Major Elevation Zones of Africa from FAO Soil Map

Polygon and line data delineating major elevation zones across the African continent. The dataset was prepared by ESRI using the UNESCO/FAO Soil Map of the World (1977) and published in December 1984. It was developed in collaboration with FAO and UNEP, providing a generalized coverage of elevation values.

Use Cases

• Analyze the spatial distribution of elevation zones (polygon features) across Africa.
• Integrate elevation zone data (line features) with other UNEP/FAO/ESRI datasets for regional environmental studies.
• Use the polygon or line sequence identification numbers to join with attribute data on elevation codes.

Strengths

• Derived from the authoritative UNESCO/FAO Soil Map of the World at a scale of 1:5,000,000.
• Data was digitized with a spatial resolution of 0.002 inches before transformation to lat/lon.

Limitations

• Data is based on 1977 source material, making it temporally stale for contemporary analysis.
• The map was designed to define general elevation zones, not a true topographic base, with some line crenulation removed.

Provenance

Source

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Soil Map of the World, prepared by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI).

Collection Method

Manuscript derived from topographic film separates was overlaid with drafting film, with elevation contours delineated and digitized.

Time Range

Source material from 1977, dataset published December 1984.

Geography

Continent of Africa.