Input Data For 'Forest_Carbon_Edge_Effects'

Geospatial raster data for tropical Africa and the Americas, including land cover classification and above-ground biomass measurements. The dataset was compiled by Richard R. Sharp of Stanford University for research on forest carbon edge effects, using MODIS and anthrome data sources from 2010 and 2012. It contains files for land cover (16 UMD classes) and biomass (tons/ha) for each continent, plus anthrome layers representing human-influenced biomes.

Use Cases

• Modeling forest carbon stocks based on above-ground biomass measurements in tons/ha.
• Analyzing land-use change patterns based on MODIS-derived 16-class land cover classification.
• Studying the influence of human settlements on tropical forests based on anthrome (anthropogenic biome) data.
• Mapping potential carbon emissions from deforestation by combining biomass and land cover layers.

Strengths

• Data is derived from authoritative, peer-reviewed sources including MODIS Collection 5 and Nature Climate Change publications.
• Includes multiple complementary data layers (land cover, biomass, anthromes) for integrated analysis.
• Covers two major tropical regions, Africa and the Americas, allowing for comparative studies.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation and sample data are unavailable, requiring field semantics to be inferred after download.
• The exact spatial resolution, file formats, and dataset size are unspecified in the provided metadata.
• Last update date is unknown, which may affect assessments of data freshness for contemporary applications.

Provenance

Source

Compiled by Richard R. Sharp from Stanford University, sourced from MODIS and published research (Friedl et al. 2010, Baccini et al. 2012, Ellis et al. 2010).

Collection Method

Likely aggregated and clipped from existing global remote sensing products for specific tropical study regions.

Time Range

Primary source data is from around 2010-2012.

Geography

Tropical regions of Africa and the Americas.