LBA Regional Land Cover: Amazon Basin Vegetation from AVHRR

Amazon Basin land cover data is a regional subset of the 1-km global land cover dataset derived from AVHRR satellite data. It covers latitudes from 10°N to 25°S and longitudes from 30°W to 85°W, created for the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA). The dataset contains 13 land cover classes derived from 41 vegetation phenology metrics, based on 1992-1993 satellite observations.

Use Cases

• Mapping deforestation and land cover change in the Amazon based on the 13-class classification.
• Modeling biosphere-atmosphere interactions for climate research using the 1-km resolution geospatial data.
• Analyzing regional vegetation phenology patterns based on the 41 derived metrics.
• Validating newer land cover products against this historical baseline from 1992-1993.

Strengths

• Derived from a 14-year satellite record (1981-1994), allowing for stability testing of classification algorithms.
• Uses multiple spectral bands (red, infrared, thermal, NDVI) to improve discrimination between 13 land cover classes.
• Based on 41 detailed metrics describing global vegetation phenology.

Limitations

• Metadata conflicts on update date: one source lists 1993-12-31, another lists 2026-04-10.
• Spatial resolution of 1 km may be coarse for localized, fine-scale ecological studies.
• Original column names and exact row/table dimensions are not provided in the available metadata.

Provenance

Source

Subset created from Hansen et al. (1999) dataset developed at the University of Maryland's Laboratory for Global Remote Sensing Studies (LGRSS).

Collection Method

Derived from NASA/NOAA Pathfinder AVHRR Land (PAL) data, specifically 1992-1993 local area coverage (LAC) AVHRR data.

Time Range

1992-1993

Freshness

1993-12-31 23:59:59.999000

Geography

Amazon Basin, South America (latitude 10°N to 25°S, longitude 30°W to 85°W).