Global Nitrate Storage in the Vadose Zone from 1900 to 2000

Gridded model estimates of nitrate-N stored in the vadose zone at a 0.5-degree resolution. The dataset provides annual global estimates for the period 1900 to 2000, derived by Ascott et al. (2017) using models of groundwater depth, porosity, recharge, and nitrate leaching.

Use Cases

• Modeling long-term nitrate transport to groundwater based on estimated travel times in the vadose zone.
• Analyzing global patterns of subsurface nitrate accumulation based on gridded annual estimates.
• Assessing historical trends in nitrate leaching and storage based on the 1900-2000 time series.
• Calibrating or validating hydrological models based on the derived global model parameters.

Strengths

• Provides a century-long time series from 1900 to 2000.
• Global spatial coverage at a 0.5-degree grid resolution.
• Derived from published peer-reviewed research (Ascott et al., 2017).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is a model estimate; accuracy depends on the underlying global models and assumptions.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

British Geological Survey (BGS)

Collection Method

Derived by combining global models of groundwater table depth, porosity, recharge, and annual nitrate leaching estimates.

Time Range

1900 to 2000

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 08:39:55.763962; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global