Large-scale ecological field data for satellite validation in deciduous forests and grasslands

In-situ accurate data sets of a leaf area index (LAI), above-ground biomass (AGB), and a fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (fAPAR) are indispensable to validate and to improve ecological products obtained from satellites. In-situ data for satellite validation must be created not from a single point data but an areal data (such as multiple points data) representing a satellite footprint. Using multiple points’ data, the error in in-situ data can be calculated statistically. The quantification of the error in the in-situ data enables us to separately evaluate the discrepancy between the satellites’ products and the in-situ data as the error in the in-situ data and the estimation error in the products. Besides, the accuracy of in-situ data is required to be much higher than the accuracy of the satellite products which was officially set. To obtain such in-situ data, we have established observation sites for typical land cover types in East Asia, from temperate to cool ecosystems: deciduous needle-leaved forest (DNF), evergreen needle-leaved forest (ENF), deciduous broad-leaved forest (DBF), and grassland (GL). We conducted the observations in the 500 m × 500 m area, which is the footprint scale of the Global Change Observation Mission-Climate (GCOM-C) satellite. In this paper, the data of LAI, AGB, and fAPAR observed at DNF, DBF, and GL (i.e., except at ENF) are reported. These data are useful even for the validation of other satellite products, especially with higher spatial resolution. Also, the long-term tree census data from 2005 to 2018 at DNF are reported. The complete dataset for this abstract published in the Data Paper section of the journal is available in electronic format in the Ecological Research Data Paper Archives at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/ER_DataPapers/archives/2020/ERDP-2020-16.