Forest Age Maps for North America at 1-km Resolution

Forest age map products provide a 1-km resolution spatial dataset for Canada and the United States. The maps were compiled by the ORNL Cloud team from forest inventory data, historical fire records, optical satellite imagery, and NASA LEDAPS project outputs, with a companion paper by Pan et al. (2011) included. Canadian data reflects conditions through 2004, while U.S. data is through 2006.

Use Cases

• Analyzing net CO2 uptake by forests by combining age maps with carbon dynamics by forest type.
• Quantifying uncertainty in forest age estimates using the supplementary standard deviation map.
• Modeling the impact of historical disturbances on current forest structure and carbon stocks.
• Conducting continental-scale assessments of forest recovery time since last major disturbance.

Strengths

• Provides a continental-scale product at a consistent 1-km spatial resolution.
• Includes a supplementary map of standard deviations for quantifying estimate uncertainty.
• Compiles data from multiple authoritative sources including forest inventories, fire history, and NASA satellite imagery.
• Includes the foundational Pan et al. (2011) paper as a companion file for methodological context.

Limitations

• Data freshness is limited, with Canadian maps from 2004 and U.S. maps from 2006.
• Platforms disagree on the last updated date, citing both 2006-12-31 and 2026-03 13.
• Specific column names and row/size counts are not provided across any source.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD, utilizing data from forest inventories, historical fire data, optical satellites, and NASA's LEDAPS project.

Collection Method

Compiled from multiple input data products as described in the Pan et al. (2011) source paper.

Time Range

2004 to 2006

Freshness

2026-03-13 00:02:45.213997

Geography

Canada and the contiguous United States.