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Full catalog/LiDAR_Forest_Inventory_Brazil_1644
LiDAR_Forest_Inventory_Brazil_1644·v1·dataset

Laser scans of Amazon forests (Brazil, 2008-2018)

LiDAR Surveys over Selected Forest Research Sites, Brazilian Amazon, 2008-2018
land NASA ORNL_CLOUD Level 1B multiple
In plain English

What it measures. A complete catalog of laser-scan (LiDAR) point clouds collected over Amazon forest research sites in Brazil between 2008 and 2018. The 3D points capture the structure of the forest canopy in fine detail.

How it's made. Gathered by aircraft flying laser scanners over chosen field sites, then cleaned of noise, geographically aligned, and packaged into 1-square-kilometer tiles.

How & where you'd use it. Used to measure forest height and structure, monitor how selective logging affects forest biomass and carbon, and track how forests recover over time.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › LIDARBIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › FOREST COMPOSITION/VEGETATION STRUCTURELAND SURFACE › TOPOGRAPHY › TERRAIN ELEVATION › DIGITAL ELEVATION/TERRAIN MODEL (DEM)BIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › CANOPY CHARACTERISTICS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2008-01-01 → 2018-12-31
  • Measured byAIRCRAFT (LIDAR)
  • Processing levelLevel 1B
  • Spatial extent-68.2989, -26.6965, -39.058, -1.57947
  • 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 the complete catalog of point cloud data collected during LiDAR surveys over selected forest research sites across the Amazon rainforest in Brazil between 2008 and 2018 for the Sustainable Landscapes Brazil Project. Flight lines were selected to overfly key field research sites in the Brazilian states of Acre, Amazonas, Bahia, Goias, Mato Grosso, Para, Rondonia, Santa Catarina, and Sao Paulo. The point clouds have been georeferenced, noise-filtered, and corrected for misalignment of overlapping flight lines. They are provided in 1 km2 tiles. The data were collected to measure forest canopy structure across Amazonian landscapes to monitor the effects of selective logging on forest biomass and carbon balance, and forest recovery over time.

Get the data

lidar_forest_inventory_brazil_1644_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="LiDAR_Forest_Inventory_Brazil_1644",
    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.