paleofiresites: GCD sites information
In GCD: Global Charcoal Database

Description Format Details References Examples

Sites description and features

A data frame with 881 observations on the following 17 variables.

id_site: sites primary key from GCD v4.x.x
id_site_old: sites primary key from GCD v3.x.x, deprecated
pref_units: a factor, see help("charcoal_units") and data("charcoal_units") for details
site_name: a character vector
lat: a numeric vector
long: a numeric vector
elevation: a numeric vector of elevations
country: a character vector
continent: a factor with levels Africa Antarctica Asia Australia Europe North America South America
ISO3: ISO3 code by country
num_dating: a numeric vector
min_est_age: a numeric vector
max_est_age: a numeric vector
num_samp: a numeric vector
has_depth: factor indicating presence of depths associated to ages
date_int: a numeric vector, interval in years between two dates
qtype: a factor, see help("charcoal_units") and data("charcoal_units") for details
water_depth: a numeric vector
depo_context: a character vector, see help("depo_contex") and data("depo_contex") for details
id_site_type: a character vector, see help("site_type") and data("site_type") for details
id_basin_size: a character vector, see help("basin_size") and data("basin_size") for details
id_lands_desc: a character vector, see help("lands_desc") and data("lands_desc") for details
l12: a numeric vector, Levavasseur et al. 2012
rf99: a numeric vector, Ramankutty et al. 1999
gcd_version: main GCD releases
num_version: a numeric vector: version number 401 meaning 4.0.1
update_date: date of data update in the GCD

l12 levels0= Water
1= Boreal forest
2= Desert vegetation
3= Grassland and dry shrubland
4= Savannas abd dry woodlands
5= Temperate forest
6= Tropical forest
7= Tundra
8= Warm temperate
9= Warm desert
10= Cold desert

rf99 levels 0= Water
1= Tropical Evergreen Forest/Woodland
2= Tropical Deciduous Forest/Woodland
3= Temperate Broadleaf Evergreen Forest/Woodland
4= Temperate Needleleaf Evergreen Forest/Woodland
5= Temperate Deciduous Forest/Woodland
6= Boreal Evergreen Forest/Woodland
7= Boreal Deciduous Forest/Woodland
8= Evergreen/Deciduous Mixed Forest/Woodland
9= Savanna
10= Grassland/Steppe
11= Dense Shrubland
12= Open Shrubland
13= Tundra
14= Desert
15= Polar Desert/Rock/Ice

Ramankutty, N., and J.A. Foley (1999). Estimating historical changes in global land cover: croplands from 1700 to 1992, Global Biogeochemical Cycles 13(4), 997-1027.

Levavasseur, G., M. Vrac, D. M. Roche, and D. Paillard. 2012. Statistical modelling of a new global potential vegetation distribution. Environmental Research Letters 7:044019.