The Southern, Northeastern and Eastern Africa Integrated Terrain Units dataset was compiled in 1984 by the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), USA, with data primarily from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Italy. It forms the core of a Desertification study, integrating multiple map sources including FAO/UNESCO Soil Maps, Landsat mosaics, and geological atlases. The data shows land features like general landuse, physiographic division, and general vegetation.
Use Cases
- Desertification risk modeling based on integrated terrain features like soils and vegetation.
- Land use change analysis based on historical landuse and physiographic division data.
- Geospatial mapping of African terrain for environmental planning based on integrated geology and landforms.
Strengths
- Integrates multiple authoritative map sources including FAO/UNESCO Soil Map of the World and Landsat mosaics.
- Data was laser scanned at a resolution of 0.025 inches and transformed to latitude/longitude degrees.
- Forms the core of a specific Desertification study, indicating focused application.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
- Data may reflect geographic/temporal bias inherent to the 1975-1982 source maps.
Provenance
- Source
- Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), USA, with data from FAO, Italy, compiled for UNEP.
- Collection Method
- Maps were laser scanned and transformed using an unpublished algorithm by USGS and ESRI.
- Time Range
- 1984
- Geography
- Southern, Northeastern and Eastern Africa