Historical Forest Cover Map of the Former Soviet Union, 1973

A 1:15 million scale forest cover map for the land area of the Former Soviet Union digitized from the Atlas of Forests of the USSR. The dataset distinguishes 22 land cover classes, with 20 specific to forest types. It was produced by ORNL_CLOUD and is based on forestry data primarily from the 1940s to 1960s.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical forest composition using the 20 distinct forest cover classes.
• Studying mid-20th century land cover patterns across the Former Soviet Union.
• Providing a baseline for long-term deforestation or afforestation studies.
• Validating or calibrating models of historical vegetation cover.

Strengths

• Provides detailed classification with 20 distinct forest cover classes.
• Offers broad spatial coverage of the entire Former Soviet Union land area.
• Based on a digitized, authoritative source (Atlas of Forests of the USSR, 1973).

Limitations

• Underlying data is historical, likely from the 1940s-1960s, and not current.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date (1973 vs. 2026).
• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided.

Provenance

Source

Atlas of Forests of the USSR (Anon. 1973), digitized by ORNL_CLOUD.

Collection Method

Map digitization from a published atlas.

Time Range

1940s to 1960s

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:29:15.423624

Geography

Land area of the Former Soviet Union.