Contributors: Mohamad Nobakht (TELESPAZIO), Phil Beavis (TELESPAZIO), Siân O'Hara (TELESPAZIO), Ronald Hutjes (WAGENINGEN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH), Iwan Supit (WAGENINGEN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH)

Table of Contents

History of Modifications

Version

Date

Description of modification

editor


0.9


6 May 2019


first version

Mohamad Nobahkt


1.0


17 May 2019


review, plus adding tier 2 parameter ATB

Ronald Hutjes


1.01


21 June 2019


small edits

Ronald Hutjes


2.0


04 Dec 2019


Final Review

Mohamad Nobakht


2.1


22 Jan 2021


Update for dataset v1.1

Mohamad Nobakht

Acronyms

Acronym

Description or definition

C3S

Copernicus Climate Change Service

SIS

Sectoral Information System

CMIP5

Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5

GCM

General Circulation Models

ISIMIP

Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project

1. Scope of the document

This document serves as Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD) for Agroclimatic Indicators datasets, as part of the C3S Global Agriculture Sectoral Information Systems (SIS). More information about the project can be found at https://climate.copernicus.eu/global-agriculture-project.

2. Executive summary

The C3S Global Agriculture (SIS) project aims to develop climate services in support of decision- making in agriculture sector. It does so in a process of co-creation with partners representing international crop research, international agricultural policy development and commercial agricultural consultancy services.

As part of the C3S Global Agriculture SIS, the agroclimatic indicators are generated to represent features of the climate that are used to characterise plant-climate interactions. Agroclimatic indicators are useful in conveying climate variability and change in the terms that are meaningful to agriculture. The objective of this service is to provide these indicators at global scale in an easily accessible and usable format for further downstream analysis and forcing of agricultural impact models, both gridded and location specific.

A total of 26 indicators are provided, covering the global land area at the spatial resolution of 0.5°x0.5° lat-lon grid. A brief review of the agroclimatic indicators provided by C3S global agrilculture SIS is given in tables below:

DATA DESCRIPTION


Horizontal coverage

Global

Horizontal resolution

0.5° x 0.5°

Temporal coverage

1951 to 2099

Temporal resolution

Dekad (10 daily) Seasonal
Yearly

Seasonal

netCDF-4

Yearly

Grid


MAIN VALRIABLES



Variable

Description

Units

CDD

Maximum number of consecutive dry days (Drought spell)

day

CFD

Maximum number of consecutive frost days (Cold spell)

day

CSDI

Cold-spell duration index

day

WSDI

Warm-spell duration index

day

CSU

Maximum number of consecutive summer days (Hot spell)

day

CWD

Maximum number of consecutive wet days (Wet spell)

day

WW

Warm and wet days

day

DTR

Mean of diurnal temperature range

°C

BEDD

Biologically Effective Degree Days

°C

GSL

Growing Season Length

day

FD

Frost Days

day

ID

Ice Days

day

R10mm

Heavy precipitation days

day

R20mm

Very heavy precipitation days

day

RR

Precipitation sum

mm

RR1

Wet Days

day

SDII

Simple daily intensity index

mm

SU

Summer days

day

TG

Mean of daily mean temperature

K

TN

Mean of daily minimum temperature

K

TNn

Minimum value of the daily minimum Temperature

K

TNx

Maximum value of the daily minimum temperature

K

TR

Tropical nights

day

TX

Mean of daily maximum temperature

K

TXn

Minimum value of daily maximum temperature

K

TXx

Maximum value of daily maximum temperature

K

3. Generic Agroclimatic Indicators

3.1. Introduction

Agroclimatic indicators represent features of the climate that are used to characterise plant-climate interactions. They can be derived from daily or monthly meteorological variables (e.g. temperature and rainfall). Agroclimatic indicators are often used in species distribution modelling and related ecological modelling techniques, and also in studying phenological developments of plants under varying climate conditions.

Agroclimatic indicators are based on formulas that measure climatic factors and conditions that may positively/negatively affect vegetation and may correlate to the main type of vegetation of an area. They are commonly used in agriculture to reconstruct climate and environmental changes such as climatically induced phases of plant growth, moisture and heat supply, drought spells, etc.

Agroclimatic indicators provided by this service are calculated directly from climate variables, and consist of two main categories of indicator:

  • Generic Agroclimatic Indicators: generally these are aggregation, accumulation or occurrence indicators calculated as a function of particular atmospheric variable (temperature and precipitation).
  • Tailored crop-specific indicators: These indicators require information such as sowing date, harvest date, growing range of min and max temperatures, thermal requirements, geographical distribution, etc. in order to provide outputs specific to the crops of interest.

C3S Global Agriculture SIS provides both pre-computed indicator datasets and workflows for on- demand generation of crop-specific indicators. The former ensures that indicators of common interest, that do not require tailoring, are readily available to users via the C3S CDS Catalogue and CDS Toolbox. The latter case provides the opportunity for users to generate data that is specific to their purpose, with appropriate guidance and support provided.

All of the generic agroclimatic indicators are pre-computed and the crop-specific indicators are computed on-demand, using standard CDS Toolbox workflows. The crop specific indicators cover four main crops of global interest: wheat, maize, rice and soybean.

3.2. Input Data

0FTo generate the agroclimatic indicators for historical and future time periods, bias-corrected climate datasets provided through Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP 1) have been used. ISIMIP is a community-driven climate impacts modelling initiative aimed at
contributing to a quantitative and cross-sectoral synthesis of the differential impacts of climate change. ISIMIP project was organised into 3 main simulation rounds:

  • ISIMIP Fast Track
  • ISIMIP2 Phase a (ISIMIP2a)
  • ISIMIP2 Phase b (ISIMIP2b)

For each simulation round a set of gridded bias-corrected climate variables have been produced to be used as input data for running impact models. These climate datasets contain daily-resolution, bias-corrected climate data from 5 CMIP5 GCMs covering the period 1950-2099 (historical run up to 2005), downscaled to a 0.5°x0.5° lat-lon grid. They cover the global land area.

