Tropical Africa Land Use, Biomass, and Carbon Estimates for 1980

This is a land-use and biomass database for Tropical Africa that contains 1980 land cover, maximum potential aboveground biomass, and biomass estimates for woody vegetation in 1980. In addition, the database includes information on human populations in each nation and sub-national political unit in Tropical Africa for the years 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990.

These data were collected to reduce the uncertainty associated with the possible magnitude and time course of historical releases of carbon from land-cover change and may be used by demographers, historians, geographers, and other researchers interested in the relationship between land cover change, land degradation, climate, and anthropogenic activities.

For purposes of this data set, Tropical Africa is defined as encompassing nearly 22.7 x 10^6 km^2 of the world's surface and includes the following countries: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), Zaire, and Zambia. As defined here Tropical Africa does not include countries in Mediterranean and southern Africa (i.e., Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland).