PAVC: The foundation for a Pan-Arctic Vegetation Cover database
Abstract Field-measured Arctic vegetation cover data is essential for creating accurate, high-quality vegetation structure and composition maps. Extrapolating field data into high-resolution cover maps provides detailed, function-specific information for use in Earth System Models, vegetation classi...
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| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Data |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05326-9 |
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| author | Morgan R. Steckler Jitendra Kumar Amy L. Breen Tianqi Zhang Forrest M. Hoffman William W. Hargrove Donald A. Walker Aaron F. Wells Amanda Droghini Timm W. Nawrocki Stan D. Wullschleger Matthew J. Macander Gerald V. Frost Verity G. Salmon David T. Barnett Colleen M. Iversen |
| author_facet | Morgan R. Steckler Jitendra Kumar Amy L. Breen Tianqi Zhang Forrest M. Hoffman William W. Hargrove Donald A. Walker Aaron F. Wells Amanda Droghini Timm W. Nawrocki Stan D. Wullschleger Matthew J. Macander Gerald V. Frost Verity G. Salmon David T. Barnett Colleen M. Iversen |
| author_sort | Morgan R. Steckler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Field-measured Arctic vegetation cover data is essential for creating accurate, high-quality vegetation structure and composition maps. Extrapolating field data into high-resolution cover maps provides detailed, function-specific information for use in Earth System Models, vegetation classifications, and monitoring vegetation change over time and space. However, field campaigns that collect plant cover vary substantially in scope, method, and purpose, which makes them difficult to unify across data stores, and they are often not designed to meet remote sensing needs. In this work, we synthesized and harmonized field-based fractional cover data from various data stores to create a high-quality, consistent repository schema for remote sensing-based vegetation cover mapping applications. We developed a reproducible workflow for synthesizing visual estimate and point-intercept fractional cover data. The resultant Pan-Arctic Vegetation Cover (PAVC) database contains synthesized fractional cover at both the species and plant functional type levels. The latter includes absolute foliar cover for deciduous shrubs and trees, evergreen shrubs and trees, forbs, graminoids, lichen, bryophytes, and “other” vegetation, as well as absolute cover for litter and top cover for water and bare ground. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9d286b56c58449dbab4eba1678fcb36f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2052-4463 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Data |
| spelling | doaj-art-9d286b56c58449dbab4eba1678fcb36f2025-08-20T04:01:46ZengNature PortfolioScientific Data2052-44632025-07-0112111210.1038/s41597-025-05326-9PAVC: The foundation for a Pan-Arctic Vegetation Cover databaseMorgan R. Steckler0Jitendra Kumar1Amy L. Breen2Tianqi Zhang3Forrest M. Hoffman4William W. Hargrove5Donald A. Walker6Aaron F. Wells7Amanda Droghini8Timm W. Nawrocki9Stan D. Wullschleger10Matthew J. Macander11Gerald V. Frost12Verity G. Salmon13David T. Barnett14Colleen M. Iversen15Oak Ridge National Laboratory Computational Science and Engineering DivisionOak Ridge National Laboratory Environmental Sciences DivisionUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks International Arctic Research CenterOak Ridge National Laboratory Environmental Sciences DivisionOak Ridge National Laboratory Computational Science and Engineering DivisionUSDA Forest Service Southern Research StationUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Arctic BiologyAECOM Technical ServicesUniversity of Alaska Anchorage Alaska Center for Conservation ScienceUniversity of Alaska Anchorage Alaska Center for Conservation ScienceOak Ridge National Laboratory Environmental Sciences DivisionAlaska Biological Research, Inc.Alaska Biological Research, Inc.Oak Ridge National Laboratory Environmental Sciences DivisionNational Ecological Observatory Network, BattelleOak Ridge National Laboratory Environmental Sciences DivisionAbstract Field-measured Arctic vegetation cover data is essential for creating accurate, high-quality vegetation structure and composition maps. Extrapolating field data into high-resolution cover maps provides detailed, function-specific information for use in Earth System Models, vegetation classifications, and monitoring vegetation change over time and space. However, field campaigns that collect plant cover vary substantially in scope, method, and purpose, which makes them difficult to unify across data stores, and they are often not designed to meet remote sensing needs. In this work, we synthesized and harmonized field-based fractional cover data from various data stores to create a high-quality, consistent repository schema for remote sensing-based vegetation cover mapping applications. We developed a reproducible workflow for synthesizing visual estimate and point-intercept fractional cover data. The resultant Pan-Arctic Vegetation Cover (PAVC) database contains synthesized fractional cover at both the species and plant functional type levels. The latter includes absolute foliar cover for deciduous shrubs and trees, evergreen shrubs and trees, forbs, graminoids, lichen, bryophytes, and “other” vegetation, as well as absolute cover for litter and top cover for water and bare ground.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05326-9 |
| spellingShingle | Morgan R. Steckler Jitendra Kumar Amy L. Breen Tianqi Zhang Forrest M. Hoffman William W. Hargrove Donald A. Walker Aaron F. Wells Amanda Droghini Timm W. Nawrocki Stan D. Wullschleger Matthew J. Macander Gerald V. Frost Verity G. Salmon David T. Barnett Colleen M. Iversen PAVC: The foundation for a Pan-Arctic Vegetation Cover database Scientific Data |
| title | PAVC: The foundation for a Pan-Arctic Vegetation Cover database |
| title_full | PAVC: The foundation for a Pan-Arctic Vegetation Cover database |
| title_fullStr | PAVC: The foundation for a Pan-Arctic Vegetation Cover database |
| title_full_unstemmed | PAVC: The foundation for a Pan-Arctic Vegetation Cover database |
| title_short | PAVC: The foundation for a Pan-Arctic Vegetation Cover database |
| title_sort | pavc the foundation for a pan arctic vegetation cover database |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-05326-9 |
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