ABoVE: Lake and Wetland Classification from L-band SAR, Alaska and Canada, 2017-2019

This dataset contains a high-resolution land cover classification focused on water and wetland vegetation classes over three NASA ABoVE Campaign regions: Yukon Flats, Alaska, USA; the Peace-Athabasca Delta, Alberta; and the Canadian Shield, Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. The product was derived from L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) acquisitions from the airborne NASA UAVSAR instrument in 2017-2019. The classification was trained and validated from field visits, UAV images, satellite imagery as well as other ABoVE datasets. Classifications in all regions are provided as both preliminary 13-class versions and final, simplified 5-class versions. Training and test data used for the classifier are also included as well as characteristics of lakes in the study area. This land cover classification was developed to support a project focusing on potential methane emissions from the shallow near-shore, or littoral, regions of lakes. The emergent aquatic vegetation classes can be used as a proxy for these littoral zones. Wetland vegetation classifications are provided as gridded raster files with an approximately 5-meter spatial resolution and aligned with the original UAVSAR footprints. Composite mosaics that aggregate these UAVSAR scenes by region and day of acquisition, if applicable, are also provided. Classifications in all regions are provided as both preliminary 13-class versions and final 5-class versions.