Global agricultural lands in the year 2015

<p>While there are many global geospatial datasets representing the extent of agriculture, they predominantly represent croplands. Only a couple of global data products represent the full global agricultural footprint, including both cropland and pastures. Our own research team's most rec...

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Main Authors: Z. Mehrabi, K. Tong, J. Fortin, R. Stanimirova, M. Friedl, N. Ramankutty
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2025-07-01
Series:Earth System Science Data
Online Access:https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/3473/2025/essd-17-3473-2025.pdf
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author Z. Mehrabi
Z. Mehrabi
Z. Mehrabi
K. Tong
K. Tong
J. Fortin
J. Fortin
J. Fortin
R. Stanimirova
M. Friedl
N. Ramankutty
N. Ramankutty
author_facet Z. Mehrabi
Z. Mehrabi
Z. Mehrabi
K. Tong
K. Tong
J. Fortin
J. Fortin
J. Fortin
R. Stanimirova
M. Friedl
N. Ramankutty
N. Ramankutty
author_sort Z. Mehrabi
collection DOAJ
description <p>While there are many global geospatial datasets representing the extent of agriculture, they predominantly represent croplands. Only a couple of global data products represent the full global agricultural footprint, including both cropland and pastures. Our own research team's most recent complete publicly available agricultural land cover dataset, including both croplands, and pastures, represents circa 2000. These data, distributed on a graticule of 5 arcmin (<span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 10 km<span class="inline-formula"><sup>2</sup></span> at the Equator), have been integrated into a considerable number and diversity of research studies, modelling, data science, and media applications. Further, users of these data have been interested in them for studying a variety of issues such as land use, food security, climate change, and biodiversity loss. Here we present an updated dataset on the global distribution of agricultural lands (cropland and pasture) circa 2015 (15 years on since the initial study). Past studies that have constructed such datasets have been one-off exercises that have been infrequently repeated due to the amount of effort required. Therefore, in this work, we developed a transparent and reproducible approach to update our data product while also enabling easier reproduction of future datasets. We distribute our 2015 product at the same resolution and formats as the prior product, and accompany it with a full set of replicable code and data for reconstruction. In this article we explain how the data was constructed, with links to the permanent DOIs where the data can be readily downloaded by the user community (Mehrabi et al., 2024; <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11540553">https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11540553</a>).</p>
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spelling doaj-art-3db5e8cbfac14d9ba2db32a147c122da2025-08-20T03:25:46ZengCopernicus PublicationsEarth System Science Data1866-35081866-35162025-07-01173473349610.5194/essd-17-3473-2025Global agricultural lands in the year 2015Z. Mehrabi0Z. Mehrabi1Z. Mehrabi2K. Tong3K. Tong4J. Fortin5J. Fortin6J. Fortin7R. Stanimirova8M. Friedl9N. Ramankutty10N. Ramankutty11Better Planet Laboratory, University of Colorado, 4001 Discovery Drive, Boulder, CO 80303, USADepartment of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado, 4001 Discovery Drive, Boulder, CO 80303, USAInstitute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaInstitute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaSchool of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, 6476 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, CanadaInstitute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaSchool of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, 6476 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, CanadaDepartment of Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, Institute of Social Sciences in Agriculture, University of Hohenheim, Schwerzstraße 40, 70599 Stuttgart, GermanyDepartment of Earth and Environment, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USADepartment of Earth and Environment, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USAInstitute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaSchool of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, 6476 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada<p>While there are many global geospatial datasets representing the extent of agriculture, they predominantly represent croplands. Only a couple of global data products represent the full global agricultural footprint, including both cropland and pastures. Our own research team's most recent complete publicly available agricultural land cover dataset, including both croplands, and pastures, represents circa 2000. These data, distributed on a graticule of 5 arcmin (<span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 10 km<span class="inline-formula"><sup>2</sup></span> at the Equator), have been integrated into a considerable number and diversity of research studies, modelling, data science, and media applications. Further, users of these data have been interested in them for studying a variety of issues such as land use, food security, climate change, and biodiversity loss. Here we present an updated dataset on the global distribution of agricultural lands (cropland and pasture) circa 2015 (15 years on since the initial study). Past studies that have constructed such datasets have been one-off exercises that have been infrequently repeated due to the amount of effort required. Therefore, in this work, we developed a transparent and reproducible approach to update our data product while also enabling easier reproduction of future datasets. We distribute our 2015 product at the same resolution and formats as the prior product, and accompany it with a full set of replicable code and data for reconstruction. In this article we explain how the data was constructed, with links to the permanent DOIs where the data can be readily downloaded by the user community (Mehrabi et al., 2024; <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11540553">https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11540553</a>).</p>https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/3473/2025/essd-17-3473-2025.pdf
spellingShingle Z. Mehrabi
Z. Mehrabi
Z. Mehrabi
K. Tong
K. Tong
J. Fortin
J. Fortin
J. Fortin
R. Stanimirova
M. Friedl
N. Ramankutty
N. Ramankutty
Global agricultural lands in the year 2015
Earth System Science Data
title Global agricultural lands in the year 2015
title_full Global agricultural lands in the year 2015
title_fullStr Global agricultural lands in the year 2015
title_full_unstemmed Global agricultural lands in the year 2015
title_short Global agricultural lands in the year 2015
title_sort global agricultural lands in the year 2015
url https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/3473/2025/essd-17-3473-2025.pdf
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