Data from: Global terrestrial Human Footprint maps for 1993 and 2009

Remotely-sensed and bottom-up survey information were compiled on eight
variables measuring the direct and indirect human pressures on the
environment globally in 1993 and 2009. This represents not only the most
current information of its type, but also the first temporally-consistent
set of Human Footprint maps. Data on human pressures were acquired or
developed for: 1) built environments, 2) population density, 3) electric
infrastructure, 4) crop lands, 5) pasture lands, 6) roads, 7) railways,
and 8) navigable waterways. Pressures were then overlaid to create the
standardized Human Footprint maps for all non-Antarctic land areas. A
validation analysis using scored pressures from 3114×1 km2 random sample
plots revealed strong agreement with the Human Footprint maps. We
anticipate that the Human Footprint maps will find a range of uses as
proxies for human disturbance of natural systems. The updated maps should
provide an increased understanding of the human pressures that drive
macro-ecological patterns, as well as for tracking environmental change
and informing conservation science and application.