Global Agricultural Carbon Fluxes on a 0.05-Degree Grid

Eight netCDF files provide global estimates of carbon fluxes from agricultural production and consumption for 2005-2011. Fluxes for crop NPP, harvested biomass, and human/livestock uptake and release are spatially distributed to a 0.05-degree resolution grid using MODIS land cover data. This dataset was compiled by ORNL_CLOUD from various inventory sources.

Use Cases

• Modeling the carbon footprint of global food production using per gridcell carbon flux estimates (Mg C/yr).
• Assessing regional variations in agricultural carbon intensity using average carbon fluxes per unit area (g C/m2/yr).
• Analyzing trends in crop net primary production (NPP) and harvested biomass carbon over the 2005-2011 period.
• Integrating human and livestock carbon consumption/expiration data into Earth system models.
• Validating other carbon budget estimates with spatially distributed net carbon exchange (NCE) data.

Strengths

• Provides a 7-year time series (2005-2011) for analyzing trends in agricultural carbon.
• Offers high spatial resolution with global coverage on a consistent 0.05-degree grid.
• Includes four distinct carbon flux source types, enabling detailed attribution of agricultural carbon flows.
• Data is available in a standard scientific format (netCDF) with two complementary representations (per area and per gridcell).

Limitations

• Metadata conflicts exist: one source lists a last update of 2026-03 13, while another indicates 2011-12-31, creating uncertainty about data currency.
• The dataset relies on compiled inventory data from various sources, introducing potential integration errors.
• Column names and a precise row/record count are not provided in the available metadata.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD

Collection Method

Compilation and analysis of inventory data from various sources, spatially distributed using MODIS land cover data.

Time Range

2005-2011

Freshness

2026-03-13 03:28:29.426836

Geography

Global