Forest Disturbance Intensity Map for the Contiguous US, 1986-2015

This dataset provides 30-meter resolution estimates of forest disturbance intensity, measured as the percentage of basal area removal (PBAR), across the contiguous United States. It was created by the NACP NAFD Project using Landsat time series, the Vegetation Change Tracker algorithm, and Random Forest models calibrated with US Forest Service FIA field data. The data extends previous disturbance history and canopy cover loss datasets to cover a 30-year period.

Use Cases

• Modeling carbon flux changes from forest disturbance events using PBAR estimates.
• Analyzing spatial and temporal patterns of disturbance severity across CONUS at 30m resolution.
• Calibrating or validating other remote sensing disturbance detection algorithms with field-measured FIA data.
• Extending time-series analysis of forest dynamics beyond simple loss/gain to include intensity metrics.

Strengths

• Provides a continuous measure of disturbance intensity (PBAR), not just binary presence/absence.
• Covers a long 30-year time series (1986-2015) for trend analysis.
• Uses field measurements from the US Forest Service FIA Program for model calibration, adding ground truth.

Limitations

• Specific row/column counts and dataset size are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: one lists 2026-03-12, another lists 2015-12 31.

Provenance

Source

NACP NAFD Project, likely involving ORNL_CLOUD and NASA.

Collection Method

Derived from Landsat time series using the Vegetation Change Tracker algorithm and Random Forest models calibrated with USFS FIA field data.

Time Range

1986 to 2015

Freshness

2026-03-12 23:33:47.335652

Geography

Conterminous United States (CONUS)