North American Land Data Assimilation Schemes

Land Surface Parameters

NLDAS-E Vegetation Information
The 12 km vegetation class data set is derived from nearest neighbor interpolation of a global, 1 degree SiB vegetation data set. [Dorman and Sellers (1989; JAM)] The data sets are fixed annual fields of vegetation class.

There are 13 defined SiB-vegetation class categories, and they are assigned as follows:

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 |  Values:                                                       |
 |     0:   Ocean/water flag                                      |
 |     1:   Broadleaf-evergreen trees  (tropical forest)          |
 |     2:   Broadleaf-deciduous trees                             |
 |     3:   Broadleaf and needleleaf trees (mixed forest)         |
 |     4:   Needleleaf-evergreen trees                            |
 |     5:   Needleleaf-deciduous trees (larch)                    |
 |     6:   Broadleaf trees with groundcover (savanna)            |
 |     7:   Groundcover only (perennial)                          |
 |     8:   Broadleaf shrubs with perennial groundcover           |
 |     9:   Broadleaf shrubs with bare soil                       |
 |    10:   Dwarf trees and shrubs with groundcover (tundra)      |
 |    11:   Bare soil                                             |
 |    12:   Cultivations (The same parameters for the Type 7)     |
 |    13:   Glacial                                               |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------

NLDAS-E Sib Vegetation
The image and data file in this section contain vegetation type data as specified in the table above. For each vegetation classification scheme, the most predominant vegetation type in each NLDAS-E grid box is given.

Most predominant vegetation classes in each 12 km NLDAS-E gridbox
over the NLDAS-E domain. Broadleaf deciduous dominates the east,
grasslands are common in the central US and shrublands are common in
western sections.

Most predominant vegetation classes in each 12 km NLDAS-E gridbox
over the NLDAS-E domain. Broadleaf deciduous dominates the east,
grasslands are common in the central US and shrublands are common in
western sections.

NLDAS-E Sib Predominant Vegetation Types

The following ASCII file gives the predominant vegetation type for each of the 12 km NLDAS-E grid boxes. Each value (0-13) is described in the tables above, and the data values are centered on mass points with respect to the Arakawa-E grid. The file can be read using readintparm.f.

* Use Right Mouse Button to Download Data*

Sib Vegetation Types (ASCII) vegtype.txt

LDAS Web Page
Developed and Maintained at NASA/GSFC

Brian Cosgrove: Brian.Cosgrove@gsfc.nasa.gov
Charles Alonge : Charles.Alonge@gsfc.nasa.gov