Global Forest Area and Carbon Stock Maps, 1950-2010

Global 1-degree resolution maps detail forest area, growing stock, and biomass from 1950 to 2010. NASA compiled and harmonized data from FAO, Forest Europe, and UNECE international assessments. This dataset enables cross-country comparisons of forest resources and carbon pools over six decades.

Use Cases

• Modeling global carbon budgets using biomass and carbon stock layers.
• Analyzing trends in forest area change at a 1-degree grid resolution.
• Comparing harmonized forest resource data across countries and international assessments.
• Validating remote sensing products with ground-based inventory data.

Strengths

• Provides a 60-year time series (1950-2010) for longitudinal analysis.
• Data is harmonized from multiple authoritative international assessments (FAO, Forest Europe, UNECE).
• Offers global spatial coverage at a consistent 1-degree resolution.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not documented.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between sources (2010 vs. 2026).
• License is ambiguously specified as 'other-license-specified'.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Collection Method

Compilation and harmonization of forest area and growing stock data from FAO, MCPFE (Forest Europe), and UNECE international assessments.

Time Range

1950-2010

Freshness

2026-03-13 02:37:29.943875

Geography

Global