Amazon Basin Historical Cropland Fraction Grids, 1900-1992

Cropland fraction data provides a spatially explicit reconstruction of permanent agricultural land cover for the Amazon Basin from 1900 to 1992. The dataset is a 5-minute resolution subset of a global historical croplands model developed by researchers Ramankutty and Foley at the University of Wisconsin's SAGE center. It covers the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment (LBA) study area in South America, with snapshots for 11 decadal years.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the spatial pattern and rate of cropland expansion in the Amazon Basin over the 20th century using the fractional grid cell values.
• Calibrating or validating regional land-use change models with historical, geospatially explicit data for years like我们发现 1900, 1950, and 1992.
• Studying the relationship between historical agricultural development and other environmental factors within the defined LBA study area (10° N to 25° S, 30° to 85° W).

Strengths

• Provides a decadal time series of 11 specific years (1900-1992) for tracking change.
• Data is spatially explicit at a 5-minute resolution, offering geographic specificity for the Amazon region.
• Derived from a peer-reviewed methodology linking satellite data and historical inventory records.

Limitations

• Represents only permanent croplands, excluding shifting cultivation, which may underrepresent total agricultural activity.
• Metadata conflicts exist on the last updated date, with sources reporting 1992-12-31 and 2026-03-13.
• Specific row/column counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

Navin Ramankutty and Jonathan Foley, Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), University of Wisconsin.

Collection Method

Reconstructed via an algorithm linking contemporary satellite-derived land cover with historical cropland inventory data, using a land cover change model.

Time Range

1900 to 1992

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:06:01.377029

Geography

Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA) study area in South America (10° N to 25° S, 30° to 85° W).