GGCMI Phase 3: Global Crop Calendar for 18 Crops at 0.5° Resolution

A composite product merging observational data sources provides planting and maturity days for 18 crops in each 0.5° land grid cell, separating rainfed and irrigated systems. Jonas Jägermeyr of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies created this static, multi-year average calendar, with spatial extrapolation and gap-filling detailed in a 2021 Nature Food publication. For wheat and rice, the data includes separate calendars for a second growing season.

Use Cases

• Model global crop phenology and yields based on static planting and maturity day estimates.
• Compare rainfed versus irrigated agricultural systems based on the separated calendar data.
• Analyze spatial patterns of crop growing seasons based on the 0.5° gridded data.
• Incorporate baseline growing periods into climate impact studies for crops like wheat and rice, which have data for multiple seasons.

Strengths

• Covers 18 different crop types, providing broad agricultural coverage.
• Separates data for rainfed and irrigated systems, allowing for comparative analysis.
• Provides data at a 0.5° spatial resolution for global land grid cells.
• Includes a second season for wheat and rice, adding detail for major staple crops.

Limitations

• Provides only static, multi-year average estimates and does not include annual observed dates.
• Specifies only a single growing season per crop and grid cell, with no crop rotations considered.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Jonas Jägermeyr, Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Collection Method

Composite product merging various observational data sources, with gap-filling and spatial extrapolation.

Time Range

Multi-year average (static period), specific years not stated.

Freshness

Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Geography

Global land areas at 0.5° grid cell resolution.