Dataset Selection: A09
 

Matthews and Fung Global Distribution, Characteristics and Methane Emission of Natural Wetlands

Principal Investigators:

Elaine Matthews and Inez Fung
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Summary:

The dataset consists of five thematic layers, a) Wetland Type, b) Wetland Data Sources, c) Fractional Inundation, d) Vegetation Type, and e) Soil Type.  There is also one tabular data element Methane Emissions. The data is gridded at a resolution of 1 degree.
 
 
Dataset Description
(file lists/download)
Dataset Element Descriptions
(file download)
Technical Report

Primary References:

 * Matthews, E. 1989. Global Data Bases on Distribution, Characteristics and Methane Emission of Natural Wetlands: Documentation of Archived Data Tape. NASA Technical Memorandum 4153

 * Matthews, E. and I. Fung. 1987. Methane emission from natural wetlands: Global area, distribution and environmental characteristics of sources. Global      Biogeochemical Cycles, 1, 61-86.
 

Matthews and Fung Global Distribution, Characteristics and Methane Emission of Natural Wetlands
 

DATASET DESCRIPTION

Dataset Description

INTEGRATED DATA­SET

Data­Set Citation:

Matthews, E. and Fung, I. 1992. Global Data Bases on Distribution, Characteristics and Methane Emission of Natural Wetlands. Digital Raster Data on a 1-degree Cartesian Orthonormal Geodetic (latitude/longitude) 180x360 grid. In: Global Ecosystems Database Version 2.0. Boulder, CO: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. Five independent single-attribute spatial layers. 687,506 bytes in 12 files. [first published in 1989]

Projection:

Geographic (latitude/longitude) 180x360 grid (see User's Guide)

Spatial Representation:

Characteristic classes and averages over 1-degree grid cell areas.

Temporal Representation:

Modern composite

Data Representation:

(1) 2-byte signed integers representing wetland type and a water category flag
(2) 2-byte signed integers representing wetland data sources and a water category flag
(3) 2-byte signed integers representing percentage inundation and a water category flag
(4) 2-byte signed integers representing vegetation type and a water category flag
(5) 2-byte signed integers representing soil type and a water category flag
(6) Tabular data element

Layers and Attributes:

5 independent single-attribute spatial layers and one tabular attribute spreadsheet

Dataset Description

DESIGN

Variables:

(1) Wetland Type: 12 integrated wetland type classes for 1-degree grid cells.
(2) Wetland Data Sources: combinations (7 codes) of sources used to determine Wetland status for 1-degree grid cells.
(3) Fractional Inundation: Inundated proportion of 1-degree grid cells.
(4) Vegetation Type: 178 UNESCO vegetation type classes for 1-degree wetland grid cells.
(5) Soil Type: 106 FAO soil type classes for 1-degree wetland grid cells.
(6) Methane Emissions: Tabular data element.

Origin:

Integration of 3 independent digital sources:

(1) Matthews Vegetation and Land Use data-set (see A07)

(2) Zobler FAO soils data-set (see A11)

(3) Operational Navigation Charts (ONC)

Geographic Reference:

Geographic (latitude/longitude)

Geographic Coverage: Global

Maximum Latitude: +90 degrees (N)
Minimum Latitude: -90 degrees (S)
Maximum Longitude: +180 degrees (E)
Minimum Longitude: -180 degrees (W)

Geographic Sampling:

Characteristic classes or values for 1-degree grid cells

Time Period:

Modern composite

Temporal Sampling:

Modern composite 

Dataset Description

SOURCE

Source Data Citation:

Matthews, E. and I. Fung, 1989. Global Distribution, Characteristics and Methane Emission of Natural Wetlands. Digital Raster Data on a 1-degree Geographic (latitude/longitude) 180x360 grid. Boulder, CO: National Center for Atmospheric Research., 1.3 MB in 5 files on two floppy disks.

Contributor:

Elaine Matthews and Inez Fung
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Institute for Space Studies
2880 Broadway
New York, NY 10025

Distributor:

NCAR

Date of Production:

circa 1986

Lineage & Contacts:

(1) Elaine Matthews
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Institute of Space Studies
New York, NY

(2) Received from:
Data Support Section
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Boulder, CO 

Dataset Description

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

FAO. 1971­1981. Soil Map of the World, Vols. 1­10 (1:5M scale maps and accompanying texts), UNESCO, Paris.

Fung, I., John, I., Lerner, J., Matthews, E., Prather, M., Steele, L.P., and Fraser, P.J. 1991, Three-dimensional model synthesis of the global methane cycle. Journal of Geophysical Reserach, 96 (D7), 13033-13065.

