The Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) is an inter-governmental program coordinated by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). It aims to provide sustained Earth observations to support national forest monitoring systems and greenhouse gas inventories reported to the UNFCCC and FAO. The dataset originates from the USGS Long Term Archive (USGS_LTA) and is hosted on NASA's Earthdata platform.
Use Cases
- Estimate national forest carbon stocks based on satellite observations for UNFCCC reporting
- Monitor deforestation and forest degradation trends to support national forest assessments
- Develop and validate methods for forest monitoring using accepted GFOI protocols and guidance
Strengths
- Data originates from the authoritative USGS Long Term Archive and NASA Earthdata.
- Supports internationally recognized frameworks like the UNFCCC and FAO's Forest Resources Assessment.
- Aims to provide sustained and coordinated Earth observations for long-term monitoring.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count, file formats, and last update date are unknown, limiting suitability assessment.
- Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the nasa_earthdata platform's collection scope.
Provenance
- Source
- USGS Long Term Archive (USGS_LTA)
- Collection Method
- Satellite observations coordinated through the inter-governmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO).
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
- Geography
- Malawi