Lake cover strongly affects the reflectance of the land surface over large areas of the Arctic, and was useful for identifying extensive wetlands. Lake cover was based on the number of AVHRR water pixels in each mapped polygon, divided by the number of pixels in the polygon. Since the imagery has a pixel size of 1 km^2, lake cover is underestimated for areas with many small lakes. Pixels within 2 km of the coastline were excluded to avoid ocean water. The percent cover data were grouped into six categories: 25%.
Back to Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map
Go to Website Link :: Toolik Arctic Geobotanical Atlas below for details on legend units, photos of map units and plant species, glossary, bibliography and links to ground data.
Map Themes:
AVHRR Biomass 2010, AVHRR Biomass Trend 1982-2010, AVHRR False Color-Infrared 1993-1995, AVHRR NDVI 1993-1995, AVHRR NDVI Trend 1982-2010, AVHRR Summer Warmth Index 1982-2003, Bioclimate Subzone, Coastline and Treeline, Elevation, Floristic Provinces, Lake Cover, Landscape, Landscape Age,
Substrate pH, Vegetation Layer
References
Elvebakk, A. 1999. Bioclimate delimitation and subdivisions of the Arctic. Pages 81-112 in I. Nordal and V. Y. Razzhivin, editors. The Species Concept in the High North - A Panarctic Flora Initiative. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Oslo.
Yurtsev, B. A. 1994. Floristic divisions of the Arctic. Journal of Vegetation Science 5:765-776.
