopy cover and height across Canada based on the 1985–2011 time-series.
• Validate or calibrate satellite-based forest inventory models using the peer-reviewed, area-based approach described.
• Assess regional forest structural dynamics for strategic planning, as indicated by the dataset's intended use.

Strengths

• Spatial coverage of approximately 650 million hectares across Canada's forested ecosystems.
• Data generation is based on peer-reviewed science and methods detailed in Matasci et al. (2018).
• Products combine lidar plot data with Landsat pixel composites using a Random Forests-based imputation approach.
• Consistent 30-meter spatial resolution for all generated products.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is explicitly stated as not intended to support operational-level forest management.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Natural Resources Canada

Collection Method

Generated by combining lidar plot information with Landsat pixel-based composites using a nearest neighbour imputation approach with a Random Forests-based distance metric.

Time Range

1985–2011

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-16 16:05:18.684939; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Canada's forested ecosystems