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Biosphere Data Access and Tools

NASA biosphere data range from surface reflectance data useful for measuring the greenness of vegetation to measurements of nighttime lights that disrupt the behaviors of wildlife. Our datasets and tools help researchers translate these interconnected data points into actionable knowledge.

Biosphere Datasets

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Dataset Version Platforms Instruments Temporal Extent Spatial Extent Spatial Resolution Data Format
BOREAS TF-11 SSA-FEN Tower Flux and Meteorological Data 1 FIXED OBSERVATION STATIONS, LABORATORY EDDY CORRELATION DEVICES, HUMIDITY SENSORS, IRGA, NET RADIOMETERS, PYRANOMETERS, LICOR QUANTUM SENSOR, SOIL HEAT FLUX TRANSDUCER, WATER LEVEL GAUGES, ANEROID PRESSURE SENSOR, ANEMOMETERS, TUNABLE DIODE LASER 1993-08-23 to 1995-10-09

N: 53.8 S: 53.8 E: -104.62 W: -104.62

ASCII
Delta-X: Delft3D Sediment Model, Site 421, Terrebonne Basin, MRD, Louisiana, USA 1 COMPUTERS Computer 2021-03-25 to 2021-08-28

N: 29.1954 S: 29.1517 E: -90.8039 W: -90.8361

multiple
Global Vegetation Types, 1971-1982 (Matthews) 1 NOT APPLICABLE NOT APPLICABLE 1971-01-01 to 1982-01-01

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

ASCII
Arctic Vegetation Plots at ARCSS/LAII Flux Sites, North Slope, Alaska, 1995-1996 1 FIELD SURVEYS VISUAL OBSERVATIONS 1995-08-15 to 1996-08-18

N: 70.2835 S: 68.49 E: -148.59 W: -150.25

CSV
LBA-ECO CD-08 Tropical Forest Ecosystem Respiration, Manaus, Brazil 1 FIELD INVESTIGATION IRGA, SOIL MOISTURE PROBE, LICOR PLANT CANOPY ANALYZER 2000-07-29 to 2001-08-15

N: -2.589 S: -2.6091 E: -60.1152 W: -60.2093

CSV
Leaf Angle Data (FIFE) 1 FIELD INVESTIGATION VISUAL OBSERVATIONS, SCA 1987-06-09 to 1987-08-04

N: 39.13 S: 39.13 E: -96.63 W: -96.63

multiple
LiDAR Derived Forest Aboveground Biomass Maps, Northwestern USA, 2002-2016 1 MODELS, FIELD SURVEYS Computer, STEEL MEASURING TAPE 2002-01-01 to 2016-12-31

N: 49.353 S: 41.6644 E: -112.275 W: -125.581

multiple
WDTS: AVIRIS-Classic Derived Plant Traits by Flight Line, 2013-2018 1 NASA ER-2 AVIRIS 2013-04-10 to 2018-08-16

N: 39.646 S: 32.5742 E: -114.22 W: -123.647

ENVI
Arctic Vegetation Plots at Toolik Lake, Alaska, 1989 1 FIELD INVESTIGATION, FIELD SURVEYS, LABORATORY PROBES, SOIL SAMPLER 1989-08-01 to 1989-08-24

N: 68.643 S: 68.6228 E: -149.587 W: -149.651

CSV
MASTER: FireSense, California and Southern US, Spring 2025 1 B-200 MASTER 2025-03-17 to 2025-04-18

N: 33.4811 S: 30.2467 E: -81.6656 W: -116.044

multiple
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VIIRS
Vegetation indices measure the amount of green vegetation over a given area and can be used to assess vegetation health. A commonly-used vegetation index is the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which uses the difference between near-infrared (NIR) and red reflectance divided by their sum. NDVI values range from -1 to 1. Low values of NDVI generally correspond to barren areas of rock, sand, exposed soils, or snow, while higher NDVI values indicate greener vegetation, including forests, croplands, and wetlands.
VIIRS Vegetation Indices on Earthdata Search

Biosphere Data Tools

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Tool Description Services
AppEEARS The The Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS) offers users a simple and efficient way to perform data access and transformation processes. Search and Discovery, Subsetting, Customization, Downloading, Visualization
Biomass Earthdata Dashboard Observe global forest biomass harmonization activity with the Biomass Earthdata Dashboard. Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization
CASEI The Catalog of Archived Suborbital Earth Science Investigations (CASEI) is a comprehensive inventory of contextual information for NASA's Earth Science airborne and field campaigns. Search and Discovery, Cataloging
Earthdata Search Earthdata Search enables data discovery, search, comparison, visualization, and access across NASA’s Earth science data holdings. Search and Discovery, Access, Cataloging, Cloud Computing, Downloading
FIRMS The Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) provides access to satellite imagery, active fire/hotspots, and related products to identify the location, extent, and intensity of wildfire activity. Access, Visualization
Giovanni Giovanni is a web application for accessing, visualizing, and analyzing Earth science remote sensing data without downloading the data. Search and Discovery, Analysis, Access, Visualization, Downloading, Subsetting
OpenAltimetry OpenAltimetry is a map-based visualization tool for exploring surface elevation data across Earth over time. Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization
Panoply Panoply is a cross-platform application that plots geo-referenced and other arrays from netCDF, HDF, GRIB, and other datasets. Visualization, Customization, Reformatting, Subsetting, Comparison
POPGRID Viewer POPGRID Viewer explores the intercomparison of population counts and settlement mapping from leading global data sources. Comparison
POWER DAV The POWER project’s Data Access Viewer (DAV) is an interactive web-mapping application that provides access to NASA’s customized solar and meteorological data catalog. Analysis, Downloading, Subsetting, Visualization
SHOWING 10 OF 15

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