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Full catalog/AK_Tundra_PFT_FractionalCover_1830
AK_Tundra_PFT_FractionalCover_1830·v1·dataset

What tundra plants grow where in Alaska (2010-2015)

ABoVE: Tundra Plant Functional Type Continuous-Cover, North Slope, Alaska, 2010-2015
land NASA ORNL_CLOUD Level 3 multiple
In plain English

What it measures. Maps showing what fraction of the ground is covered by different types of tundra plants across Alaska's North Slope, at 30-meter detail, for 2010 to 2015.

How it's made. Built using a machine-learning model that combined Landsat satellite images (seasonal surface-color snapshots) with field surveys of actual plant cover at sites across the region.

How & where you'd use it. Helps ecologists and land managers understand Arctic vegetation patterns and track how tundra plant communities are distributed across a changing landscape.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › REFLECTANCEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › SURFACE TEMPERATURE › AIR TEMPERATURELAND SURFACE › TOPOGRAPHY › TERRAIN ELEVATIONBIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › VEGETATION INDEX › NORMALIZED DIFFERENCE VEGETATION INDEX (NDVI)BIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › VEGETATION SPECIESBIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › VEGETATION COVER

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2010-07-01 → 2015-08-31
  • Measured byLANDSAT-5 (TM) · LANDSAT-7 (ETM+) · LANDSAT-8 (OLI)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-167.476, 65.5858, -143.978, 73.8004
  • Formatsmultiple
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

This dataset provides predicted continuous-field cover for tundra plant functional types (PFTs), across ~125,000 km2 of Alaska's North Slope at 30-m resolution. The data cover the period 2010-07-01 to 2015-08-31. The data were derived using a random forest data-mining algorithm, predictors derived from Landsat satellite observations (surface reflectance composites for ~15-day periods from May-August), and field vegetation cover and site characterization data spanning bioclimatic and geomorphic gradients. The field vegetation cover was stratified by nine PFTs, plus open water, bare ground and litter, and using the cover metrics total cover (areal cover including the understory) and top cover (uppermost canopy or ground cover), resulting in a total of 19 field cover types. The field data and predictor values at the field sites are also included.

Get the data

ak_tundra_pft_fractionalcover_1830_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="AK_Tundra_PFT_FractionalCover_1830",
    version="1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from ORNL_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.