Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data were obtained from the USGS Global AVHRR 10-day composite data (http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/1KM/1kmhomepage.asp) (Markon et al. 1995). Glaciers and oceans were masked out using information from the Digital Chart of the World (ESRI 1993). The image is composed of 1 x 1-km pixels. The color of each pixel was determined by its reflectance at the time of maximum greenness, selected from 10-day composite images from 11 July to 30 August 1993 and 1995. These intervals cover the vegetation green-up-to-senescence period during two relatively warm years when summer-snow cover was at a minimum in the Arctic. Maximum greenness was determined from the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Vegetation greenness is calculated as: NDVI = (NIR - R) / (NIR + R), where NIR is the spectral reflectance in the AVHRR near-infrared channel (0.725-1.1 µ, channel 2) where light-reflectance from the plant canopy is dominant, and R is the reflectance in the red channel (0.58 to 0.68 µ, channel 1), the portion of the spectrum where chlorophyll absorbs maximally. The resulting image shows the Arctic with minimum snow and cloud cover. The channel 1 and channel 2 values were then stacked to create as a false-color CIR image (RGB = ch. 2, ch. 1, ch. 1).
Back to Alaska Arctic Tundra 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 NDVI, Bioclimate Subzone, Elevation, False Color-Infrared, Floristic Province, Lake Cover, Landscape, Substrate Chemistry, Vegetation
References
Markon, C. J., M. D. Fleming, and E. F. Binnian. 1995. Characteristics of vegetation phenology over the Alaskan landscape using AVHRR time-series data. Polar Record 31:179-190.
