BOREAS TE-13 Biometry Data

The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Terrestrial Ecology (TE)-13 
collected data on site characteristics, soil profiles, woody debris, overstory 
vegetation, and understory vegetation from approximately 100 sites in the 
Southern Study Area (SSA), Northern Study Area (NSA), and Transect Areas in the 
boreal forest.   This information is supplied in three Forestry Canada documents 
that are included on the BOREAS CD-ROM series as Portable Display Format (PDF) 
files:

BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Biometry and Auxiliary Sites: 
Overstory and Understory Data (TE13_BOREAS_CANOPY.PDF)

BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Biometry and Auxiliary Sites: 
Locations and Descriptions (TE13_BOREAS_SITE_LOC.PDF)

BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Biometry and Auxiliary Sites: Soils 
and Detritus data (TE13_BOREAS_SOILS.PDF)

All of these documents include background information, methods, equations, 
explanation of terms and acronyms.  The data are given in the form of tables and 
maps in the PDF files and may be viewed using Acrobat Reader, which is provided 
on the BOREAS CD-ROM and can be obtained from the Adobe website, 
http://www.adobe.com/.  Using Acrobat Reader, data may be copied from the 
document and pasted as text into a word processing or spreadsheet program.  The 
three reports are available free of charge from:

Publications
Canadian Forest Service
5320-122nd Street
Edmonton, Alberta T6H 3S5
Canada
(403) 435-7210
(403) 435-7359 (fax)
dleroy@nrcan.gc.ca 

The Biometry and Auxiliary Sites Overstory and Understory Data consists of two 
sections:  overstory and understory.  Overstory vegetation was defined as 
vegetation taller than breast height, which were typically trees and 
occasionally shrubs.  Understory vegetation was divided into three classes.  In 
1993, the shortest class ranged from 0 m (ground) to 0.05 m consisting mainly of 
lichen, mosses, and short herbs, the middle class ranged from 0.05 m to 1.0 m, 
and the tallest class ranged from 1.0 m to 2.5 m.   In 1994, the middle class 
expanded its range to 1.5 m and the tallest class ranged from 1.5 m to 2.5 m.  
For each site, three tables are given:  stand values, individual tree values, 
and field data from cored trees.  Stand values included the date of measurement 
at each plot, sampling method (point or fixed area plot), basal area, stem 
density, stem volume, and biomass.  A graph of the diameter at breast height 
(DBH) versus mean stem density and versus biomass is given for each site.  
Individual tree values included the tree number, species, diameter at breast 
height, and canopy class.  Field data from cored trees included the tree number, 
species, diameter at breast height, number of rings, tree height, height to the 
base of the live crown, live crown width, sapwood thickness, number of sapwood 
rings, and bark thickness.

In Biometry and Auxiliary Sites Location and Descriptions, the site information 
is divided into four sections: NSA Auxiliary Sites, SSA Auxiliary Sites, 
Transect Sites, and Tower Sites.  The following information is provided for each 
site:  directions, map showing its location, site description, coordinates, 
classification, percent species at the site, and the locations of the Tie-in-
Point (TIP) and any plots at the site. The sites are listed alphabetically by 
CFS site code.  On page 9 in the document, there is a cross reference table 
giving the BOREAS Operational Grid Identification and CFS site code for each 
site.  See the Site Reference information to relate the Operational Grid 
Identification to the Final Site Identification.

The Biometry and Auxiliary Sites Soils and Detritus Data document is divided 
into two sections:  Soils and Detritus.  The soil section describes the soil 
profile of the soil pit and describes the characteristics of each soil horizon 
in each profile.  For each soil pit, the following information is given:  site 
code, BOREAS Operational Grid Identification, latitude, longitude, plot , soil 
type, landform, drainage, moisture, depth to bedrock, depth to carbonates, depth 
to water table, depth of effective rooting, and depth of root restriction.  For 
each soil horizon, the following information is given:  soil horizon, upper 
depth, thickness, color, structure, texture. mottling, effervescence, root 
characteristics (abundance, size, and orientation), Van Post Scale (an 
assessment of decomposition), and bulk density.   The detritus section of the 
document includes tables giving the site code, BOREAS Operational Grid 
Identification, stratum, plot. volume of debris and total detrital mass for all 
size classes combined, mean duff depth, and intersections, volume, and detrital 
mass are given for each size individual size classes.    For individual debris 
items having a diameter greater than seven cm, species, diameter at the point of 
intersection, and condition (state of decomposition) were also provided. 

