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SMEX03 Vegetation Data: Alabama

Summary

This data set includes data collected over the Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 (SMEX03) area of northern Alabama, USA between 22 June and 1 July 2003. The parameters measured were plant height, plant stand density, phenology, wet biomass, dry biomass, row spacing, and row direction. Data were collected at crop, pasture, and forested sites. Those sites are part of the Alabama MesoNet (ALMNet), which is run by Alabama A&M University's Center for Hydrology, Soil Climatology and Remote Sensing (HSCaRS). Data are provided in an ASCII text file and a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, and are available via FTP.

These data were collected as part of a validation study for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E). AMSR-E is a mission instrument launched aboard NASA's Aqua Satellite on 04 May 2002. AMSR-E validation studies linked to SMEX are designed to evaluate the accuracy of AMSR-E soil moisture data. Specific validation objectives include assessing and refining soil moisture algorithm performance; verifying soil moisture estimation accuracy; investigating the effects of vegetation, surface temperature, topography, and soil texture on soil moisture accuracy; and determining the regions that are useful for AMSR-E soil moisture measurements.

Citing These Data

The following example shows how to cite the use of this data set in a publication. For more information, see our Use and Copyright Web page.

Coleman, Tommy, T. Tsegaye, R. Metzl, M. Schamschula. 2008. SMEX03 Vegetation Data: Alabama. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital media.

Overview Table

Category Description
Data format Tab-delimited ASCII text file; Excel file
Spatial coverage and resolution Southernmost Latitude: 34.68 º N
Northernmost Latitude: 35.16 º N
Westernmost Longitude: 87.07 º W
Easternmost Longitude: 85.78 º W
Temporal coverage and resolution 22 June 2003 to 1 July 2003.

Readings were taken once or twice for each of the sampling sites throughout the duration of the study
Files AL_SMEX03_vegetation.txt
AL_SMEX03_vegetation.xls
File size 3 KB to 66 KB
Parameter(s) Plant height
Plant density
Phenology
Wet biomass
Dry biomass
Row spacing
Row direction
Procedures for obtaining data Data are available via FTP.

Table of Contents

  1. Contacts and Acknowledgments
  2. Detailed Data Description
  3. Data Access and Tools
  4. Data Acquisition and Processing
  5. References and Related Publications
  6. Document Information

1. Contacts and Acknowledgments

Investigator(s)

Tommy Coleman
Alabama A&M University
Huntsville, Alabama
USA

Teferi Tsegaye
Alabama A&M University
Huntsville, Alabama
USA

Robert Metzl
Alabama A&M University
Huntsville, Alabama
USA

Marius Schamschula
Alabama A&M University
Huntsville, Alabama
USA

Technical Contact

NSIDC User Services
National Snow and Ice Data Center
CIRES, 449 UCB
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0449  USA
phone: +1 303.492.6199
fax: +1 303.492.2468
form: Contact NSIDC User Services
e-mail: nsidc@nsidc.org

Acknowledgements

The investigators would like to acknowledge Dr. Charles Laymon and Dr. Mohammad Al-Hamdan at the Universities Space Research Association, the Global Hydrology and Climate Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama A&M University, and the many Alabama A&M students, faculty, and staff members who collected and processed the field data.

2. Detailed Data Description

Data are provided in an Excel file and as a separate tab-delimited ASCII text file. The text file contains the same data as the Excel file. Data that were not collected are shown as –99 in the data files.

Format

Table 1 describes the column headings for the files in this data set.


