Pre-LBA CABARE Land Surface Maps for Rondonia, Brazil

NASA and the CABARE research program provide digital maps of surface parameters for a 5x5 degree region in Rondonia, Brazil. The dataset includes elevation, soil classification, sand and clay content, and two vegetation classifications from RADAMBRASIL and LANDSAT (1993-1994). This mapping work supported mesoscale meteorological modeling in forested and deforested Southwestern Amazonia.

Use Cases

• Modeling mesoscale meteorology by integrating elevation, soil, and vegetation data for forested and deforested areas.
• Analyzing historical vegetation change by comparing the RADAMBRASIL classification with the 1993-1994 LANDSAT-derived classification.
• Studying soil properties and their spatial distribution using the soil classification and sand/clay content maps.
• Assessing terrain influence on local climate and land use through the elevation map of the region.

Strengths

• Provides a multi-parameter spatial dataset covering five key land surface characteristics for a defined region.
• Integrates historical vegetation data (RADAMBRASIL) with more recent satellite-derived classification from 1993 1994.
• Based on digitization of existing 1:1,000,000 scale maps, providing a structured numerical representation of the landscape.

Limitations

• Conflicting metadata: the last updated date is listed as both 1994-12-31 and 2026-03-12, indicating potential administrative updates versus actual data vintage.
• Specific row counts, column names, and file sizes are not provided across any platform.
• Data is provided in a legacy ArcGIS ArcInfo grid ascii format, which may require conversion for modern GIS tools.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Union CEC Environment Program (CABARE research program).

Collection Method

Digitization of existing 1:1,000,000 scale maps and incorporation of LANDSAT satellite data.

Time Range

1979 (RADAMBRASIL source) to 1994 (LANDSAT data).

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:33:10.573564

Geography

Rondonia, Brazil, bounded by 13-8 degrees S and 65-60 degrees W.