1. Contact Information

Contact 1:
M.J. Apps
Canadian Forest Service
Northern Forestry Centre
Edmonton, Alberta
(403) 435-7305
(403) 435-7359 (fax)
mapps@nofc.forestry.ca

Contact 2:
D. Halliwell
Environment Canada
dhalliwell@nofc.forestry.ca

Contact 3:
Andrea Papagno
Raytheon ITSS
NASA GSFC
Greenbelt, MD 
(301) 286-3134
(301) 286-0239 (fax)
andrea.papagno@gsfc.nasa.gov

2. Data Access  

2.1 Contact Information

Ms. Beth Nelson
BOREAS Data Manager
NASA GSFC
Greenbelt, MD 
(301) 286-4005
(301) 286-0239 (fax)
Elizabeth.Nelson@gsfc.nasa.gov

2.2 Data Center Identification
        
See Section 2.1.

2.3 Procedures for Obtaining Data
        
Users may place requests by telephone, electronic mail, or fax.

2.4 Data Center Status/Plans

The Terrestrial Ecology (TE)-13 are available from the EOSDIS ORNL DAAC
(Earth Observing System Data and Information System) (Oak Ridge National
Laboratory) (Distributed Active Archive Center).  The BOREAS contact at
ORNL is:

ORNL DAAC User Services
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(865) 241-3952
ornldaac@ornl.gov
ornl@eos.nasa.gov

3. Journal Articles and Study Reports Referenced:

Halliwell, D. and M.J. Apps.  1996.  BOREAS Biometry and Auxiliary 
Sites:Locations and Descriptions.  Canadian Forest Service:  Northwest Region.

Halliwell, D. and M.J. Apps.  1996.  BOREAS Biometry and Auxiliary Sites: Soils 
and Detritus Data.  Canadian Forest Service:  Northwest Region.

Halliwell, D. and M.J. Apps.  1996.  BOREAS Biometry and Auxiliary Sites:  
Overstory and Understory Data.  Canadian Forest Service:  Northwest Region.

Sellers, P. and  F. Hall. 1994. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: Experiment 
Plan. Version 1994-3.0, NASA BOREAS Report (EXPLAN 94). 

Sellers, P. and F. Hall. 1996. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study: Experiment 
Plan. Version 1996-2.0, NASA BOREAS Report (EXPLAN 96). 

Sellers, P., F. Hall, and K.F. Huemmrich. 1996. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere 
Study: 1994 Operations. NASA BOREAS Report (OPSDOC 94). 

Sellers, P., F. Hall, and K.F. Huemmrich. 1997. Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere 
Study: 1996 Operations. NASA BOREAS Report (OPSDOC 96). 

Sellers, P.J., F.G. Hall, R.D. Kelly, A. Black, D. Baldocchi, J. Berry, M. Ryan, 
K.J. Ranson, P.M. Crill, D.P. Lettenmaier, H. Margolis, J. Cihlar, J. Newcomer, 
D. Fitzjarrald, P.G. Jarvis, S.T. Gower, D. Halliwell, D. Williams, B. Goodison, 
D.E. Wickland, and F.E. Guertin.  1997.  BOREAS in 1997: Experiment overview, 
scientific results, and future directions. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102 
(D24), 28731-28769.

Sellers, P.J., F. Hall, H. Margolis, B. Kelly, D. Baldocchi, G. den Hartog, J. 
Cihlar, M.G. Ryan, B. Goodison, P. Crill, K.J. Ranson, D. Lettenmaier, and D.E. 
Wickland. 1995. The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS): An overview and 
early results from the 1994 field year. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 76:1549-1577.

The three reports are available free of charge from:

Publications
Canadian Forest Service
5320-122nd Street
Edmonton, Alberta T6H 3S5
Canada
(403) 435-7210
(403) 435-7359 (fax)
dleroy@nrcan.gc.ca 

TE13_Biometry.doc
03/03/99