Global Cropland and Pasture Data from 1700-2007

This is a beta release of an updated version of historical cropland data set that spanned the 1700-1992 period. The original data set was described in the publication by Ramankutty and Foley (1999). This release updates the data to the 1700-2007 time period, and additionally includes pastures. This is a complete revision of the data, and not just a simple update of the last 15 years. This is a beta release – investigators have not checked carefully for errors yet, so please use with caution. The data are provided in NetCDF format at 0.5 degree resolution in latitude by longitude, and annual timescale. 5min resolution data as well as data in other formats will become available later. Reference: 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.