Continuous tree distribution in China: A comparison of two estimates from MODIS and Landsat data
Continuous tree distribution in China: A comparison of two estimates from MODIS and Landsat data
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Date
2006-04-18
Authors
Liang, Shunlin
Liu, Ronggao
Liu, Jiyuan
Zhuang, Dafang
Advisor
Citation
Liu, R., S. Liang, J. Liu, and D. Zhuang, (2006), Continuous tree distribution in China: A comparison of two estimates from MODIS and Landsat data, Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmosphere, 111, D08101, doi:10.1029/2005JD006039
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Abstract
Forest change is a major contributor to changes in carbon stocks and trace gas fluxes
between terrestrial and atmospheric layers. This study compares two satellite estimates
of percent tree distribution data sets over China. One estimate is from the Chinese National
Land Cover Data Set (NLCD) generated by a multiyear national land cover project in
China through visual interpretation of Landsat thematic mapper (TM) and the Enhanced
Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images primarily acquired in the year 2000. The other
estimate is the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) standard
product (MOD44B) from the same year. The two products reveal some common features,
but significant discrepancies exist. Detailed analyses are carried out with different land
cover types and over different regions. Comparison results show that the difference of the
total tree canopy area for the whole country is 159,000 km2. The pixel counts in the
NLCD data set for dense forest are ~4 times those in the MODIS data set with the reverse
holding for sparse forest. Generally, the percent tree canopy area of the NLCD data set
is larger in eastern China and lower in the Tibetan plateau margin region. For different
land cover types the percentage of tree canopy areas shows a good agreement for
evergreen forests but a large discrepancy for deciduous forests. The largest variations are
associated with grassland and nonvegetation classes. Regarding the spatial distributions
of their differences, Inner Mongolia is the place where both data sets show a diverse
result, but Guizhou and Fujian present the least divergence among those provinces with
the tree canopy area being more than 20,000 km2.