CCE Synthesized Crown Closure Data

The crown (canopy) closure map was derived from three main sources. The entirety of the Montana portion was obtained from the USGS National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2001 tree canopy layer. The mountainous portions of Alberta and BC were acquired from the Foothills Model Forest Grizzly Bear Project (FMFGBP). The areas of BC and Alberta not covered by the FMFGBP were modeled by extending the FMFGBP model with Landsat images from 2001 as well as a terrain model. The Crown Closure model was then clipped to forested areas. The Crown Managers Partnership 2001 land cover map was used to define forested areas. More details available in the data documentation.