GLAD

This project is focused on  creation of Earth Science Data Records (ESDRs) of global vegetation continuous fields from AVHRR and MODIS long term data records (LTDRs) for 1981 through the most recent data available. Annual data products of percent tree cover, percent non-tree vegetation cover and percent bare ground at 0.05 degree resolution will be produced for all time periods with additional finer resolution products for MODIS. We will also create five-year products that further partition tree cover into needle leaf, broadleaf, deciduous and evergreen classes. A supervised regression-tree method will be used with phonological and physiological metrics derived from the LTDRs and with training derived from Landsat supplemented by high-resolution data from Ikonos, RapidEyee and QuickBird. A reference data layer of fractional water cover will be included in the product and error estimates and quality flags will be provided for each data product pixel. Software and data developed for this project will be freely available to the scientific community.