Anderson, Christopher; Marvin, David (2026): California Forest Observatory: Statewide Forest Monitoring Data [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.989871
Always quote citation above when using data! You can download the citation in several formats below.
Published: 2026-02-09 • DOI registered: 2026-03-10
Abstract:
The California Forest Observatory is a multi-year, satellite-based forest monitoring dataset designed to map vegetation fuel distributions, change dynamics, and habitat structure across the state at high resolution. In order to support contemporary and legacy wildfire modeling systems, such as FARSITE, FlamMap, ELMFire and FSIM, the surface and canopy fuel datasets match the units and definitions of the LANDFIRE fuel and fire behavior products (Rollins 2009). Many of these datasets are also commonly used in wildlife habitat mapping, including canopy height, canopy cover, and canopy layer count, a metric of vertical habitat heterogeneity. Designed to quantify the ecological patterns driving environmental and land use policy in California, the Forest Observatory could serve as a blueprint for the next generation of conservation- and technology-driven forest monitoring.
Related to:
Brodrick, Philip G; Anderegg, Leander D L; Asner, Gregory P (2019): Dry-season canopy water content maps for California vegetation from 1990-2017, link to GeoTiffs [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.897276
References:
Brunk, Kristin M; Gutiérrez, R J; Peery, M Zachariah; Cansler, C Alina; Kahl, Stefan; Wood, Connor M (2023): Quail on fire: changing fire regimes may benefit mountain quail in fire-adapted forests. Fire Ecology, 19(1), 19, https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-023-00180-9
Chamberlain, Caden P; Cova, Gina R; Kane, Van R; Cansler, C Alina; Kane, Jonathan T; Bartl-Geller, Bryce N; van Wagtendonk, Liz; Jeronimo, Sean M A; Stine, Peter; North, Malcolm P (2023): Sierra Nevada reference conditions: A dataset of contemporary reference sites and corresponding remote sensing-derived forest structure metrics for yellow pine and mixed-conifer forests. Data in Brief, 51, 109807, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2023.109807
Herbert, Claudia; Haya, Barbara K; Stephens, Scott L; Butsic, Van (2022): Managing nature-based solutions in fire-prone ecosystems: Competing management objectives in California forests evaluated at a landscape scale. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 5, 957189, https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.957189
Manley, Patricia N; Povak, Nicholas A; Wilson, Kristen N; Fairweather, Mary Lou; Griffey, Vivian; Long, Linda L (2023): Blueprint for resilience: the Tahoe-Central Sierra Initiative. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, https://doi.org/10.2737/psw-gtr-277
McGinn, Kate A; Peery, M Zachariah; Zulla, Ceeanna J; Berigan, William J; Wilkinson, Zachary A; Barry, Josh M; Keane, John J; Zuckerberg, Benjamin (2023): A climate-vulnerable species uses cooler forest microclimates during heat waves. Biological Conservation, 283, 110132, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110132
Wilkinson, Zachary A; Kramer, H Anu; Jones, Gavin M; Zulla, Ceeanna J; McGinn, Kate A; Barry, Josh M; Sawyer, Sarah C; Tanner, Richard; Gutiérrez, R J; Keane, John J; Peery, M Zachariah (2023): Tall, heterogeneous forests improve prey capture, delivery to nestlings, and reproductive success for Spotted Owls in southern California. Condor, 125(1), duac048, https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duac048
Yao, Mengqi; Bharadwaj, Meghana; Zhang, Zheng; Jin, Baihong; Callaway, Duncan S (2022): Predicting electricity infrastructure induced wildfire risk in California. Environmental Research Letters, 17(9), 094035, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8d18
Funding:
Coverage:
Latitude: 37.225000 * Longitude: -118.848000
Event(s):
Comment:
Further funding:
* California Tahoe Conservancy Agreement #CTA19022R
* Tahoe Fund Grant #20190828
Parameter(s):
| # | Name | Short Name | Unit | Principal Investigator | Method/Device | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metric, description | Metric descr | Anderson, Christopher | |||
| 2 | Unit | Unit | Anderson, Christopher | |||
| 3 | Date/time start | Date/time start | Anderson, Christopher | Satellite derived | ||
| 4 | Date/time end | Date/time end | Anderson, Christopher | Satellite derived | ||
| 5 | Ground sampling distance | GSD | m | Anderson, Christopher | Satellite derived | |
| 6 | Bounding box | B box | Anderson, Christopher | Satellite derived | ||
| 7 | Raster graphic, GeoTIFF format | GeoTIFF | Anderson, Christopher | Satellite derived | ||
| 8 | Raster graphic, GeoTIFF format (File Size) | GeoTIFF (Size) | Bytes | Anderson, Christopher | Satellite derived | |
| 9 | Raster graphic, GeoTIFF format (Media Type) | GeoTIFF (Type) | Anderson, Christopher | Satellite derived | ||
| 10 | Raster graphic, GeoTIFF format (MD5 Hash) | GeoTIFF (Hash) | Anderson, Christopher | Satellite derived |
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
Status:
Curation Level: Basic curation (CurationLevelB)
Size:
343 data points
Data
All files referred to in data matrix can be downloaded in one go as ZIP or TAR. Be careful: This download can be very large! To protect our systems from misuse, we require to sign up for an user account before downloading.
