This dataset contains open vector data for railways, forests and power lines, as well an open digital elevation model (DEM) for a small area around a sample forest range in Europe (Germany, Upper Bavaria, Kochel Forest Range, some 70 km south of München, at the edge of Bavarian Alps). The purpose of this dataset is to provide a documented sample dataset in order to demonstrate geospatial preprocessing at FOSS4G2019 based on open data and software. This sample has been produced based on several existing open data sources (detailed below), therefore documenting the sources for obtaining some data needed for computations related to forest accessibility and wood harvesting. For example, they can be used with the open methodology and QGIS plugin Seilaplan for optimising the geometric layout cable roads or with additional open software for computing the forest accessibility for wood harvesting. The vector data (railways, forests and power lines) was extracted from OpenStreetMap (data copyrighted OpenStreetMap contributors and available from https://www.openstreetmap.org). The railways and forests were downloaded and extracted on 18.05.2019 using the open sources QGIS (https://www.qgis.org) with the QuickOSM plugin, while the power lines were downloaded a couple of days later on 23.05.2019. Additional notes for vector data: Please note that OpenStreeMap data extracts such as forests, roads and railways (except power lines) can also be downloaded in a GIS friendly format (Shapefile) from http://download.geofabrik.de/ or using the QGIS built-in download function for OpenStreetMap data. The most efficient way to retrieve specific OSM tags (such as power=line) is to use the QuickOSM plugin for QGIS (using the Overpass API - https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API) or directly using overpass turbo (https://overpass-turbo.eu/). Finally, the digitised perimeter of the sample forest range is also made available for reproducibility purposes, although any perimeter or area can be digitised freely using the QGIS editing toolbar. The DEM was originally adapted and modified also with QGIS (https://www.qgis.org) based on the elevation data available from two different sources, by reprojecting and downsampling datasets to 25m then selecting, for each individual raster cell, the elevation value that was closer to the average. These two different elevation sources are: - Copernicus Land Monitoring Service - EU-DEM v.1.1 (TILE ID E40N20, downloaded from https://land.copernicus.eu/imagery-in-situ/eu-dem/eu-dem-v1.1; this original DEM was produced by the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service “with funding by the European Union” based on SRTM and ASTER GDEM) - Digitales Geländemodell 50 m Gitterweite (https://opendata.bayern.de/detailansicht/datensatz/digitales-gelaendemodell-50-m-gitterweite/), produced by the Bayerische Vermessungsverwaltung – www.geodaten.bayern.de –and downloaded from http://www.geodaten.bayern.de/opendata/DGM50/dgm50_epsg4258.tif This methodology was chosen as a way of performing a basic quality check, by comparing the EU-DEM v.1.1 derived from globally available DEM data (such as SRTM) with more authoritative data for the randomly selected region, since using authoritative data is preferred (if open and available). For other sample regions, where authoritative open data is not available, such comparisons cannot longer be performed. Additional notes DEM: a very good DEM open data source for Germany is the open data set collected and resampled by Sonny (sonnyy7@gmail.com) and made available on the Austrian Open Data Portal http://data.opendataportal.at/dataset/dtm-germany. In order to simplify end-to-end reproducibility of the paper planned for FOSS4G2019, we use and distribute an adapted (reprojected and resampled to 25 meters) sample of the above mentioned dataset for the selected forest range. This sample dataset is accompanied by software in Python, as a Jupiter Notebook that generates harmonized output rasters with the same extent from the input data. The extent is given by the polygon vector dataset (Perimeter). These output rasters, such as obstacles, aspect, slope, forest cover, can serve as input data for later computations related to forest accessibility and wood harvesting questions. The obstacles output is obtained by transforming line vector datasets (railway lines, high voltage power lines) to raster. Aspect and slope are both derived from the sample digital elevation model.

The Bright Earth eAtlas Basemap dataset collection is a satellite-derived global map of the world at a 1:1M scale for most of the world and 1:200k scale for Australia. This map was inspired by Natural Earth II (NEII) and NASA's Blue Marble Next Generation (BMNG) imagery.

Its aim was to provide a basemap similar to NEII but with a higher resolution (~10x).

This basemap is derived from the following datasets: Blue Marble Next Generation 2004-04 (NASA), VMap0 coastline, Coast100k 2004 Australian coastline (GeoScience Australia), SRTM30 Plus v8.0 (UCSD) hillshading, Natural Earth Vector 10m bathymetry and coastline v2.0 (NE), gbr100 hillshading (JCU).

This dataset (World_Bright-Earth-e-Atlas-basemap) contains all the files required to setup the Bright Earth eAtlas basemap in a GeoServer. All the data files are stored in GeoTiffs or shapefiles and so can also be loaded into ArcMap, however no styling has been included for this purpose.