Table 1. Column Headings for AL_SMEX03_vegetation.txt and AL_SMEX03_vegetation.xls
Column Column Heading Description
1
 Field Field ID
2
 Rep Sampling Site ID
3
 Crop Crop type
4
 Date (mm/dd/yyyy) Date as month/day/year
5
 DOY Day of year
6
 Time (CDT) Time in Central Daylight Time (CDT), notated with a decimal. The time recorded as 0.524305556, for example, is 12:35 p.m. (24 hrs x 0.524305556 = 12.58333344; 60 min x 0.58333344 = 35).
7
 Team Collection team’s name
8
 Latitude WGS84 Latitude in decimal degrees
9
 Longitude WGS84 Longitude in decimal degrees
10
 Plant Height (m) Plant height in meters
11
 Plant Phenology Plant phenology
12
 Number of Plants in 5 rows Per 1 meter Total number of plants in 5 rows per 1 meter along each row
13
 Stand Density (plants/m) Number of plants per meter along each row
14
 Row Spacing (m) Row spacing in meters
15
 Row Direction Row direction: North/South or East/West
16
 Stand Density Per Unit Area (plants/m2) Plant stand density per meters squared
17
 Plant Mean Wet Biomass (kg) Mean wet biomass of each plant in kilograms
18
 Plant Mean Dry Biomass (kg) Mean dry biomass of each plant in kilograms
19
 Wet Biomass Per Unit Area (kg/m2) Wet biomass in kilograms per meter squared
20
 Dry Biomass Per Unit Area (kg/m2) Dry biomass in kilograms per meter squared


File Size

File sizes range from 3 KB to 66 KB.

Spatial Coverage

Southernmost Latitude: 34.68 º N
Northernmost Latitude: 35.16 º N
Westernmost Longitude: 87.07 º W
Easternmost Longitude: 85.78 º W

Temporal Coverage

22 June 2003 to 1 July 2003

Temporal Resolution

Readings were taken once or twice for each of the sampling sites throughout the duration of the study.

Parameter or Variable

Parameter Description

Table 2 describes the units of measurement and the collection source or calculation of each parameter.

Table 2. Parameter Descriptions
Parameter Unit of Measurement Collection Source or Calculation
Plant Height Meters (m) Manual data collection
Plant Phenology Plant and leaf structure Manual data collection
Stand Density Plants per meter (plants/m) The number of plants per 1 meter along each row
Row Spacing Meters (m) Manual data collection
Row Direction N/S or E/W Manual data collection
Stand Density Per Unit Area Plants per meter squared (plants/m2) The total number of plants in 5 rows divided by the area of 4 row spacings
Plant Mean Wet Biomass Kilograms (kg) Manual data collection
Plant Mean Dry Biomass Kilograms (kg) Manual data collection
Wet Biomass Per Unit Area Kilograms per meter squared (kg/m2) The plant mean wet biomass multiplied by the stand density per unit area
Dry Biomass Per Unit Area Kilograms per meter squared (kg/m2) The plant mean dry biomass multiplied by the stand density per unit area

 

Sample Data Record

A sample file of this data set is shown in Figure 1. The first four columns and the last two columns of the first four rows of AL_SMEX03_vegetation.txt are displayed. The Excel file AL_SMEX03_vegetation.xls contains the same data as AL_SMEX03_vegetation.txt.

  
        Field   Rep   Crop   Date        ...   Wet Biomass Per Unit Area   Dry Biomass Per Unit Area	
        AL 1    A     Corn   6/22/2003   ...   0.05446                     0.00787	
        AL 1    B     Corn   6/22/2003   ...   0.07524                     0.01050	
        AL 1    C     Corn   6/22/2003   ...   0.04659                     0.00591	
        AL 1    A     Corn   7/1/2003    ...   0.15568                     0.01848
Figure 1. Sample Data Record

3. Data Access and Tools

Data Access

Data are available via FTP.

Volume

Total volume is approximately 91 KB.

Related Data Collections

4. Data Acquisition and Processing

Sensor or Instrument Description

A balance was used to weigh plant samples, a measuring tape to measure their length, and an oven to dry them.

5. References and Related Publications

Please visit the USDA SMEX03 Web site for in-depth information on the science mission and goal of the SMEX project.

6. Document Information

List of Acronyms

Table 3 displays the acronyms used in this document.

Table 3. Acronyms
ALMNet Alabama MesoNet
AMSR-E Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
CDT Central Daylight Time
FTP File Transfer Protocol
HSCaRS Center for Hydrology, Soil Climatology, and Remote Sensing
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NSIDC National Snow and Ice Data Center
SMEX Soil Moisture Experiment
Terra-MODIS Terra Satellite-Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
TM Thematic Mapper
URL Uniform Resource Locator
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
WGS84 World Geodetic System 1984

Document Creation Date

5 June 2008

Document URL

http://nsidc.org/data/docs/daac/nsidc0348_smex03_veg_al/nsidc0348_smex03_veg_al.gd.html

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