New Datasets From The Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA)

The ORNL DAAC announces the release of 6 datasets from four science themes. These science research themes are components of the LBA-ECO Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA).

Carbon Dynamics:

LBA-ECO CD-08 Tree Diameter Measurements, Jacaranda Plots, Manaus, Brazil: 1999-2001, http://daac.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/dsviewer.pl?ds_id=1194

Land Use and Land Cover:

LBA-ECO LC-14 Biophysical Measurements, Rainfall Exclusion, Tapajos National Forest, http://daac.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/dsviewer.pl?ds_id=1196

Nutrient Dynamics:

LBA-ECO ND-01 Georegistered Landsat Imagery for Rondonia, Brazil: 1975-2000, http://daac.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/dsviewer.pl?ds_id=1197

LBA-ECO ND-01 Landsat 28.5-m Land Cover Time Series, Rondonia, Brazil: 1984-2010, http://daac.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/dsviewer.pl?ds_id=1165

Trace Gases:

LBA-ECO TG-05 NPP, Carbon Pool, Soil Characteristics, Soil Gas Flux Maps of Brazil, http://daac.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/dsviewer.pl?ds_id=1199

LBA-ECO TG-10 Fire Emission Factors in Mato Grosso, Para, and Amazonas, Brazil: 2004, http://daac.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/dsviewer.pl?ds_id=1195

LBA was an international research initiative under the leadership of Brazil. The project focused on the climatological, ecological, biogeochemical, and hydrological functions of Amazonia; the impact of land use change on these functions; and the interactions between Amazonia and the Earth system. The LBA-ECO component, which was funded by NASA, focused on the question: "How do tropical forest conversion, regrowth, and selective logging influence carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, trace gas fluxes, and the prospect for sustainable land use in Amazonia? "

The ORNL DAAC is a NASA-funded data center archiving and distributing terrestrial ecology and biogeochemical dynamics data.

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3D Mapping of the Amazon Rainforest

Watch: 3D mapping of the Amazon rainforest application. This animation from Peru's western Amazon shows the power of the Carnegie Airborne Observatory's imaging spectrometer which detects chemical and optical signals in the forest. The colors reflect characteristics ranging from water content in leaves to phenols. Canopies in blue contain high nitrogen concentrations; in purple, high nitrogen, water, and cellulose content; and in red, high chlorophyll and other photosynthetic pigments. This technology can be used to identify individual tree species from an altitude of 2000 meters.



Another video: Interview with Greg Asner of the Carnegie Institution

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John Cain Carter: Balancing Ranching and Ecosystems in Amazon

A native of San Antonio, Texas, John Cain Carter currently ranches with his in-laws in Mato Grosso, Brazil. After witnessing the unfathomable speed at which the Amazon rainforest is being cleared, John formed the “Alliance of the Land” conservation group to help slow the destruction of the rainforest and create a sustainable balance between agriculture and the rainforest ecosystem.

Video 1:
John Carter, a 1993 graduate of TCU's Ranch Management program and founder of Alianca da Terra, is interviewed by TCU Magazine Kathryn Hopper about his efforts to save the Brazilian rain forest and encourage Brazilian ranchers and other food producers to practice sustainable agriculture.


Video 2: John Carter on David Letterman

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