A government-industry team in collaboration with several scientists of the Canadian Forest Service and several Canadian universities has been working since 1994 to produce this map. NPP is a parameter used to quantify the net carbon absorption rate by living plants. It provides highly synthesized, quantitative information for sustainable resource management. NPP represents an important component of the biosphere carbon cycle, which is an important aspect of global climate change studies. BEPS mimics plant growth and provide estimates of NPP by integrating remote sensing, daily meteorological and soil data and computing them in daily steps.
Meteorological inputs consist of radiation, precipitation, temperature and humidity.
The simulator outputs NPP, evapotranspiration, and other parameters of interest which are used to assess the status of terrestrial ecosystems. The annual NPP values in the map compared well with ground biomass data in Quebec, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.