Arctic vegetation classification raster.

Individual raster values are mapped to vegetation types as follows:

'Raster Code': 'Vegetation Unit' - 'Short Description'
1: B1 - Cryptogam, herb barren
2: B2a - Cryptogam, barren complex
3: B3 - Non-carbonate mountain complex
4: B4 - Carbonate mountain complex
5: B2b - Cryptogam, barren, dwarf-shrub complex
21: G1 - Graminoid, forb, cryptogam tundra
22: G2 - Graminoid, prostrate dwarf-shrub, forb, moss tundra
23: G3 - Non-tussock sedge, dwarf-shrub, moss tundra
24: G4 - Tussock-sedge, dwarf-shrub, moss tundra
31: P1 - Prostrate dwarf-shrub, herb, lichen tundra
32: P2 - Prostrate/hemi-prostrate dwarf-shrub, lichen tundra
33: S1 - Erect dwarf-shrub, moss tundra
34: S2 - Low-shrub, moss tundra
41: W1 - Sedge/grass, moss wetland complex
42: W2 - Sedge, moss, dwarf-shrub wetland complex
43: W3 - Sedge, moss, low-shrub wetland complex
91: FW - Fresh water
92: SW - Saline water
93: GL - Glacier
99: NA - Non-Arctic

 Environmental and climatic conditions are
extreme, with a short growing season and low summer temperatures. The
region support plants such as dwarf shrubs, herbs, lichens and mosses,
which grow close to the ground. As one moves southward (outward from
map's center in all directions), the amount of warmth available for
plant growth increases considerably, allowing the size, abundance, and
variety of plants to increase as well. Climate and other environmental
controls, such as landscape, topography, soil chemistry, soil moisture,
and the available plants that historically colonized an area, also
influence the distribution of plant communities.

For more information, visit:
https://www.geobotany.uaf.edu/cavm/abstract.php.

=== Original Data Source ===
Raster Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map

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 geographic/floristic
sub-sections of the Arctic, using AVHRR and MODIS data (reflectance
and NDVI) and elevation data. The units resulting from the
classification were modeled to the CAVM types using a wide variety
of ancillary data. The map was reviewed by experts familiar with
their particular region, including many of the original authors of
the CAVM from Canada, Greenland (Denmark), Iceland, Norway
(including Svalbard), Russia, and the U.S. The analysis presented
here summarizes the area, geographical distribution, elevation,
summer temperatures, and NDVI of the map units. The greater spatial
resolution of the Raster CAVM allowed more detailed mapping of
water-bodies and mountainous areas. It portrays coastal-inland
gradients, and better reflects the heterogeneity of vegetation type
distribution than the original CAVM. Accuracy assessment of random
1-km pixels interpreted from 6 Landsat scenes showed an average of
70 % accuracy, up from 39 % for the original CAVM. The distribution
of shrub-dominated types changed the most, with more prostrate shrub
tundra mapped in mountainous areas, and less low shrub tundra in
lowland areas. This improved mapping is important for quantifying
existing and potential changes to land cover, a key environmental
indicator for modeling and monitoring ecosystems.

Related Publication:

Martha K. Raynolds, Donald A. Walker, Andrew Balser, Christian Bay,
Mitch Campbell, Mikhail M. Cherosov, Fred J.A. Daniëls, Pernille
Bronken Eidesen, Ksenia A. Ermokhina, Gerald V. Frost, Birgit
Jedrzejek, M. Torre Jorgenson, Blair E. Kennedy, Sergei S. Kholod,
Igor A. Lavrinenko, Olga V. Lavrinenko, Borgþór Magnússon, Nadezhda
V. Matveyeva, Sigmar Metúsalemsson, Lennart Nilsen, Ian Olthof, Igor
N. Pospelov, Elena B. Pospelova, Darren Pouliot, Vladimir Razzhivin,
Gabriela Schaepman-Strub, Jozef Šibík, Mikhail Yu. Telyatnikov,
Elena Troeva, A raster version of the Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation
Map (CAVM), Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 232, 2019, 111297,
ISSN 0034-4257,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111297. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425719303165).

Citation:
Raynolds, Martha; Walker, Donald (2022), 'Raster Circumpolar
Arctic Vegetation Map', Mendeley Data, V2, doi:
10.17632/c4xj5rv6kv.2

Citation URL:
https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/c4xj5rv6kv/2