Southern Africa Annual Soil Respiration Data from SAFARI 2000

Four observations of annual soil respiration rates from terrestrial and wetland ecosystems in southern Africa, compiled from literature published prior to 1992. The dataset, a subset of the global compilation by Raich and Schlesinger, includes biome type, vegetation, locality, geographic coordinates, and estimated climate variables. It was produced by NASA for the SAFARI 2000 project.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the relationship between soil respiration rates and biome type or vegetation type.
• Modeling regional carbon budgets using annual soil carbon flux estimates (g C m-2 yr-1).
• Correlating soil respiration with climate variables like mean annual temperature and precipitation.
• Studying spatial patterns of microbial activity and root dynamics using geographic coordinates.

Strengths

• Data is curated for annual estimates, using only measurements spanning most or all of a full year.
• Climate data gaps are filled using a gridded global database with 0.5-degree resolution.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals its established use in scientific research.

Limitations

• Extremely small sample size, with only four observations.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: Data.gov lists 2026-03-12 (likely a metadata error), while NASA EarthData lists the original 1992 publication date.
• Specific column names and the total row count are not provided by any platform.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), SAFARI 2000 project.

Collection Method

Compilation of soil respiration rates from scientific literature published prior to 1992.

Time Range

Measurements compiled from literature published prior to 1992.

Freshness

1992-01-01 23:59:59.999000

Geography

Southern Africa.