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ABOVE data visualization
ABOVE data over Alaska
ABOVE data over the arctic region

ABoVE

Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment

The Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) is a field campaign conducted in Alaska and western Canada, for 8 to 10 years, starting in 2015. Research for ABoVE linked field-based, process-level studies with geospatial data products derived from airborne and satellite sensors, providing a foundation for improving the analysis and modeling capabilities needed to understand and predict ecosystem responses to, and societal implications of, climate change in the Arctic and Boreal regions.

Data Centers

ORNL DAAC

Funding Programs

NASA's Terrestrial Ecology Program
The ABoVE logo is superimposed over a satellite image of Earth.
Study DatesApril 27, 2017 - December 31, 2025
Season of StudyBoreal fall, boreal spring, boreal summer
RegionAlaska, Northwestern Canada
Spatial Bounds

N: 73°N

S: 49°N

W: 168°W

E: 79°W

Focus Areas

Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems

Climate Variability and Change

Geophysical Concepts

Ecosystems/Biogeochemical Interactions

Carbon Storage and Processes

Land Characteristics

Scientific Topics

Ecosystems

Environmental Change

Permafrost

Carbon Pools

Carbon Cycle

Vegetation Dynamics

Societal Impacts

Aerosols

Carbon Dioxide

Methane

Sulfur Dioxide

Trace Gases/Trace Species

Animals/Vertebrates

Plants

Atmospheric Feedbacks

Climate Indicators

PlatformInstrument(s)
Gulfstream III

Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR)

Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface P-band (AirMOSS)

Permanent Land SiteFLUXNET
Beechcraft B-200 King Air

Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer - Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG)

Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS)

Air Surface Water and Ocean Topography (AirSWOT)

Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer - 3rd Generation (AVIRIS-3)

Twin Otter

NEON Airborne Observatory Platform

Chlorophyll Fluorescence Imaging Spectrometer (CFIS)

Beechcraft King Air A90Goddard’s LiDAR Hyperspectral & Thermal Imager (G-LiHT)
Dornier 228Flugzeug Synthetic Aperture Radar (F-SAR)
Mooney OvationAtmospheric Carbon Instrument Suite (ATM-C)
Gulfstream VLand, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS)
Basler BT-67Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR)

The ABoVE deployment in 2017 is sometimes referred to as the "ABoVE Airborne Campaign (ACC)" with following years supplementing the data collected in 2017. User can access multiple shapefile formats for the study region boundary.

The following resources provide additional information about the ABoVE campaign.