Raster Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map - 2024 Print Version ...

• Main Authors: Raynolds, Martha, Walker, Donald A., Peirce, Jana
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: NSF Arctic Data Center 2024
• Subjects: circumpolar arctic; land cover analysis; vegetation mapping; plant communities; bioclimatic subzones; satellite mapping; dominant species; arctic tundra; Tundra
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.18739/a2rx93f75; https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi:10.18739/A2RX93F75

Land cover maps are the basic data layer required for understanding and modeling ecological patterns and processes. The Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM), produced in 2003, has been widely used as a base map for studies in the arctic tundra biome. However, the relatively coarse resolution and vector format of the map were not compatible with many other data sets. We present a new version of the CAVM, building on the strengths of the original map, while providing a finer spatial resolution, raster format, and improved mapping. The Raster CAVM uses the legend, extent and projection of the original CAVM. The legend has 16 vegetation types, glacier, saline water, freshwater, and non-arctic land. The Raster CAVM divides the original rock-water-vegetation complex map unit that mapped the Canadian Shield into two map units, distinguishing between areas with lichen- and shrub-dominated vegetation. In contrast to the original hand-drawn CAVM, the new map is based on unsupervised classifications of seventeen ...