This basemap is small enough (~900 MB) that can be readily used locally or deployed to a GeoServer.

Base map aesthetics (added 28 Jan 2025)

The Bright Earth e-Atlas Basemap is a high-resolution representation of the Earth's surface, designed to depict global geography with clarity, natural aesthetics with bright and soft color tones that enhance data overlays without overwhelming the viewer. The land areas are based on NASA's Blue Marble imagery, with modifications to lighten the tone and apply noise reduction filtering to soften the overall coloring. The original Blue Marble imagery was based on composite satellite imagery resulting in a visually appealing and clean map that highlights natural features while maintaining clarity and readability. Hillshading has been applied across the landmasses to enhance detail and texture, bringing out the relief of mountainous regions, plateaus, and other landforms.

The oceans feature three distinct depth bands to illustrate shallow continental areas, deeper open ocean zones, and the very deep trenches and basins. The colors transition from light blue in shallow areas to darker shades in deeper regions, giving a clear sense of bathymetric variation. Hillshading has also been applied to the oceans to highlight finer structures on the seafloor, such as ridges, trenches, and other geological features, adding depth and dimensionality to the depiction of underwater topography.

At higher zoom levels prominent cities are shown and the large scale roads are shown for Australia.

Rendered Raster Version (added 28 Jan 2025)

A low resolution version of the dataset is available as a raster file (PNG, JPG and GeoTiff) at ~2 km and 4 km resolutions. These rasters are useful for applications where GeoServer is not available to render the data dynamically. While the rasters are large they represent a small fraction of the full detail of the dataset. The rastered version was produced using the layout manager in QGIS to render maps of the whole world, pulling the imagery from the eAtlas GeoServer. This imagery from converted to the various formats using GDAL. More detail is provided in 'Rendered-bright-earth-processing.txt' in the download and browse section.

Change Log 2025-01-28: Added two rendered raster versions of the dataset at 21600x10800 and 10400x5400 pixels in size in PNG, JPG and GeoTiff format. Added

Sampling design used in the production of the global maps of grassland dynamics 2000–2022 at 30 m spatial resolution in the scope of the Global Pasture Wath initiative. The sampling desing was based in Feature Space Coverage Sampling and resulted in 10,000 sample tiles (1x1 km) distributed across the World, which were visual interpreted in Very-High Resolution imagery thorugh the QGIS plugin QGIS Fast Grid Inspection.

FSCS steps include:

• Short vegetation mask that includes all pixels mapped as mosaic, shrubland, grassland, and sparse vegetation in at least one year from 1993 to 2021 according to ESA/CCI global land cover (gpw_short.veg.mask_esacci.lc_p_1km_s_19920101_20201231_go_epsg.3857_v1.tif),
• 87 input raster layers (including vegetation indices, terrain, land temperature, climate and water variable),
• Principal Components Analysis (PCA) using all input layers,
• Selection of the 10 first components (explaining 75% of variance),
• K-Means with 10,000 clusters (targeted number of samples -
  gpw_grassland_fscs.kmeans.cluster_c_1km_20000101_20221231_go_epsg.3857_v1.tif)
• Calculation of euclidean distance (in the principal component space) of all 1-km pixels to the centre of each cluster,
• Selection of the pixel with the shortest distance for each cluster,
• Conversion of the selected pixels into sample tiles ()

The file gpw_grassland_fscs_tile.samples_1km_20000101_20221231_go_epsg.3857_v1.gpkg provides the sample tiles and include the follow collumns:

• X: Latitude in Web Mercator projection (EPSG:3857),
• Y: Longitude in Web Mercator projection (EPSG:3857),
• cluster_id: K-Means output ranging from 0—9999,
• cluster_distance: Distance from the selected sample to the centre of the cluster,
• cluster_size: Number o 1-km pixels inside the K-Means cluster, estimated using Web Mercator projection (EPSG:3857)
• cluster_size_equal_area: Number o 1-km pixels inside the K-Means cluster, estimated using Goode Homolosine Land projection (ESRI:54052)
• cluster_size_corr: Correction factor to adjust the area distortion due to Web Mercator projection, estimated by the difference in normalized propotional values of cluster_size and cluster_size_equal_area.
• rf_n_pred: Number of pixels predicted by a RF model trained to estimate probability to select the pixel closer to the centre of the KMeans cluster. The RF models were trained individually per each cluster using the 10 first components derived by PCA (gpw_comps_fscs.pca_m_1km_20000101_20221231_go_epsg.3857_v1.tar.gz).
• rf_samp_prob: Sampling probability based on RF model (rf_n_pred / cluster_size)
• rf_samp_wei: Sampling weight estimated in Web Mercator projection.
• rf_samp_wei_coor: Corrected sampling weight estimated in Goode Homolosine Land projection.