Matthews, E. 1983.: Global vegetation and land use: new high­resolution data bases for climate studies. J. Clim. Appl. Meteorol., 22, 474­487.

Matthews, E. 1989. Global data Bases on Distribution, Characteristics and Methane Emission of Natural Wetlands: Documentation of Archived Data Tape. NASA Technical Memorandum 4153.

UNESCO. 1973. International classification and mapping of vegetation. UNESCO, Paris.

Zobler, L. 1986. A world soil file for global climate modeling. NASA Technical Memorandum 87802. 

Dataset Description

FILE LISTS

Matthews and Fung Global Distribution, Characteristics and Methane Emission of Natural Wetlands
 

DATASET ELEMENT DESCRIPTIONS

Wetland Type

Description:

Wetland Type

 Structure:

Raster Data Files: 1-degree GED 180x360 grid (see User's Guide)

 Series:

NONE

 System Files:

File type Metadata Data 
Raster grid  mfwwet.doc mfwwet.img
Raster Series 
Vector Point 
Vector Line
Vector Polygon 
Attribute Table 
Color Palette
Projection latlong.ref

 Notes:

 None

 Wetland Data Sources

Description:

Wetland Data Sources

 Structure:

Raster Data Files: 1-degree GED 180x360 grid (see User's Guide)

 Series:

None

 System Files:

File type Metadata Data 
Raster grid  mfwsrc.doc mfwsrc.img
Raster Series 
Vector Point 
Vector Line
Vector Polygon 
Attribute Table 
Color Palette 
Projection latlong.ref

 Notes:

 None 

 Fractional Inundation

Description:

Fractional Inundation

 Structure:

Raster Data Files: 1-degree GED 180x360 grid (see User's Guide)

 Series:

None

 System Files:

File type Metadata Data 
Raster grid  mfwfrin.doc mfwfrin.img
Raster Series 
Vector Point 
Vector Line
Vector Polygon 
Attribute Table 
Color Palette 
Projection latlong.ref

 Notes:

Categories correspond to percentage of inundation; for brevity not all categories are shown. 

 Vegetation Type

Description:

Vegetation Type

 Structure:

Raster Data Files: 1-degree GED 180x360 grid (see User's Guide)

 Series:

NONE

 System Files:

File type Metadata Data 
Raster grid  mfwveg.doc mfwveg.img
Raster Series 
Vector Point 
Vector Line
Vector Polygon 
Attribute Table 
Color Palette 
Projection latlong.ref

Notes:

(1) The above legend category information is in a hierarchical classification system. Each legend category consists of a major heading with up to three additional sub-headings, each heading being separated by a unique delimiter character ("|") in the legend category description. All legend categories that fall under any particular heading have that heading repeated in the legend category description. An example will illustrate this. In the classification structure 5.D has the major heading "FORB FORMATIONS", but there is no vegetation class in the data set for this category and so it has no legend category. However, 5.D.2 "Low forb communities (<1m)" (a sub-heading under "FORB FORMATIONS") does have a vegetation class in the data set (number 175) and so the legend category description reads "FORB FORMATIONS | Low forb communities (<1m)". Furthermore, 5.D.2a "perennial flowering forbs and ferns" (a sub-sub-heading under "Low forb communities (<1m)" under "FORB FORMATIONS") also has a vegetation class in the data set (number 176) and so the legend category description reads "FORB FORMATIONS | Low forb communities (<1m) | perennial flowering forbs and ferns".
(2) The above legend information reflects minor revisions from that presented in Mathews (1989).

Soil Type

Description:

Soil Type

Structure:

Raster Data Files: 1-degree GED 180x360 grid (see User's Guide)

Series:

None

System Files:

File type Metadata Data 
Raster grid  mfwsol.doc mfwsol.img
Raster Series 
Vector Point 
Vector Line
Vector Polygon 
Attribute Table 
Color Palette 
Projection latlong.ref

Notes:

 None

Matthews and Fung Global Distribution, Characteristics and Methane Emission of Natural Wetlands
 

TECHNICAL REPORT


Mark A. Ohrenschall
NOAA National Geophysical Data Center
Boulder, CO

Data were read from floppy disk and converted to the GED format, separating each variable into different GIS files without altering the original numerical values. Legend information was entered from the accompanying documentation. All final data files were inspected for agreement with the original data. The methane emission spreadsheet (see DATA ELEMENT: Methane Emission, above) was entered by hand from Table 6 in Matthews (1989).