Canadian Vegetation Leaf Area Index Maps at 30-Meter Resolution

Leaf Area Index (LAI) maps provide half the total live foliage area per unit ground surface for selected Canadian sites at 30-meter resolution. The data, produced by NASA using algorithms from ground measurements and Landsat TM/ETM+ imagery, are formatted as TIFF files. These maps are intended for validating other LAI products and modeling surface-atmosphere exchanges.

Use Cases

• Validating other LAI maps over protected Canadian sites using the 30-m resolution geospatial data.
• Modeling carbon, water, and energy exchange between the land surface and atmosphere using the derived LAI values.
• Monitoring changes in land surface vegetation cover over time at the selected sites.
• Applying the transfer function developed from Landsat spectral reflectance to estimate LAI in similar land cover classes.

Strengths

• Data is derived from ground measurements and Landsat imagery, providing a physically-based estimate (Fernandes et al., 2003).
• High 30-meter spatial resolution allows for detailed analysis of vegetation at the site level.
• Maps are focused on protected areas in Canada, reducing uncertainty from land disturbance.

Limitations

• Specific site locations, count of sites, and temporal validity periods are not detailed in the provided metadata.
• A significant conflict exists on the last updated date: Data.gov lists 2026-03 13, while NASA Earthdata lists 2001-12-31.
• Column names, row counts, and dataset size are unknown across all platforms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Algorithms developed from ground measurements and Landsat TM and ETM+ images, with LAI mapped using a transfer function within a masked region of specific land cover classes.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-03-13 00:57:19.612424

Geography

Selected measured sites in Canada.