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ISLSCP Initiative II Home General Data Overview Vegetation Data Overview |
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ISLSCP Initiative II |
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Vegetation Data
The photosynthetic composition (C3 or C4) of vegetation on the land surface is essential for accurate simulations of biosphere-atmosphere exchanges of carbon, water, and energy. C3 and C4 plants have different responses to light, temperature, CO2, and nitrogen; they also differ in physiological functions like stomatal conductance and isotope fractionation. A fine-scale distribution of these plant types is essential for earth science modeling.
The C4 percentage is determined from datasets that describe the continuous distribution of plant growth forms (i.e., the percent of a grid cell covered by herbaceous or woody vegetation), climate classifications, the fraction of a grid cell covered in croplands, and national crop type harvest area statistics. The staff from the International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) Initiative II have made the original data set consistent with the ISLSCP-2 land/water mask.
Data Provider: Christopher J. Still, Joseph A. Berry, G. James Collatz, Ruth S. DeFries
 Data Files (ISLSCP II Disc #1) |
 Data Set Documentation |
 Image Viewing Tutorial |
The only file in this data set is named "c4_percent_1d.asc". This file provides the percentage of vegetation (0-100) in each 1 degree grid cell (lat./long.) which possesses the C4 photosynthetic pathway. The file is 360 values per line with 180 lines. The file has been PKZip compressed.
Related Pages:
ISLSCP Initiative II Home
General Data Overview
Vegetation Data Overview
C4 Vegetation Percentage
Revision Date: November 29, 2004