North American Carbon Program Supplemental Gridded Data and Model Outputs

Monthly and yearly data from 2008 provides standardized, gridded observations and model outputs for North America. The dataset contains 9 observational variables from MODIS and FIA sources, plus results from three terrestrial biosphere models and one inverse model. It was compiled by the NACP Modeling and Synthesis Thematic Data Center and resampled to a consistent 1-degree spatial resolution.

Use Cases

• Validating terrestrial biosphere model simulations against MODIS-derived variables like Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR).
• Analyzing spatial patterns of Gross Primary Production (GPP) and Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) anomalies across North America.
• Assessing forest carbon stocks using the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) forest biomass and forest area data at 0.5-degree resolution.
• Comparing output from three different terrestrial biosphere models (14 variables) to understand uncertainty in carbon flux estimates.
• Using inverse model simulations to constrain regional estimates of carbon sources and sinks.

Strengths

• Contains a large volume of model output with 214 files from three terrestrial biosphere models.
• Provides standardized, comparable data resampled to a common 1-degree grid and CF-compliant netCDF format.
• Integrates multiple data streams: satellite observations (MODIS), forest inventory (FIA), and process-based model outputs.

Limitations

• Exact row/record counts and dataset size are not specified across any platform.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, listing both 2008-12-31 and 2026-03 13.
• Column names and specific temporal range (beyond 'monthly or yearly') are not detailed.

Provenance

Source

NACP Modeling and Synthesis Thematic Data Center (MAST-DC), ORNL_CLOUD.

Collection Method

Original data files were resampled to 1-degree (or 0.5-degree) resolution, interpolated to monthly/yearly timesteps, and reformatted to CF-compliant netCDF.

Time Range

Monthly and yearly data, with a compilation date referenced as 2008.

Freshness

2026-03-13 00:01:56.563804

Geography

North American region.