National Biomass and Carbon Dataset for the Year 2000

NBCD 2000 provides a high-resolution 30-meter map of year-2000 baseline estimates for canopy height, aboveground live dry biomass, and standing carbon stock across the conterminous United States. It was developed by ORNL_CLOUD using an empirical model combining USDA Forest Service FIA data with SRTM InSAR and Landsat ETM+ optical data. The dataset consists of 66 mapping zones, each containing six raster files in GeoTIFF format.

Use Cases

• Modeling national carbon budgets using the 'standing carbon stock' raster layers.
• Assessing forest structure and health via the 'basal area-weighted canopy height' estimates.
• Calibrating newer remote sensing biomass products against the year-2000 'aboveground live dry biomass' baseline.
• Conducting regional ecological studies using data from any of the 66 specific mapping zones.

Strengths

• Provides a consistent 30-meter resolution baseline for the entire conterminous U.S., covering 66 mapping zones.
• Version 2 incorporates previously missing land cover types (e.g., Shrubs, NLCD Type 52) based on user feedback and renewed modeling.

Limitations

• Sources conflict on the last update date, with one listing 2026-03-12 and another 2002-12-31, creating uncertainty about version maintenance.
• Specific column names and row counts for the raster data are not provided in the available metadata.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Empirical modeling combining USDA Forest Service FIA ground data with SRTM InSAR and Landsat ETM+ optical remote sensing.

Time Range

2000

Freshness

2026-03-12

Geography

Conterminous United States