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Canadian Satellite-Based Forest Inventory (SBFI)

The Satellite-Based Forest Inventory (SBFI) provides information on Canada’s forested land cover, disturbance recovery, structure, species, and stand age in 2020, as well as stand-replacing disturbances from 1985-2020. The SBFI polygons represent homogeneous forest conditions similar to those of stands delineated in a strategic forest inventory. More than 25 million SBFI polygons were delineated using a multiresolution segmentation algorithm applied to the 2020 Landsat surface-reflectance BAP image composite (30-m spatial resolution), fire year, and harvest year layers derived from Landsat using the C2C approach. A minimum map unit of 0.45 ha (5 pixels) was used to define polygons. The entirety of Canada’s forest ecosystems were mapped using the same data, attributes, and temporal representation, resulting in a common vegetation inventory system of Canada’s ~650 Mha forested ecosystems. Given the large and diverse forest area of Canada, the strength of an SBFI lies in the use of a consistent data source and methodology across jurisdictional boundaries, and managed and unmanaged forest areas, enabling consistently generated synoptic, spatially explicit information outputs. The data included herein are based upon free and open satellite data and information products following established and communicated approaches.

Full descriptions of feature attributes are found within the attached data dictionary or within the downloadable dataset found here

CA SBFI feature attributes

Group Field Description Units
ID ID Unique polygon identifier
TILE Tile identifier
Geometry AREA_HA Area of the polygon ha
PERIMETER_M Length of polygon’s boundary m
Stratification JURSDICTION Most represented province/territory
ECOZONE Most represented terrestrial ecozone as defined by Ecological Stratification Working Group (1996)
ECOPROVINCE Most represented ecoprovince as defined by Ecological Stratification Working Group (1996)
ECOREGION Most represented ecoregion as defined by Ecological Stratification Working Group (1996)
MANAGEMENT Most represented land status from the forest management classification from Stinson et al_ (2019)
Land cover LC_WATER Area covered by water % of polygon area
LC_SNOW_ICE Area covered by snow/ice % of polygon area
LC_ROCK_RUBBLE Area covered by rock/rubble % of polygon area
LC_EXPOSED_BARREN Area covered by exposed/barren land % of polygon area
LC_BRYOIDS Area covered by bryoids % of polygon area
LC_SHRUBS Area covered by shrubs % of polygon area
LC_WETLAND Area covered by wetland % of polygon area
LC_WETLAND-TREED Area covered by wetland-treed % of polygon area
LC_HERBS Area covered by herbs % of polygon area
LC_CONIFEROUS Area covered by coniferous % of polygon area
LC_BROADLEAF Area covered by broadleaf % of polygon area
LC_MIXEDWOOD Area covered by mixedwood % of polygon area
LC_TREED Area covered by treed vegetation derived from combining the land cover classes % of polygon area
LC_FAO_FOREST Area covered by forest consistent with FAO definitions (Wulder et al_ 2020) % of polygon area
LC_WETLAND_VEGETATION Area covered by wetlands derived from combining the land cover classes % of polygon area
Disturbances DISTURB_FIRE_PERC Area impacted by fire disturbances % of polygon area
DISTURB_FIRE_YEAR Modal year of fire disturbances years
DISTURB_FIRE_MAGNITUDE_MIN Minimum value of fire magnitude dNBR
DISTURB_FIRE_MAGNITUDE_MAX Maximum value of fire magnitude dNBR
DISTURB_FIRE_MAGNITUDE_AVG Average value of fire magnitude dNBR
DISTURB_FIRE_MAGNITUDE_SD Standard deviation of fire magnitude dNBR
DISTURB_FIRE_MAGNITUDE_MED Median value of fire magnitude dNBR
DISTURB_HARVEST_PERC Area impacted by harvesting disturbances % of polygon area
DISTURB_HARVEST_YEAR Modal year of harvesting disturbances years
Recovery RECOVERY_FIRE_MIN Minimum value of spectral recovery for fire disturbances % of pre-disturbance
RECOVERY_FIRE_MAX Maximum value of spectral recovery for fire disturbances % of pre-disturbance
RECOVERY_FIRE_AVG Average value of spectral recovery for fire disturbances % of pre-disturbance
RECOVERY_FIRE_SD Standard deviation of spectral recovery for fire disturbances % of pre-disturbance
RECOVERY_FIRE_MED Median value of spectral recovery for fire disturbances % of pre-disturbance
RECOVERY_HARVEST_MIN Minimum value of spectral recovery for harvesting disturbances % of pre-disturbance
RECOVERY_HARVEST_MAX Maximum value of spectral recovery for harvesting disturbances % of pre-disturbance
RECOVERY_HARVEST_AVG Average value of spectral recovery for harvesting disturbances % of pre-disturbance
RECOVERY_HARVEST_SD Standard deviation of spectral recovery for harvesting disturbances % of pre-disturbance
RECOVERY_HARVEST_MED Median value of spectral recovery for harvesting disturbances % of pre-disturbance
Age AGE_MIN Minimum forest age years
AGE_MAX Maximum forest age years
AGE_AVG Average forest age years
AGE_SD Standard deviation of forest age years
AGE_MED Median forest age years
AGE_0_10, AGE_10_20, AGE_20_30, AGE_30_40, AGE_40_50, AGE_50_60, AGE_60_70, AGE_70_80, AGE_80_90, AGE_90_100, AGE_100_110, AGE_110_120, AGE_120_130, AGE_130_140, AGE_140_150, AGE_GT_150 Ten-year age class frequency distribution % of treed area in polygon
