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Maps, Data, and Models

more information about NetCDF

data and models


SAGE aims to improve our understanding of the global environment, and how it is being affected by human activities. To achieve this goal, we have been developing maps, computer models and datasets to describe the behavior of Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems, hydrological systems, and climate. We have developed a new generation of global ecosystem (IBIS) and terrestrial hydrology (THMB) models, as well as fully coupled climate-vegetation models (GENESIS-IBIS and CCM3-IBIS). In addition, we have created new datasets of global ecosystems, historical land use, and land cover change, datasets specific to the Amazon Basin.

You may freely download any of these items.


Maps

The Atlas of the Biosphere is our online resource targeted to high school students, university students and teachers. It contains maps with geographically explicit data broken down into four general categories: Humans, Land Use, Ecosystems, and Water Resources. You may download maps (at 1600x1200 pixel resolution) and/or data (as an ESRI ArcView grid). The Atlas also includes animated schematics that look at the various resource flows and pools that make up individual Earth systems.

Atlas Poputlation Doubling Time map

sample map from the Atlas of the Biosphere


Model Code

IBIS 2.6 (Integrated BIosphere Simulator) model – a comprehensive computer model of the Earth's terrestrial ecosystems


THMB 1.2 (Terrestrial Hydrology Model with Biogeochemistry) model (formerly HYDRA), which simulates the flow of water through groundwater systems, rivers, lakes and wetlands. THMB is one of the few hydrological models that simulate the complete freshwater system.


Data

New Global Croplands and Pastures Data for the Year 2000 - described in the publication, Ramankutty et al. (2008), "Farming the planet: 1. Geographic distribution of global agricultural lands in the year 2000", Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 22, GB1003, doi:10.1029/2007GB002952. The data is provided in two formats – NetCDF and ArcINFO ASCII – at 5 minute resolution in latitude by longitude and hosted at McGill University. Please contact Navin Ramankutty with any questions.

Global Land Use Data Website – This site features a global databaseIAM Data of land cover and land use. The data sets describe the geographic patterns of the world’s croplands, grazing lands, urban areas, and natural vegetation. Also included are other popular data such as human population density. Developed by Navin Ramankutty and Seth Price, the site provides easy access to land use data in both tabular format (for countries, states, etc. of the world) as well as in map form. The site allows the user to manipulate the data to suit their own specific requirements and download them in several different formats.

Global River Discharge Website - This site contains a compilation of monthly mean river discharge data for over 3500 sites worldwide. The data sources are RivDis2.0, the United States Geological Survey, Brazilian National Department of Water and Electrical Energy, and HYDAT-Environment Canada. The period of record for each station is variable, from 3 years to greater than 100. All data is in m3/s.

Soil Carbon & Nitrogen Website - SAGE has initiated a long-term campaign of soil sampling and monitoring. In 1999, we began collecting soil carbon, nitrogen, bulk density and other assorted data on land-use history for agricultural land across southcentral Wisconsin. Since the initiation of this campaign, we have sampled over 125 sites that include traditional cropping systems, land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), restored and remnant prairie ecosystems, and pastures. The majority of these sites are located in Sauk, Columbia, Dane, and Jefferson counties. The searchable database allows for access to these data.

1992 Croplands Dataset - described in Ramankutty, N. and J.A. Foley (1998). Characterizing patterns of global land use: an analysis of global croplands data. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 12(4), 667-685.
The data is available in two formats – NetCDF and ArcINFO ASCII – at two resolutions, 0.5 degree and 5 minute.

Historical Croplands Dataset (1700-1992) - described in Ramankutty, N., and J.A. Foley (1999). Estimating historical changes in global land cover: croplands from 1700 to 1992, Global Biogeochemical Cycles 13(4), 997-1027.
The data is available in two formats – NetCDF and ArcINFO ASCII snapshots, both at 0.5 degree resolution.

Global Potential Vegetation Dataset - described in Ramankutty, N., and J.A. Foley (1999). Estimating historical changes in global land cover: croplands from 1700 to 1992, Global Biogeochemical Cycles 13(4), 997-1027.
The data is available in two formats – NetCDF and ArcINFO ASCII – at 5min and 0.5 degree resolution.

LBA Datasets

LBA THMB Dataset - generated by THMB (see our THMB page) and is described by Coe, M.T. (2000). Modeling terrestrial hydrologic systems at the continental scale: Testing the accuracy of an atmospheric GCM. Journal of Climate 13, 686-704 and Coe, M.T., M.H. Costa, A. Botta, and C. Birkett. Long-term simulations of discharge and floods in the Amazon basin (2002). Journal of Geophysical Research 10.1029/2001JD000740, 23 August 2002

LBA IBIS Dataset - generated by our terrestrial ecosystem model, IBIS. This simulation used the CRU05 climate data as input for IBIS for the period January 1921-December 1998.

LBA Land Cover Dataset - generated from a fusion of agricultural census data and satellite classifications, and described in Cardille, J.A., J.A. Foley, and M.H. Costa (2002). Characterizing patterns of agricultural land use in Amazonia by merging satellite classifications and census data. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 16(3), 10.1029/2000GB001386, 20.

LBA Macrohydrological Dataset - large-scale hydrological river flow routing parameters for the Amazon and Tocantins basins. The data set contains data on: (1) river network, at 5 minute (~9 km) resolution; (2) time series of monthly means of river discharge, for 122 fluviometric stations spread throughout the basin; (3) sinuosity of each of the main rivers, measured at 111 river sections in the basin; and (4) depth to the water table and transmissivity of the aquifer, derived from measurements taken at 81 points throughout the basin.

US Datasets

Irrigated Lands from Remote Sensing
Download gzipped image file and Download its associated ENVI header file.
Contact Mutlu Ozdogan with any questions about this dataset

This dataset contains information on irrigated lands at high spatial resolution (500 meters) for the continental US circa year 2001. It was generated from data collected by the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument and globally extensive ancillary sources of gridded climate and agricultural data using a supervised decision tree classification algorithm. This is a highly detailed map of irrigated lands in the US where each pixel in the dataset shows the fraction of irrigated area [0-100 %] at the native resolution.