The potveg.dat.gz file contains a subset of the 5min resolution Global Potential Vegetation Data developed by Navin Ramankutty and Jonathan Foley at the University of Wisconsin. The subset is for the LBA-Ecology study area. This README file contains information regarding: 1. Data format 2. Procedure used to create the Amazon susbet 3. Legend and data source ------------------------------------------------------------------- DATA FORMAT ------------------------------------------------------------------- The downloadable file, potveg.dat.gz, is a UNIX compressed file. The data file is in ASCII Grid format for ArcInfo. The file contains a single ASCII array with integer values. Data values range from 1 to 15 and the nodata value is -9999. Coordinates listed below are in decimal degrees. Rows 420 Columns 660 UpLeftX -84.99999696 UpLeftY 10.0000032 LoRightX -29.9999952 LoRightY -24.99999792 cellsize 0.083333336 Projection geographic The ASCII file consists of header information containing a set of keywords, followed by cell values in row-major order. The file format is {NODATA_VALUE xxx} row 1 row 2 . . . row n where xxx is a number, and the keyword NODATA_VALUE is optional and defaults to -9999. Row 1 of the data is at the top of the grid, row 2 is just under row 1 and so on. The end of each row of data from the grid is terminated with a carriage return in the file. To import this file into ArcInfo use the following command at an ARC prompt: ASCIIGRID {INT | FLOAT} Arguments - the ASCII file to be converted. - the name of the grid to be created. {INT | FLOAT} - the data type of the output grid. INT - an integer grid will be created. FLOAT - a floating-point grid will be created. ------------------------------------------------------------------- PROCEDURE USED TO CREATE THE AMAZON SUBSET ------------------------------------------------------------------- The data set was provided by the data originator as an ArcInfo grid. Using GRID ( a raster- or cell-based geoprocessing toolbox that is integrated with ArcInfo) the SETWINDOW command was used to define the subarea of interest. This subarea was defined by identifying the bounding coordinates as follows: x_min -85 y_min -25 x_max -30 y_max 10 The "snap_grid" option of the SETWINDOW command was used. This snaps the lower- left corner of the specified window to the lower-left corner of the nearest cell in the snap_grid and snaps the upper-right corner of the specified window to the upper-right corner of the nearest cell in the snap_grid. In this case the snap_grid is the original data grid. The purpose of this is to ensure the proper registration of the newly set analysis window. The command format used is as follows: SETWINDOW x_min y_min x_max y_max original_grid Once the window was set, creating the new grid was simply a matter of setting the new subset grid equal to the original grid. subset_grid = original_grid An ASCII array was created from the new subset grid using the GRID command GRIDASCII. file.dat = GRIDASCII(subset_grid) ------------------------------------------------------------------- LEGEND & ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION ------------------------------------------------------------------- The following legend is used for the 15 vegetation types contained in the original data set: 1 Tropical Evergreen Forest/Woodland 2 Tropical Deciduous Forest/Woodland 3 Temperate Broadleaf Evergreen Forest/Woodland 4 Temperate Needleleaf Evergreen Forest/Woodland 5 Temperate Deciduous Forest/Woodland 6 Boreal Evergreen Forest/Woodland 7 Boreal Deciduous Forest/Woodland 8 Evergreen/Deciduous Mixed Forest/Woodland 9 Savanna 10 Grassland/Steppe 11 Dense Shrubland 12 Open Shrubland 13 Tundra 14 Desert 15 Polar Desert/Rock/Ice Although not all of these categories may be represented in the subset of the data, the original legend has been retained. The original data and documentation can be obtained through anonymous ftp. Instructions for ftping can be found at the Climate People and Environment Program web site at the University of Wisconsin: http://cpep.meteor.wisc.edu/pages/available.html. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ORIGINAL DATA SET CITATION ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ramankutty, Navin and Jonathan A. Foley. 1999. Global Potential Vegetation Data. Climate, People, and Environment Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Available on-line at http://cpep.meteor.wisc.edu/pages/available.html ------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSET DATA SET CITATION ------------------------------------------------------------------- LBA study area subset of Ramankutty, Navin and Jonathan A. Foley. 1999. Global Potential Vegetation Data. Climate, People, and Environment Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. Available on-line at ftp://www- eosdis.ornl.gov/data/lba_regional/