Forest structure STRUCTURE_CANOPY_HEIGHT_MIN Minimum canopy height m
STRUCTURE_CANOPY_HEIGHT_MAX Maximum canopy height m
STRUCTURE_CANOPY_HEIGHT_AVG Average canopy height m
STRUCTURE_CANOPY_HEIGHT_SD Standard deviation of canopy height m
STRUCTURE_CANOPY_HEIGHT_MED Median canopy height m
STRUCTURE_CANOPY_COVER_MIN Minimum canopy cover %
STRUCTURE_CANOPY_COVER_MAX Maximum canopy cover %
STRUCTURE_CANOPY_COVER_AVG Average canopy cover %
STRUCTURE_CANOPY_COVER_SD Standard deviation of canopy cover %
STRUCTURE_CANOPY_COVER_MED Median canopy cover %
STRUCTURE_LOREYS_HEIGHT_MIN Minimum Lorey’s height m
STRUCTURE_LOREYS_HEIGHT_MAX Maximum Lorey’s height m
STRUCTURE_LOREYS_HEIGHT_AVG Average Lorey’s height m
STRUCTURE_LOREYS_HEIGHT_SD Standard deviation of Lorey’s height m
STRUCTURE_LOREYS_HEIGHT_MED Median Lorey’s height m
STRUCTURE_BASAL_AREA_MIN Minimum basal area m2 ha−1
STRUCTURE_BASAL_AREA_MAX Maximum basal area m2 ha−1
STRUCTURE_BASAL_AREA_AVG Average basal area m2 ha−1
STRUCTURE_BASAL_AREA_SD Standard deviation of basal area m2 ha−1
STRUCTURE_BASAL_AREA_MED Median basal area m2 ha−1
STRUCTURE_BASAL_AREA_TOTAL Total basal area in polygon m2
STRUCTURE_AGB_MIN Minimum aboveground biomass t ha−1
STRUCTURE_AGB_MAX Maximum aboveground biomass t ha−1
STRUCTURE_AGB_AVG Average aboveground biomass t ha−1
STRUCTURE_AGB_SD Standard deviation of aboveground biomass t ha−1
STRUCTURE_AGB_MED Median aboveground biomass t ha−1
STRUCTURE_AGB_TOTAL Total aboveground biomass in polygon t
STRUCTURE_VOLUME_MIN Minimum gross stem volume m3 ha−1
STRUCTURE_VOLUME_MAX Maximum gross stem volume m3 ha−1
STRUCTURE_VOLUME_AVG Average gross stem volume m3 ha−1
STRUCTURE_VOLUME_SD Standard deviation of gross stem volume m3 ha−1
STRUCTURE_VOLUME_MED Median gross stem volume m3 ha−1
STRUCTURE_VOLUME_TOTAL Total gross stem volume in polygon m3
Tree species SPECIES_NUMBER
SPECIES_1 Name of the 1st most common leading tree species representing a percentage of treed area in polygon >2_5%
SPECIES_2 Name of the 2nd most common leading tree species representing a percentage of treed area in polygon >2_5%
SPECIES_3 Name of the 3rd most common leading tree species representing a percentage of treed area in polygon >2_5%
SPECIES_4 Name of the 4th most common leading tree species representing a percentage of treed area in polygon >2_5%
SPECIES_5 Name of the 5th most common leading tree species representing a percentage of treed area in polygon >2_5%
SPECIES_1_PERC Area covered by the 1st most common leading tree species % of treed area in polygon
SPECIES_2_PERC Area covered by the 2nd most common leading tree species % of treed area in polygon
SPECIES_3_PERC Area covered by the 3rd most common leading tree species % of treed area in polygon
SPECIES_5_PERC Area covered by the 5th most common leading tree species % of treed area in polygon
SPECIES_CONIFEROUS_PERC Area covered by coniferous tree species % of treed area in polygon
SPECIES_CML1 Name of the 1st most common tree species based on the class membership likelihood values
SPECIES_CML2 Name of the 2nd most common tree species based on the class membership likelihood values
SPECIES_CML3 Name of the 3rd most common tree species based on the class membership likelihood values
SPECIES_CML4 Name of the 4th most common tree species based on the class membership likelihood values
SPECIES_CML5 Name of the 5th most common tree species based on the class membership likelihood values
SPECIES_CML1_PERC Distribution of the class membership likelihood values of the 1st most common tree species % of class membership likelihood from treed pixels in polygon
SPECIES_CML2_PERC Distribution of the class membership likelihood values of the 2nd most common tree species % of class membership likelihood from treed pixels in polygon
SPECIES_CML3_PERC Distribution of the class membership likelihood values of the 3rd most common tree species % of class membership likelihood from treed pixels in polygon
SPECIES_CML4_PERC Distribution of the class membership likelihood values of the 4th most common tree species % of class membership likelihood from treed pixels in polygon
SPECIES_CML5_PERC Distribution of the class membership likelihood values of the 5th most common tree species % of class membership likelihood from treed pixels in polygon
SPECIES_CML_CONIFEROUS_PERC Proportion of class membership likelihood values of coniferous tree species % of class membership likelihood from treed pixels in polygon
SPECIES_CML_ASSEMBLAGES Name of the tree species conforming an assemblage
SPECIES_CML_ASSEMBLAGES_PERC Proportion of class membership likelihood values conforming the assemblage % of class membership likelihood from treed pixels in polygon
Symbology SYMB_LAND_BASE_LEVEL Land base level classification based on the NFI land cover hierarchy (Wulder et al_ 2008)
SYMB_LAND_COVER_LEVEL Land cover level classification based on the NFI land cover hierarchy (Wulder et al_ 2008)
SYMB_VEGETATION_LEVEL Vegetation level classification based on the NFI land cover hierarchy (Wulder et al_ 2008)
SYMB_DISTURBANCE Simplified coding for disturbance type and year
SYMB_RECOVERY Simplified coding for spectral recovery
SYMB_AGE Simplified coding for forest age