| 1 Metric descr | 2 Unit | 3 Date/time start | 4 Date/time end | 5 GSD [m] | 6 B box | 7 GeoTIFF | 8 GeoTIFF (Size) [Bytes] | 9 GeoTIFF (Type) | 10 GeoTIFF (Hash) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canopy cover | percent | 2016-08-01 | 2016-10-01 | 3 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyCover-2016-Fall-00003m.tif | 14 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 31921da7b15f8d841042689361b3cca0 |
| Canopy cover | percent | 2020-03-01 | 2020-05-01 | 3 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyCover-2020-Spring-00003m.tif | 14.9 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 097a066254331fe7d1d9928f507e526e |
| Canopy height | meters | 2016-08-01 | 2016-10-01 | 3 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyHeight-2016-Fall-00003m.tif | 8.6 GBytes | application/octet-stream | cc3886eee3d7e34a0457464b493e373c |
| Canopy height | meters | 2020-03-01 | 2020-05-01 | 3 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyHeight-2020-Spring-00003m.tif | 8.6 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 2a8a4bb5203dfe39b078597867153024 |
| Canopy base height | meters | 2016-04-01 | 2016-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyBaseHeight-2016-Summer-00010m.tif | 689.9 MBytes | application/octet-stream | 9e52330bc54e20ae3a589893db105534 |
| Canopy base height | meters | 2017-04-01 | 2017-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyBaseHeight-2017-Summer-00010m.tif | 639.1 MBytes | application/octet-stream | 8918698b6bae9f300b78baf2bc3bb372 |
| Canopy base height | meters | 2018-04-01 | 2018-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyBaseHeight-2018-Summer-00010m.tif | 619.6 MBytes | application/octet-stream | d8ea2478a56009342b85b58c7a187f30 |
| Canopy base height | meters | 2019-04-01 | 2019-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyBaseHeight-2019-Summer-00010m.tif | 663.1 MBytes | application/octet-stream | 77b3efb5fbfd09af566b80ed29f0657f |
| Canopy base height | meters | 2020-04-01 | 2020-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyBaseHeight-2020-Summer-00010m.tif | 681.2 MBytes | application/octet-stream | 06534d51d209b7b04c071d4d2a3c2a0f |
| Canopy bulk density | kilograms_per_cubic_meter | 2016-04-01 | 2016-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyBulkDensity-2016-Summer-00010m.tif | 1013.2 MBytes | application/octet-stream | 3ef87577b59dfa8f03aa2809f5f981cf |
| Canopy bulk density | kilograms_per_cubic_meter | 2017-04-01 | 2017-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyBulkDensity-2017-Summer-00010m.tif | 704.8 MBytes | image/tiff | 861ca24f79184eb23970268cf68c4f26 |
| Canopy bulk density | kilograms_per_cubic_meter | 2018-04-01 | 2018-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyBulkDensity-2018-Summer-00010m.tif | 722.8 MBytes | image/tiff | 4d038f3e3d97968d80806bca9be3109e |
| Canopy bulk density | kilograms_per_cubic_meter | 2019-04-01 | 2019-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyBulkDensity-2019-Summer-00010m.tif | 739.1 MBytes | image/tiff | 958279569bf1b4e7b44c4a4942b5733b |
| Canopy bulk density | kilograms_per_cubic_meter | 2020-04-01 | 2020-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyBulkDensity-2020-Summer-00010m.tif | 746.4 MBytes | image/tiff | 59a71296c6e920c093de32b8b650409f |
| Canopy cover | percent | 2016-04-01 | 2016-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyLayerCount-2016-Summer-00010m.tif | 502 MBytes | application/octet-stream | ed9798701fb4a33ee4e4ebcb3a89fc03 |
| Canopy cover | percent | 2017-04-01 | 2017-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyLayerCount-2017-Summer-00010m.tif | 499.7 MBytes | application/octet-stream | 6694792e9e25b692eb9d67a19fd47925 |
