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Biosphere Data Access and Tools

NASA biosphere data range from surface reflectance data useful for measuring the greenness of vegetation to measurements of nighttime lights that disrupt the behaviors of wildlife. Our datasets and tools help researchers translate these interconnected data points into actionable knowledge.

Biosphere Datasets

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Dataset Version Platforms Instruments Temporal Extent Spatial Extent Spatial Resolution Data Format
BOREAS TE-20 Site Characteristics Data 1 FIELD INVESTIGATION VISUAL OBSERVATIONS, STEEL MEASURING TAPE 1994-07-18 to 1994-07-30

N: 54 S: 53.8 E: -104.62 W: -105.12

CSV
MASTER: FireSense, California and Southern US, Spring 2025 1 B-200 MASTER 2025-03-17 to 2025-04-18

N: 33.4811 S: 30.2467 E: -81.6656 W: -116.044

multiple
GPM Ground Validation Kumpula Mast Meteorological Data LPVEx V1 1 GROUND STATIONS ANEMOMETERS, RADIOMETERS, THERMOMETERS 2010-09-16 to 2010-10-21

N: 60.2125 S: 60.1925 E: 24.9717 W: 24.9517

ASCII
AMSR-E/AMSR2 Unified L2B Half-Orbit 25 km EASE-Grid Surface Soil Moisture V001 1 Aqua, GCOM-W1 AMSR-E, AMSR2 2002-06-01 to 2011-10-04, 2012-07-02 to Present

N: 89.24 S: -89.24 E: 180 W: -180

25 Kilometers x 25 Kilometers HDF-EOS5
BOREAS RSS-15 SIR-C and TM Biomass and Landcover Maps of the NSA and SSA 1 SRL-1, SRL-2 SIR-C 1994-04-13 to 1995-09-02

N: 56.21 S: 53.63 E: -97.75 W: -105.61

Binary
Aircraft Flux-Raw: U of Wy. (FIFE) 1 B-200 HYGROMETERS, INFRARED RADIOMETERS, PRESSURE TRANSDUCERS, EDDY CORRELATION DEVICES, NDIR GAS ANALYZER, RADAR ALTIMETERS, PYRANOMETERS, WIND PROFILERS 1987-08-11 to 1989-10-31

N: 40 S: 37 E: -95 W: -102

multiple
BOREAS HYD-08 1996 Gross Precipitation Data 1 FIELD INVESTIGATION RAIN GAUGES 1996-07-04 to 1996-08-11

N: 53.99 S: 53.99 E: -105.12 W: -105.12

ASCII
BOREAS TF-08 NSA-OJP Tower Flux, Meteorological, and Soil Temperature Data 1 FIXED OBSERVATION STATIONS HYGROMETERS, IRGA, NET RADIOMETERS, Pyrgeometer, PYRHELIOMETERS, LICOR QUANTUM SENSOR, RAIN GAUGES, SOIL HEAT FLUX TRANSDUCER, SONIC ANEMOMETER, TEMPERATURE PROBES, SOIL MOISTURE PROBE, BAROMETERS, ANEMOMETERS 1994-05-24 to 1996-11-12

N: 55.93 S: 55.93 E: -98.62 W: -98.62

ASCII
LBA-ECO CD-08 Coarse Wood Litter Respiration and Decomposition, Manaus, Brazil 1 FIELD INVESTIGATION LICOR GAS EXCHANGE SYSTEM 1996-07-01 to 1997-08-31

N: -2.589 S: -2.6091 E: -60.1152 W: -60.2093

CSV
LBA-ECO TG-08 Soil Gas Flux after Forest and Pasture Fertilization, Rondonia, Brazil 1 FIELD INVESTIGATION SPECTROPHOTOMETERS, CHEMILUMINESCENCE, AUTOANALYZER, BALANCE, GAS CHROMATOGRAPHS, IRGA 1998-02-18 to 1999-03-10

N: -10.156 S: -10.156 E: -62.811 W: -62.811

CSV
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VIIRS
Vegetation indices measure the amount of green vegetation over a given area and can be used to assess vegetation health. A commonly-used vegetation index is the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which uses the difference between near-infrared (NIR) and red reflectance divided by their sum. NDVI values range from -1 to 1. Low values of NDVI generally correspond to barren areas of rock, sand, exposed soils, or snow, while higher NDVI values indicate greener vegetation, including forests, croplands, and wetlands.
VIIRS Vegetation Indices on Earthdata Search

Biosphere Data Tools

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Tool Description Services
AppEEARS The The Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS) offers users a simple and efficient way to perform data access and transformation processes. Search and Discovery, Subsetting, Customization, Downloading, Visualization
Biomass Earthdata Dashboard Observe global forest biomass harmonization activity with the Biomass Earthdata Dashboard. Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization
CASEI The Catalog of Archived Suborbital Earth Science Investigations (CASEI) is a comprehensive inventory of contextual information for NASA's Earth Science airborne and field campaigns. Search and Discovery, Cataloging
Earthdata Search Earthdata Search enables data discovery, search, comparison, visualization, and access across NASA’s Earth science data holdings. Search and Discovery, Access, Cataloging, Cloud Computing, Downloading
FIRMS The Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) provides access to satellite imagery, active fire/hotspots, and related products to identify the location, extent, and intensity of wildfire activity. Access, Visualization
Giovanni Giovanni is a web application for accessing, visualizing, and analyzing Earth science remote sensing data without downloading the data. Search and Discovery, Analysis, Access, Visualization, Downloading, Subsetting
OpenAltimetry OpenAltimetry is a map-based visualization tool for exploring surface elevation data across Earth over time. Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization
Panoply Panoply is a cross-platform application that plots geo-referenced and other arrays from netCDF, HDF, GRIB, and other datasets. Visualization, Customization, Reformatting, Subsetting, Comparison
POPGRID Viewer POPGRID Viewer explores the intercomparison of population counts and settlement mapping from leading global data sources. Comparison
POWER DAV The POWER project’s Data Access Viewer (DAV) is an interactive web-mapping application that provides access to NASA’s customized solar and meteorological data catalog. Analysis, Downloading, Subsetting, Visualization
SHOWING 10 OF 15

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