Amazon Basin Agricultural Land Cover Proportions at 5-Minute Resolution

Gridded data at 5-minute latitude by longitude resolution estimates the proportions of total agriculture, cultivated area, natural pasture, and planted pasture across the Amazon/Tocantins river drainage basins. The dataset was created by researchers from the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) using a fusion of agricultural census data and satellite classifications, providing snapshots for the mid-1980s and mid-1990s.

Use Cases

• Model historical land-use change by analyzing shifts in the 'totag' (total agriculture) proportion between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s snapshots.
• Quantify pasture types by comparing the 'pasnat' (natural pasture) and 'paspla' (planted pasture) features within each grid cell.
• Assess agricultural intensity using the 'cul' (cultivated area) proportion to identify regions of more intensive crop farming versus pasture.
• Validate remote sensing classifications by fusing satellite-derived land cover with census-based 'totag' proportions for improved accuracy.

Strengths

• Covers the entire Amazon/Tocantins river drainage basins (21S - 6N; 45W- 80W) at a consistent ~9km resolution.
• Data fusion technique merges two distinct sources: national agricultural census data and 1-km satellite land cover classifications.

Limitations

• Contains only two temporal snapshots (mid-1980s and mid-1990s), limiting analysis of continuous change.
• Underlying census data may contain estimation errors due to political and economic factors, though the fusion technique smooths extreme values.
• Proportions are derived by scaling one snapshot with census/FAO trends, not from direct observation for both time periods.

Provenance

Source

Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), generated from a fusion of agricultural census data and University of Maryland Global Land Cover Facility satellite classifications.

Collection Method

Fusion technique merging country-level agricultural census data with 1-km satellite land cover classifications, with the mid -1980s map created by scaling the mid-1990s snapshot using census and FAO trend data.

Time Range

mid-1980s and mid-1990s

Freshness

null

Geography

Amazon/Tocantins river drainage basins (21S - 6N; 45W- 80W)