LBA Regional Carbon in Live Vegetation, 0.5-Degree (Olson)

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LBA Regional Carbon in Live Vegetation, 0.5-Degree (Olson)
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Summary:

This data set contains one ASCII file that provides data for ecosystem complexes in South America defined for 0.5-degree grid cells, reflecting major climatic, topographic, and land-use patterns. Classifications include natural as well as human managed/modified complexes such as mainly cropped, residential, commercial, and park. The complexes are ranked by estimated organic carbon in the mass of live plants given in units of kilograms of carbon per square meter.

This data set is a subset of Olson et al. (1985, 2000) "Major World Ecosystem Complexes Ranked by Carbon in Live Vegetation", a computerized database used to generate a global vegetation map of 44 different land ecosystem complexes (mosaics of vegetation or landscapes) comprising seven broad groups. The map is derived from patterns of preagricultural vegetation, modern areal surveys, and intensive biomass data from research sites. Work on the database was begun in 1960 and completed in 1980.

There is one compressed data file with this data set in ASCII Grid format for ArcInfo (.gz).

Data Citation:

Cite this data set as follows:

Olson, J. S., J. A. Watts, and L. J. Allison. 2003. LBA Regional Carbon in Live Vegetation, 0.5-Degree (Olson). Data set. Available on-line [http://daac.ornl.gov] from Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/672.

Implementation of the LBA Data and Publication Policy by Data Users:

The LBA Data and Publication Policy [http://daac.ornl.gov/LBA/lba_data_policy.html] is in effect for a period of five (5) years from the date of archiving and should be followed by data users who have obtained LBA data sets from the ORNL DAAC. Users who download LBA data in the five years after data have been archived must contact the investigators who collected the data, per provisions 6 and 7 in the Policy.

This data set was archived in September 2003. Users who download the data between September 2003 and October 2008 must comply with the LBA Data and Publication Policy.

2. Data Characteristics:

The downloadable file, olson_lba dat.gz, is a UNIX compressed file. The data file is in ASCII Grid format for ArcInfo. The file contains a single ASCII array with integer values. Coordinates listed below are in decimal degrees.

Rows 70
Columns 110
UpLeftX -85
UpLeftY 10
LoRightX -30
LoRightY -25
cellsize 0.5
Projection geographic

The ASCII file consists of header information containing a set of keywords, followed by cell values in row-major order. The file format is

{NODATA_VALUE xxx}

row 1
row 2
.
.
.
row n

where xxx is a number, and the keyword NODATA_VALUE is optional and defaults to -9999. Row 1 of the data is at the top of the grid, row 2 is just under row 1 and so on. The end of each row of data from the grid is terminated with a carriage return in the file.

Although the nodata_value is set to -9999 in the header that value does not actually occur in the data. To import this file into ArcInfo use the following command at an ARC prompt:

ASCIIGRID {INT | FLOAT}

Arguments
- the ASCII file to be converted.
- the name of the grid to be created.
{INT | FLOAT} - the data type of the output grid.
INT - an integer grid will be created.
FLOAT - a floating-point grid will be created.

3. Data Application and Derivation:

The data help define the role of the terrestrial biosphere in the global carbon cycle.

4. Quality Assessment:

None provided.

5. Data Acquisition Materials and Methods:

This data set was created for the study area of the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA) in South America (i.e., latitude 10° N to 25° S, longitude 30° to 85° W). It is a subset of Olson et al. (1985, 2000) "Major World Ecosystem Complexes Ranked by Carbon in Live Vegetation." For this data set, ecosystem complexes were defined for 0.5-degree grid cells, reflecting the major climatic, topographic, and land-use patterns of the study area. Numeric codes were assigned to each vegetation type. Classifications include natural as well as human managed/modified complexes such as mainly cropped, residential, commercial, and park.

The complexes were ranked by estimated organic carbon in the mass of live plants given in units of kilograms of carbon per square meter. Counting the cells of each type and adding their areas give total area estimates for the ecosystem complexes. Multiplying by carbon estimates gives corresponding estimates of carbon by ecosystem complex with in the LBA study area.

For additional details regarding the subsetting process, refer to the companion files README and olson_readme.pdf.

6. Data Access:

These data are available through the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC).

Data Archive Center:

Contact for Data Center Access Information:

E-mail: uso@daac.ornl.gov
Telephone: +1 (865) 241-3952

7. References:

Olson, J. S., J. A. Watts, and L. J. Allison. 2000. Major World Ecosystem Complexes Ranked by Carbon in Live Vegetation: A Database (Revised November 2000). NDP-017. Available on-line [http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/ndps/ndp017.html] from Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A.

Olson, J. S., J. A. Watts, and L. J. Allison, 1985. Major World Ecosystem Complexes Ranked by Carbon in Live Vegetation. NDP-017. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A.