Global Agro-Ecological Zones Land Productivity Data 1960-1996

Global Agro-Ecological Zones (GAEZ) data provides standardized climate, soil, and terrain characterizations for agricultural production. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) produced this resource using the Agro-ecological Zones methodology. Computations cover a reference climate (1961-1990 average), individual years from 1960 to 1996, and future climate scenarios.

Use Cases

• Model maximum potential crop yields for basic land resource units using soil and terrain condition data.
• Analyze impacts of historical climate variability from 1960-1996 on land productivity using year-specific climate data.
• Assess potential future climate change effects on agricultural output using data from global climate model scenarios.
• Characterize regional agro-ecological suitability by matching crop-specific requirements to standardized climate and soil parameters.

Strengths

• Covers 37 years of historical climate data from 1960 to 1996.
• Includes future climate scenarios based on outputs from multiple global climate models.
• Applies a standardized environmental framework for global climate, soil, and terrain characterization.

Limitations

• Primary data is temporally stale, with the last historical year being 1996.
• Specific row counts, column details, and sample sizes are unknown.
• Future climate scenarios are based on older published model outputs which may be outdated.

Provenance

Source

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).

Collection Method

Produced by applying the Agro-ecological Zones (AEZ) methodology, using crop modeling and environmental matching procedures.

Time Range

1960 to 1996 for historical years, plus a 1961-1990 reference climate and future scenarios.

Freshness

Historical data ends in 1996; no update frequency specified.

Geography

Global