Existing BOREAS gridded data sets were processed into projections and scales required by the Follow-on modeling teams. Existing TM and AVHRR based landcover maps, AVHRR-FPAR maps, AVHRR-LAI maps, moss cover maps, and a new peatland distribution map were regridded to scales of 2 km, 10 by 5 minute, and half-degree grids for use by the BOREAS Follow-On Carbon and Hydro-Meteorological modeling groups.

The BOREAS RSS-07 team focused their efforts on developing and validating procedures and algorithms that would allow the retrieval of LAI from remotely sensed vegetation indices. This data set contains images of LAI and FPAR that were produced from the AVHRR Level-4c ten-day composite NDVI images produced at CCRS for the three summer IFCs in 1994. The algorithms were developed based on ground measurements and Landsat TM images (Chen and Cihlar, 1996; Chen, 1996b). The data are provided in binary image format files. Companion files include example thumbnail images that may be viewed and the image data files downloaded using a convenient viewer utility.

The RSS-04 team collected several data sets related to leaf, plant, and stand physical, optical, and chemical properties. This data set contains leaf area indices and FPAR measurements which were taken at the three conifer sites in the BOREAS SSA during August 1993 and at the jack pine tower flux and a subset of auxiliary sites during July and August 1994. The measurements were made with LAI-2000 and Ceptometer instruments. The measurements were taken for the purpose of model parameterization and to test empirical relationships that were hypothesized between biophysical parameters and remotely sensed data.

Contains daily green fpar, LAI, needle-to-shoot area ratio, clumping index, PAI, and foliage-to-total area index for tower and auxiliary sites for IFC's 1, 2, and 3. Also contains effective LAI measurements acquired along RSS-07 transects in the BOREAS study area.

The BOREAS TF-11 team gathered a variety of data to complement their tower flux measurements collected at the SSA Fen site. These data are LAI measurements made by the TF-11 team throughout the 1995 growing season. The data include the LAI of plants that fall into six categories: total, Carex spp., Betula pumila, Menyanthes trifoliata, Salix spp., and other vascular plants.

The BOREAS RSS-17 team collected several data sets in support of its research in monitoring and analyzing environmental and phenological states using radar data. This data set consists of tree bole and soil temperature measurements from various BOREAS flux tower sites. Temperatures were measured with thermistors implanted in the hydroconductive tissue of the trunks of several trees at each site and at various depths in the soil. Data were stored on a data logger at intervals of either 1 or 2 hours. The majority of the data were acquired between early 1994 and early 1995. The primary product of this data set is the diurnal stem temperature measurements acquired for selected trees at five BOREAS tower sites.

The BOREAS RSS-17 team acquired and analyzed imaging radar data from the ESA's ERS-1 over a complete annual cycle at the BOREAS sites in Canada in 1994 to detect shifts in radar backscatter related to varying environmental conditions. This data set consists of dielectric constant profile measurements from selected trees at various BOREAS flux tower sites. The relative dielectric constant was measured at C-band (frequency = 5 GHz) as a function of depth into the trunk of three trees at each site. Measurements were made during April 1994 with an Applied Microwave Corporation field PDP fitted with a 0.358-cm (0.141-inch) diameter coaxial probe tip.

The BOREAS RSS-07 team used Landsat TM images processed at CCRS to produce images of LAI for the BOREAS study areas. Two images acquired on June 6 and August 9, 1991 were used for the SSA, and one image acquired on June 9, 1994 was used for the NSA. The LAI images are based on ground measurements and Landsat TM RSR images. The data are stored in binary image-format files. Companion files include example thumbnail images that may be viewed and the image data files downloaded using a convenient viewer utility.

A newly developed ground-based canopy imaging system called an MVI was tested and used by the BOREAS TE-06 team to collect measurements of the canopy gap fraction (sky fraction), canopy gap-size distribution (size and frequency of gaps between foliage in canopy), branch architecture, and leaf angle distribution (fraction of leaf area in specific leaf inclination classes assuming azimuthal symmetry). Measurements of the canopy gap-size distribution are used to derive canopy clumping indices that can be used to adjust indirect LAI measurements made in nonrandom forests. These clumping factors will also help to describe the radiation penetration in clumped canopies more accurately by allowing for simple adjustments to Beer's law. Measurements of the above quantities were obtained at BOREAS NSA OJP site in IFC-2 in 1994, at the SSA OA in July 1995, and at the SSA OBS and SSA OA sites in IFC-2 in 1996. Modeling studies were also performed to further validate MVI measurements and to gain a more complete understanding of boreal forest canopy architecture. By using MVI measurements and Monte Carlo simulations, clumping indices as a function of zenith angle were derived for the three main boreal species studied during BOREAS.

For BOREAS, the level-3a Landsat TM data, along with the other remotely sensed images, were collected in order to provide spatially extensive information over the primary study areas. This information includes radiant energy, detailed land cover, and biophysical parameter maps such as FPAR and LAI. Although very similar in content to the level-3s Landsat TM products, the level-3a images were created to provide users with a more usable BSQ format and to provide information that permitted direct determination of per-pixel latitude and longitude coordinates. Geographically, the level-3a images cover the BOREAS NSA and SSA. Temporally, the images cover the period of 22-Jun-1984 to 30-Jul-1996. The images are available in binary, image-format files. Companion files include (1) an image inventory listing to inform users of the images that are available and (2) example thumbnail images that may be viewed and the image data files downloaded using a convenient viewer utility.