Related resources

• Maps of dominant grassland:
  2000-2002 2003-2005 2006-2008 2009-2011 2012-2014 2015-2017 2018-2020 2021-2022
• Probability maps of cultivated grassland:
  2000-2022 (All URLs)
• Probability maps of natural/semi-natural grassland:
  2000-2022 (All URLs)
• Grassland reference samples based on VHR imagery (2000–2022):
  GeoPackage files
• Global machine learning models (Random Forest):
  Parquet and joblib python files
• Reference sampling design derived by FSCV:
  GeoPackage and raster files
• Harmonized reference samples based on existing LULC dataset:
  GeoPackage and raster files
• Source code for reproducibility:
  GitHub release
  
• Mapping feedback tool:
  GeoWiki
• Data catalogues:
  OpenLandMap STAC Google Earth Engine

Support

For questions of bugs/inconsistencies related to the dataset raise a GitHub issue in https://github.com/wri/global-pasture-watch

Cable-based technologies have been a backbone for harvesting on steep slopes. The layout of a single cable road is challenging because one must identify intermediate support locations and heights that guarantee structural safety and operational efficiency while minimizing set-up and dismantling costs. Seilaplan optimizes the layout of a cable road by Seilaplan stands for Cable Road Layout Planner. Seilaplan is able to calculate the optimal rope line layout (position and height of the supports) between defined start and end coordinates on the basis of a digital elevation model (DEM). The program is designed for Central European conditions and is designed on the basis of a fixed suspension rope anchored at both ends. For the calculation of the properties of the load path curve an iterative method is used, which was described by Zweifel (1960) and was developed especially for standing skylines. When testing the feasibility of the cable line, care is taken that 1) the maximum permissible stresses in the skyline are not exceeded, 2) there is a minimum distance between the load path and the ground and 3) when using a gravitational system, there is a minimum inclination in the load path. The solution is selected which has a minimum number of supports in the first priority and minimizes the support height in the second priority. The newly developed method calculates the load path curve and the forces occurring in it more accurately than tools available on the market to date (status 2019) and is able to determine the optimum position and height of the intermediate supports. The reason for the more accurate results of the new tool is the assumption that the skyline is anchored at both end points. Forest cable yarders used in Europe have a skyline that is fixed at both ends. The behaviour of fixed-anchored suspension ropes is very difficult to describe mathematically and cannot be solved analytically. For this reason, simplified linearized assumptions have so far been used in the forestry sector, which corresponds to the behaviour of a weight-tensioned suspension rope and is known as the Pestal method (1961). Weight-tensioned suspension ropes are used for passenger transport. For the calculation of the load path curve we use an iterative method, which was described by Zweifel (1960) and developed especially for fixed anchored suspension ropes. This makes mathematics much more demanding, but leads to more accurate and realistic results. Since there are no current models which describe the installation costs with adequate accuracy, the solution sought is the one which has a minimum number of supports in the first priority and minimises the support height in the second priority (Figure 2). The presented method is the first one, which starts from a fixed anchored supporting rope and identifies the mathematically optimal column layout at the same time. In contrast to methods that assume a weight-tensioned suspension rope, this approach achieves more realistic solutions with longer spans and lower support heights, which ultimately leads to lower installation costs. Background information on rope mechanics and calculation methods is documented in Bont and Heinimann (2012). License: GNU, General Public License, Version 2 or newer. Literature: Bont, L., & Heinimann, H. R. (2012). Optimum geometric layout of a single cable road. European journal of forest research, 131(5), 1439-1448.

This record contains data products associated with the paper with Mashal et al,. "Multi-Criteria Overlay Analysis for Identifying Preferred Exploration Zones on Mars" accepted by The Planetary Science Journal.

The folder includes the following files:

• Readme.txt : Detalied information about the files.
• MCOA-CONSTRAINTS.tif : The final MCOA result map discussed in the manuscript (Figure 6).
• _C1.tif to _C8.tif: Input criterion maps used in the overlay analysis, as referenced in the manuscript Equations 1 and 2.
  
• Mars_2000_Equidistant_Cylindrical_sphere.wkt : Well-known file for the projection used.
• MCOA_PROJECT.qgz: A ready-to-use QGIS project file that loads all layers with the correct projection and layout for ease of viewing.
• shaded_relief.tif : hillshade raster used as a background layer in the QGIS project to enhance the visual interpretation of the MCOA result.

If you use this dataset, please cite both the article (10.3847/PSJ/ade30e) and this Zenodo record.