Skip to main content

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

View All Datasets
Dataset Version Platforms Instruments Temporal Extent Spatial Extent Spatial Resolution Data Format
CERES and GEO-Enhanced TOA, Within-Atmosphere and Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols Monthly-Averaged 1-Hourly Terra-NPP Edition1A Edition1A GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITES, Terra, Suomi-NPP IMAGING RADIOMETERS, CERES-FM1, CERES-FM2, CERES SCANNER, MODIS, CERES-FM5, VIIRS 2012-02-01 to 2017-11-30 HDF4
CERES and GEO-Enhanced TOA, Within-Atmosphere and Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols One-Hourly Terra-NPP Edition1A Edition1A GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITES, Terra, Suomi-NPP IMAGING RADIOMETERS, CERES-FM1, CERES-FM2, MODIS, CERES-FM5, VIIRS 2012-02-01 to 2017-11-30 HDF4
CERES and GEO-Enhanced TOA, Within-Atmosphere and Surface Fluxes, Clouds and Aerosols Three-Hourly Terra-NPP Edition1A Edition1A GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITES, Terra, Suomi-NPP IMAGING RADIOMETERS, CERES-FM1, CERES-FM2, CERES SCANNER, MODIS, CERES-FM5, VIIRS 2012-02-01 to 2017-11-30 HDF4
CERES and GEO-Enhanced TOA, Within-Atmosphere, and Surface Fluxes Clouds and Aerosols Monthly Terra Edition4A Edition4A GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITES, Terra IMAGING RADIOMETERS, CERES-FM1, CERES-FM2, MODIS 2000-03-01 to 2002-06-30 HDF4
Characteristics of African Savanna Biomes for Determining Woody Cover 1 FIELD INVESTIGATION, NOAA-7, LABORATORY, FIELD SURVEYS DENSIOMETERS, AVHRR, CHN ANALYZERS, VISUAL OBSERVATIONS 1981-01-01 to 2003-12-31

N: 16.761 S: -27.75 E: 37.2375 W: -15.8392

CSV
China Dimensions Data Collection: China Maps Bibliographic Database 1.00 MODELS Computer 1765-01-01 to 1994-12-31

N: 54 S: 18 E: 135 W: 73

MDB
Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation, Geobotanical, Physiographic Maps, 1982-2003 1 FIELD SURVEYS, LANDSAT-5 STEEL MEASURING TAPE, AVHRR 1982-06-01 to 2010-09-30

N: 90 S: 55.8 E: 180 W: -180

multiple
Circumpolar Boreal Forest Aboveground Biomass Density and Vegetation Height, V3 3 ISS, LANDSAT, ICESat-2, MODELS GEDI, Sentinel-2 MSI, ATLAS, Computer 2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31

N: 78.5313 S: 43.7519 E: 179.822 W: -180

COG
CLASIC07 In Situ Vegetation Data V001 1 FIELD SURVEYS SOIL SAMPLER 2007-06-10 to 2007-07-03

N: 35.21 S: 34.79 E: -97.95 W: -98.6

800 Meters x 800 Meters ASCII
CLASIC07 Vegetation Water Content Map V001 1 IRS-P6 AWIFS 2007-07-15 to 2007-07-15

N: 37.23 S: 34.35 E: -95.47 W: -99.53

56 Meters x 56 Meters Binary, ASCII
SHOWING 10 OF 1519
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

View All Data Tools
Tool Description Services
STREAM STREAM is a rapid water quality monitoring tool that processes satellite imagery to create maps showing chlorophyll-a, Total Suspended Solids, and water clarity at 20-30 meter resolution. Processing
TESViS The Terrestrial Ecology Subsetting & Visualization Services Global Subsets Tool provides on-demand, customized subsets of several terrestrial ecology data products. Visualization, Subsetting
VEDA NASA's Visualization, Exploration, and Data Analysis (VEDA) project is an open-source science cyberinfrastructure for data processing, visualization, exploration, and geographic information systems (GIS) capabilities. Access, Analysis, Processing, Visualization, Geoprocessing
Vertex Vertex is a graphical search interface for finding synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. Search and Discovery, Access, Downloading, Processing, Subsetting
Worldview Worldview offers the capability to interactively browse over 1,200 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and download the underlying data. Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization, Access, Comparison, Monitoring Natural Events
SHOWING 5 OF 15

Frequently Asked Questions

Earthdata Forum

Our online forum provides a space for users to browse thousands of FAQs about research needs, data, and data applications. You can also submit new questions for our experts to answer.

Submit Questions to Earthdata Forumand View Expert Responses

Earthdata
Forum