Historical Croplands Cover: Global Gridded Data from 1700 to 1992

Gridded data mapping the fraction of cultivated land in each global grid cell from 1700 to 1992. The dataset was developed by Ramankutty and Foley, synthesizing satellite measurements with historical land inventory data like census statistics and surveys. It provides data layers every 50 years from 1700 to 1850, every 10 years from 1850 to 1980, and annually from 1986 to 1992.

Use Cases

• Modeling climate impacts of historical land use change using gridded cropland fraction data.
• Studying long-term trends in global agricultural expansion for biogeochemical cycle analysis.
• Calibrating or validating spatially-explicit environmental models with historical land cover benchmarks.
• Analyzing the influence of cultivated area changes on biodiversity patterns at continental scales.

Strengths

• Covers a 292-year time span from 1700 to 1992, providing a long-term historical perspective.
• Synthesizes two data sources: satellite-derived measurements for recent decades and ground-based historical inventories.
• Provides temporally detailed data with annual layers from 1986 to 1992.

Limitations

• Data quality is noted as poor for the Russian Federation and for all periods prior to 1850.
• Intended only for continental-to-global scale analysis, not fine local or regional details.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: one lists 2026-03-13, another lists the end date of the data itself, 1992-12-31.

Provenance

Source

Ramankutty and Foley (1998, 1999), ORNL_CLOUD.

Collection Method

Synthesis of remotely-sensed land cover data with contemporary and historical land inventory data (census, surveys).

Time Range

1700 to 1992

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:31:56.433809

Geography

Global