Southern Africa Vegetation and Soils Data for Climate Models

Approximately fifty land cover classifications characterize southern Africa's vegetation and soils at a 1-degree latitude and longitude resolution. This dataset, collated from forestry, agriculture, land use, and soil maps, was created by Wilson and Henderson-Sellers for use in general circulation climate models. It provides a coherent archive of primary and secondary vegetation types, soil color, texture, drainage, and reliability rankings.

Use Cases

• Calibrating general circulation models (GCMs) with soil texture and drainage quality data.
• Analyzing land cover change and fragmentation using primary and secondary vegetation classifications.
• Assessing data reliability for regional studies via the 1-to-5 land cover and soil reliability scales.
• Mapping agricultural and urban land use categories across southern Africa.

Strengths

• Includes approximately fifty specific land cover classifications, enabling detailed analysis.
• Provides dual reliability metrics for both land cover (1-5 scale) and soil (high to poor).
• Offers coherent, compatible data layers for soil, vegetation, and their respective reliability.

Limitations

• Conflicting last update dates: Data.gov lists 2026-03 12, while NASA Earthdata lists 1999-12-31, suggesting metadata inconsistency.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and column names are not provided by any source.
• The dataset is a regional subset (southern Africa) of a global archive, limiting geographic scope.

Provenance

Source

Wilson, M.F. and A. Henderson-Sellers, collated from natural vegetation, forestry, agriculture, land use, and soil maps.

Collection Method

Data were derived and archived for use in general circulation models (GCMs).

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:14:24.538396

Geography

Southern Africa