1995 irrigation water withdrawals are modeled as a gridded field at a 30-minute latitude by longitude resolution. The dataset estimates annual withdrawals in cubic kilometers by distributing country-level data over irrigated lands, prorated by computed irrigation need. It was produced by Vorosmarty et al. (2005) using methods from the World Water Development II project.
Use Cases
- Analyze spatial patterns of irrigation water withdrawals per grid cell across global land areas.
- Estimate country-level irrigation water demand by aggregating the gridded withdrawal data.
- Model historical irrigation need by comparing the potential and actual evapotranspiration fields used in the dataset's construction.
- Assess water use intensity in agricultural regions by correlating withdrawal estimates with known irrigated land areas.
Strengths
- Global spatial coverage at a consistent 30-minute (approximately 55 km) grid resolution.
- Derived from established sources including country-level data from the World Resources Institute and global irrigated lands mapping.
Limitations
- Contains data for a single year (1995), limiting analysis of trends over time.
- Estimates are based on modeled irrigation need (PET minus AET) and aggregated country statistics, introducing potential error.
Provenance
- Source
- Vorosmarty et al., 2005, for the World Water Development II project, sourced via NASA EarthData.
- Collection Method
- Country-level per capita irrigation withdrawals were multiplied by population and distributed over mapped irrigated lands, prorated by modeled irrigation need.
- Time Range
- 1995
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Global