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Platform data

Overview

Detailed view

Mosaic stitched from topographically and atmospherically corrected Landsat 7 ETM+ scenes (courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and U.S. Geological Survey).

Created as described in 
Schulz, H.M., Li, C.F., Chang, S.C., Thies, B., and Bendix J.: Mapping the montane cloud forest of Taiwan using 12 year MODIS-derived ground fog frequency data, PLOS ONE, manuscript submitted for publication.

Map of montane cloud forest in Taiwan derived from MODIS based ground fog frequency data, ASTER GDEM 2 and Landsat 7 data.

Resolution: 250 m per pixel

The map was created as described in 
Schulz, H.M., Li, C.F., Chang, S.C., Thies, B., and Bendix J.: Mapping the montane cloud forest of Taiwan using 12 year MODIS-derived ground fog frequency data, PLOS ONE, manuscript submitted for publication.

Within the experiment, a permanent temperate grassland is treated with elevated CO2 (~20% during daylight hours). In three rings the air is enriched with CO2 while other three rings act under atmospheric CO2 (control). This dataset contains the ring-wise late-summer yields as well as the ring-wise CO2 concentrations (averaged in the three months before harvest) and other variables describing the environmental conditions (likewise aggregated to their average in the three months preceding harvest; respectively sum for solar radiation and precipitation).

The dataset is also available within the CRAN R package ("msaFACE"). Here, the ring-wise variables can be used as dependent and independent variables while the environmental variables can be used to derive the subsets (where regression within the Moving Subset is performed) and be plotted to get a clear picture of the environmental conditions within the respective subset.

see article in method step

HASaR ("High-Asia Satellite Retrieval")
Derived from cloud mask data with temporal resolution of 30 minutes.

The relationship between satellite-derived low cloud frequency and the occurrence of tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF) in Taiwan was investigated. From daily MODIS cloud mask products between 2003 and 2012 the low cloud class was extracted and mean low cloud frequency was calculated for Taiwan. This low cloud frequency map was blended with an existing plot-based vegetation classification for Taiwan to analyze the relationship between low cloud frequency and TMCF occurrence. Receiver operating characteristics curves and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) were used to analyze if a relationship exists. No relationship was found for all four TMCF types taken together (AUC = 0.61) and for the dominant TMCF type, Quercus montane evergreen broad-leaved cloud forest (AUC = 0.5). Strong relationships were found for the two spatially-restricted TMCF types, Fagus montane deciduous broad-leaved cloud forest (AUC = 0.91) and Pasania-Elaeocarpus montane evergreen broad-leaved forest (AUC = 0.84), as well as for the second dominant type Chamaecyparis montane mixed cloud forest (AUC = 0.74). The results show that low cloud frequency thresholds might be associated with specific cloud forest types in Taiwan. Further studies should incorporate information about cloud base height, cloud density, and cloud immersion time as well as satellite-based cloud frequency information with a higher temporal resolution. Combination with satellite-based land cover classifications for Taiwan would allow quasi-continuous observation of TMCF changes. Such knowledge would be the precondition for effective protective actions concerning this exceptional but threatened ecosystem.

http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs71012986

Presence and absence of montane cloud forest in Taiwan. Compiled from the National Vegetation Database of Taiwan.

Ground fog masks were created from MODIS data from 2003 to 2014 using the method DOGMA. From those masks the ground fog frequency was calculated for each month separately.