Dataset postprocessing

The tile datasets are merged into a single feature collection for ease of use. The grid file is kept as is for users to understand how the grids are created.

Citation

Wulder, Michael A., Txomin Hermosilla, Joanne C. White, Christopher W. Bater, Geordie Hobart, and Spencer C. Bronson. "Development and
implementation of a stand-level satellite-based forest inventory for Canada." Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research (2024): cpad065.

Dataset Citation

Wulder, M.A., Hermosilla, T., White, J.C., Bater, C.W., Hobart, G., Bronson, S.C., 2024. Development and implementation of a stand-level
satellite-based forest inventory for Canada. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpad065

canada_sbif_random-small

Earth Engine Snippet

var sbfi_merged = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/sat-io/open-datasets/CA_FOREST/CA_SBFI/CA_SBFI_MERGED");
var grid_fe = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/sat-io/open-datasets/CA_FOREST/CA_SBFI/GRID_forested_ecosystems");
var grid_labels = ee.FeatureCollection("projects/sat-io/open-datasets/CA_FOREST/CA_SBFI/Grid_Labels");

Sample Code: https://code.earthengine.google.com/?scriptPath=users/sat-io/awesome-gee-catalog-examples:agriculture-vegetation-forestry/CA-SBFI

License

This work is licensed under and freely available to the public under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Created by: Wulder et al. 2024

Curated in GEE by : Samapriya Roy

Keyworks: Landsat, land cover, change detection, forest structure, biomass; NFI

Last updated in GEE: 2024-08-29

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