| Canopy cover | percent | 2018-04-01 | 2018-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyLayerCount-2018-Summer-00010m.tif | 499.8 MBytes | application/octet-stream | 6978e93e6b255fcb9e686539ccc415bb |
| Canopy cover | percent | 2019-04-01 | 2019-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyLayerCount-2019-Summer-00010m.tif | 503.5 MBytes | application/octet-stream | 4640d1454281a09491c4764f728cd660 |
| Canopy cover | percent | 2020-04-01 | 2020-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyLayerCount-2020-Summer-00010m.tif | 530.5 MBytes | application/octet-stream | a16edaef0eae5469a6450b5ef8088bdf |
| Canopy height | meters | 2016-04-01 | 2016-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyHeight-2016-Summer-00010m.tif | 1.7 GBytes | application/octet-stream | bd3b45149e14a154c2428f2a3c85b5b4 |
| Canopy height | meters | 2017-04-01 | 2017-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyHeight-2017-Summer-00010m.tif | 1.7 GBytes | application/octet-stream | e95473314d202132b5d665b99cbc5f26 |
| Canopy height | meters | 2018-04-01 | 2018-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyHeight-2018-Summer-00010m.tif | 1.7 GBytes | application/octet-stream | b8afbc9f8b566e131b8f77233b80ffc9 |
| Canopy height | meters | 2019-04-01 | 2019-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyHeight-2019-Summer-00010m.tif | 1.8 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 81e18ecc88bf41e4e460453242994273 |
| Canopy height | meters | 2020-04-01 | 2020-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyHeight-2020-Summer-00010m.tif | 1.8 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 4536590285957462ed23ada3db58e6b0 |
| Canopy layer count | count | 2016-04-01 | 2016-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyCover-2016-Summer-00010m.tif | 2.9 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 6856055a9beefbcdb34f50ba415f4f9a |
| Canopy layer count | count | 2017-04-01 | 2017-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyCover-2017-Summer-00010m.tif | 3 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 6757376752aa8604009a953b55a7eb2a |
| Canopy layer count | count | 2018-04-01 | 2018-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyCover-2018-Summer-00010m.tif | 3 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 2fd3b93605cde67200f890f5c0bb9690 |
| Canopy layer count | count | 2019-04-01 | 2019-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyCover-2019-Summer-00010m.tif | 3.1 GBytes | application/octet-stream | fb5da5506c30edbfb3f83ff8d20494a8 |
| Canopy layer count | count | 2020-04-01 | 2020-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-CanopyCover-2020-Summer-00010m.tif | 3.1 GBytes | application/octet-stream | f9b1e119bf96b5c0d072e2ec14d0730d |
| Dry vegetation cover | percent | 2016-04-01 | 2016-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-DryVegetation-2016-Spring-00010m.tif | 2 GBytes | application/octet-stream | ccc5594e185e3bf694b980b566bbd1f7 |
| Dry vegetation cover | percent | 2017-04-01 | 2017-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-DryVegetation-2017-Spring-00010m.tif | 1.6 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 95ac319cc4ae7bbdf202adeea4d2220e |
| Dry vegetation cover | percent | 2018-04-01 | 2018-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-DryVegetation-2018-Spring-00010m.tif | 2 GBytes | application/octet-stream | b834bc823f18db5b2c8e50a17d0f7d76 |
| Dry vegetation cover | percent | 2019-04-01 | 2019-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-DryVegetation-2019-Spring-00010m.tif | 3.5 GBytes | application/octet-stream | b5faaeda6480f426d469f700a2c0187b |
