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Title: Tracking vegetation phenology across diverse North American biomes using PhenoCam imagery

Journal Article · · Scientific Data
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [4];  [2];  [5];  [2];  [2];  [6];  [6];  [3]
  1. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology; Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States). School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems; Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States). Center for Ecosystem Science and Society
  2. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
  3. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States). Earth Systems Research Center
  4. Boston Univ., MA (United States). Dept. of Earth and Environment; North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Forestry and Environmental Resources
  5. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Earth and Environmental Sciences
  6. Boston Univ., MA (United States). Dept. of Earth and Environment

Vegetation phenology controls the seasonality of many ecosystem processes, as well as numerous biosphere-atmosphere feedbacks. Phenology is also highly sensitive to climate change and variability. Here we present a series of datasets, together consisting of almost 750 years of observations, characterizing vegetation phenology in diverse ecosystems across North America. Our data are derived from conventional, visible-wavelength, automated digital camera imagery collected through the PhenoCam network. For each archived image, we extracted RGB (red, green, blue) colour channel information, with means and other statistics calculated across a region-of-interest (ROI) delineating a specific vegetation type. From the high-frequency (typically, 30 min) imagery, we derived time series characterizing vegetation colour, including "canopy greenness", processed to 1- and 3-day intervals. For ecosystems with one or more annual cycles of vegetation activity, we provide estimates, with uncertainties, for the start of the "greenness rising" and end of the "greenness falling" stages. Lastly, the database can be used for phenological model validation and development, evaluation of satellite remote sensing data products, benchmarking earth system models, and studies of climate change impacts on terrestrial ecosystems.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; SC0016011; G10AP00129; AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1433125
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1773102
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-133983; ark:/13030/qt46v7n34w
Journal Information:
Scientific Data, Vol. 5; ISSN 2052-4463
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 240 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Testing Hopkins’ Bioclimatic Law with PhenoCam data journal March 2019
RadialPheno: A tool for near‐surface phenology analysis through radial layouts journal June 2019
Seasonal differences in relationships between changes in spring phenology and dynamics of carbon cycle in grasslands journal May 2019
Comparison of large‐scale citizen science data and long‐term study data for phenology modeling journal December 2018
Using by‐catch data from wildlife surveys to quantify climatic parameters and timing of phenology for plants and animals using camera traps journal November 2019
Later springs green-up faster: the relation between onset and completion of green-up in deciduous forests of North America journal May 2018
“Green pointillism”: detecting the within-population variability of budburst in temperate deciduous trees with phenological cameras journal January 2020
Global Variability of Simulated and Observed Vegetation Growing Season journal November 2019
Complexity revealed in the greening of the Arctic journal January 2020
Six years of ecosystem-atmosphere greenhouse gas fluxes measured in a sub-boreal forest journal July 2019
Tracking vegetation phenology across diverse biomes using Version 2.0 of the PhenoCam Dataset journal October 2019
Intercomparison of phenological transition dates derived from the PhenoCam Dataset V1.0 and MODIS satellite remote sensing journal April 2018
Comparison of Grassland Phenology Derived from MODIS Satellite and PhenoCam Near-Surface Remote Sensing in North America journal September 2019
Non-uniform seasonal warming regulates vegetation greening and atmospheric CO 2 amplification over northern lands journal November 2018
An integrated phenology modelling framework in r journal February 2018
Detecting changes in understorey and canopy vegetation cycles in West Central Alberta using a fusion of Landsat and MODIS journal November 2019
Plant phenology and global climate change: Current progresses and challenges journal April 2019
Local snow melt and temperature—but not regional sea ice—explain variation in spring phenology in coastal Arctic tundra journal April 2019
Cryptic phenology in plants: Case studies, implications, and recommendations journal August 2019
Characteristics of free air carbon dioxide enrichment of a northern temperate mature forest journal September 2019
Refining the role of phenology in regulating gross ecosystem productivity across European peatlands journal December 2019
Tracking seasonal rhythms of plants in diverse ecosystems with digital camera imagery journal December 2018
Growth and opportunities in networked synthesis through AmeriFlux journal May 2019
Effects of climate change on alpine plants and their pollinators journal April 2019
Integrating camera imagery, crowdsourcing, and deep learning to improve high-frequency automated monitoring of snow at continental-to-global scales journal December 2018
The Plant Phenology Ontology: A New Informatics Resource for Large-Scale Integration of Plant Phenology Data journal May 2018
Comparison of Phenology Estimated from Reflectance-Based Indices and Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) Observations in a Temperate Forest Using GPP-Based Phenology as the Standard journal June 2018
Improving the Performance of 3-D Radiative Transfer Model FLIGHT to Simulate Optical Properties of a Tree-Grass Ecosystem journal December 2018
A Comparison of the Signal from Diverse Optical Sensors for Monitoring Alpine Grassland Dynamics journal February 2019
Measuring Vegetation Phenology with Near-Surface Remote Sensing in a Temperate Deciduous Forest: Effects of Sensor Type and Deployment journal May 2019
Coupled Spatiotemporal Characterization of Monsoon Cloud Cover and Vegetation Phenology journal May 2019
Determination of Vegetation Thresholds for Assessing Land Use and Land Use Changes in Cambodia using the Google Earth Engine Cloud-Computing Platform journal June 2019
The Use of UAV Mounted Sensors for Precise Detection of Bark Beetle Infestation journal July 2019
Influence of Landscape Heterogeneity and Spatial Resolution in Multi-Temporal In Situ and MODIS NDVI Data Proxies for Seasonal GPP Dynamics journal July 2019
Asymmetric Behavior of Vegetation Seasonal Growth and the Climatic Cause: Evidence from Long-Term NDVI Dataset in Northeast China journal September 2019
Leafing Patterns and Drivers across Seasonally Dry Tropical Communities journal September 2019
N : P stoichiometry and habitat effects on Mediterranean savanna seasonal root dynamics journal January 2019
A dataset of 30 m annual vegetation phenology indicators (1985–2015) in urban areas of the conterminous United States journal January 2019
Ecosystem warming extends vegetation activity but heightens vulnerability to cold temperatures journal August 2018
Detecting the onset of autumn leaf senescence in deciduous forest trees of the temperate zone journal June 2019
Coupled Spatiotemporal Characterization of Monsoon Cloud Cover and Vegetation Phenology text January 2019
Comparison Of Large-Scale Citizen Science Data And Long-Term Study Data For Phenology Modeling text January 2018
FluoSpec 2—An Automated Field Spectroscopy System to Monitor Canopy Solar-Induced Fluorescence journal June 2018
Comparison of Landsat and Land-Based Phenology Camera Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for Dominant Plant Communities in the Great Basin journal March 2019