Continuous canopy and understory spectral reflectance measurements of a sparse black spruce forest at Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR), interior Alaska (Year 2017)

Plant phenology timings, such as spring green-up and autumn senescence, are essential state information characterizing biological responses and terrestrial carbon cycles. Current efforts for the in-situ reflectance measurements are not enough to obtain the exact interpretation of how seasonal spectral signature responds to phenological stages in boreal evergreen needleleaf forests. This data set shows the in situ continuous measurements of spectral reflectance in a boreal forest in interior Alaska. We deployed two field-based spectroradiometer systems in an open black spruce forest. These two spectroradiometer systems were used to obtain canopy scale (overstory + understory) and understory reflectances. The data set includes the overstory and understory incoming and reflected hemispherical spectral irradiance data (Level 1), and spectral reflectance computed by the in- and out-going spectral data (Level 2). Because the reflected hemispherical irradiance contains the reflection from tower structure for overstory measurements. The further reflectance correction was applied for the measurements at the tower top level (Level 3).