| Dry vegetation cover | percent | 2020-04-01 | 2020-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-DryVegetation-2020-Spring-00010m.tif | 3.4 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 85676f616f151ebe4adc871a8cd65764 |
| Green vegetation cover | percent | 2016-04-01 | 2016-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-GreenVegetation-2016-Spring-00010m.tif | 2 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 3a5970850e74d8e58dd1cfb36bdfad93 |
| Green vegetation cover | percent | 2017-04-01 | 2017-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-GreenVegetation-2017-Spring-00010m.tif | 2.1 GBytes | application/octet-stream | e769322ff5e2ef96e95a37895eccc7e1 |
| Green vegetation cover | percent | 2018-04-01 | 2018-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-GreenVegetation-2018-Spring-00010m.tif | 2.1 GBytes | application/octet-stream | c0e920d74866091aac6a0ab2efcb3612 |
| Green vegetation cover | percent | 2019-04-01 | 2019-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-GreenVegetation-2019-Spring-00010m.tif | 3.7 GBytes | application/octet-stream | b1bed41d70c0817421feec59b222eb6b |
| Green vegetation cover | percent | 2020-04-01 | 2020-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-GreenVegetation-2020-Spring-00010m.tif | 3.7 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 4c27bc84e9375fbde765e3e5be974c74 |
| Ladder fuel density | percent | 2016-04-01 | 2016-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-LadderFuelDensity-2016-Summer-00010m.tif | 2.2 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 86fcc0296b37128f2916e4daae81a16f |
| Ladder fuel density | percent | 2017-04-01 | 2017-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-LadderFuelDensity-2017-Summer-00010m.tif | 2.2 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 508a16a9cb28f75505df0897f2498d26 |
| Ladder fuel density | percent | 2018-04-01 | 2018-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-LadderFuelDensity-2018-Summer-00010m.tif | 2.3 GBytes | application/octet-stream | e72ea0697ccea8677830fc71afdfcde4 |
| Ladder fuel density | percent | 2019-04-01 | 2019-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-LadderFuelDensity-2019-Summer-00010m.tif | 2.5 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 52067b090f5be592a271c5aeea68eeb7 |
| Ladder fuel density | percent | 2020-04-01 | 2020-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-LadderFuelDensity-2020-Summer-00010m.tif | 2.3 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 1195eda2040ad81ea2fa8d43b3f9c5d3 |
| Surface fuels | categorical | 2016-04-01 | 2016-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-SurfaceFuels-2016-Summer-00010m.tif | 1.4 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 91ec583429620f3ce87620751a05d0ae |
| Surface fuels | categorical | 2017-04-01 | 2017-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-SurfaceFuels-2017-Summer-00010m.tif | 1.4 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 93085d044f2bc67c80a9a82f7b366c75 |
| Surface fuels | categorical | 2018-04-01 | 2018-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-SurfaceFuels-2018-Summer-00010m.tif | 1.5 GBytes | application/octet-stream | 52ab03b0733bf29e104a3e56a704afbd |
| Surface fuels | categorical | 2019-04-01 | 2019-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-SurfaceFuels-2019-Summer-00010m.tif | 1.5 GBytes | application/octet-stream | c0cd1c9e0718337bee53e02917036660 |
| Surface fuels | categorical | 2020-04-01 | 2020-10-01 | 10 | [-124.518,32.362,-113.191,42.024] | California-Vegetation-SurfaceFuels-2020-Summer-00010m.tif | 1.5 GBytes | application/octet-stream | ed8dd870894beb0a48c3fb73725f1faa |