The ISIMIP Fast Track climate data is used for generating the current Agroclimatic indicators. Climate variables from ISIMIP Fast Track are bias-corrected using method described by Hempel et al. (2013). Table 1 shows the availability of ISIMIP Fast Track datasets for different GCM/emission scenarios, covering 1951 - 2099.

Table 1: Availability of ISIMIP Fast Track climate datasets

Climate Model

Scenario

Historical

rcp26

rcp45

rcp60

rcp85

GFDL-ESM2M






HadGEM2-ES






IPSL-CM5A-LR






MIROC-ESM-CHEM






NorESM1-M






Agricultural indicators have been pre-calculated for this complete matrix of GCM/RCP combinations.

In addition, as a proxy for historical observations, the "Watch Forcing Data methodology applied to ERA-Interim (WFDEI)" (Weedon et al. 2014) were used to generate observational historical Agroclimatic indicators. This datasets is available at the same spatial resolution of ISIMIP climate datasets and covers the time range of 1979 to 2013.

3.3. Generic Agroclimatic Indicators


C3S Global Agriculture SIS delivers 26 generic agroclimatic indicators at the same spatial resolution of the input data (0.5° x 0.5° lat-lon). The geographic coverage is global land areas.
All indicators are computed from realizations of daily data, derived from two essential climate variables (ECV):

  1. Surface air temperature
    • Daily 2m surface air temperature minimum (TN)
    • Daily 2m surface air temperature maximum (TX)
    • Daily 2m surface mean air temperature (TG)
  2. Precipitation
    • Daily total precipitation (RR)

A total of 26 indicators were adapted from the European Climate Assessment & Dataset project (ECA&D; Klein Tank, 2007) collection for their general relevance to agriculture, especially the priority crops, but not specific to any particular crop. Table 2 lists the agroclimatic indicators provided by

C3S global agriculture SIS along with information on their application in agriscience. Algorithm specification details of the agroclimatic indicators are provided in the next section of this document.

Table 2: List of agroclimatic indicators, their description and general application in agriscience

Acronym

Description

Application


CDD

Maximum number of consecutive dry days
(Drought spell)

Drought monitoring, drought damage indicator


CFD

Maximum number of consecutive frost days
(Cold spell)


General frost damage indicator

CSDI

Cold-spell duration index

Provides information on reduced
blossom formation or reduced growth


WSDI


Warm-spell duration index

Provide an indication concerning the occurrence of heat stress on reduced
blossom formation or reduced growth.


CSU

Maximum number of consecutive summer days
(Hot spell)

Provides information on
heat stress or on optimal growth for C4
crops (e.g. maize)

CWD

Maximum number of consecutive
wet days (Wet spell)

Provides information on drought/oxygen
stress/ crop growth (i.e. less radiation interception during rainy days)

WW

Warm and wet days

Provide an indication of occurrence of various pests insects and especially fungi Provides an indication concerning the crop development, especially leave
formation.


DTR


Mean of diurnal temperature range

Provides information on climate variability and change. Also serves as the proxy for information on the clarity
(transmittance) of the atmosphere


BEDD*)


Biologically Effective Degree Days

Determines crop development stages/rates. Crop development will decelerate/accelerate below and above
certain threshold temperatures.

GSL

Growing Season Length

Provides an indication whether a crop or a combination of crops can be sown and subsequently reach maturity within a
certain time frame

FD

Frost Days

Provides information on frost damage

ID

Ice Days

Provides information on frost damage

R10mm

Heavy precipitation days

Provides information on crop damage
and runoff losses

R20mm

Very heavy precipitation days

Provides information on crop damage
and runoff losses

RR

Precipitation sum

Provides information on possible water
shortage or excess.

RR1

Wet Days

Provides information on intercepted
reduction

SDII

Simple daily intensity index

Provides information on possible run off
losses.



SU*)



Summer days

Provide an indication concerning the occurrence of heat stress. Also base for crop specific variants for heat/cold stress (above/below the crop specific
optimal temperature thresholds)

TG

Mean of daily mean temperature

Provides information on long-term
climate variability and change

TN

Mean of daily minimum temperature

Provides information on long-term
climate variability and change

TNn

Minimum value of the daily minimum
Temperature

Provides information on long-term
climate variability and change

TNx

Maximum value of the daily
minimum temperature

Provides information on long-term
climate variability and change

TR

Tropical nights

Provide an indication of occurrence of various pests.

TX

Mean of daily maximum temperature

Provides information on long-term
climate variability and change

TXn

Minimum value of daily maximum
temperature

Provides information on long-term
climate variability and change

TXx

Maximum value of daily maximum
temperature

Provides information on long-term
climate variability and change

*) these indicators have been pre-calculated for the range of threshold temperatures

3.3.1. Temporal Resolution

The finest temporal resolution that is commonly used in climate science for generating climate indicators is 1 month. For agronomical practices an accurate indication of for example crop emergence, flowering occurrence etc., is useful. Therefore, to have a better indication when crop emergence, flowering, etc., takes places (given the provided weather data series) the temporal resolution should be finer than one month. Interpolation from two one month periods will provide a less accurate indication for example flowering indication than can be obtained when two 10 day periods are used. Hence the temporal resolution of agroclimatic indicators have been improved by a factor of 3, splitting the calendar year into chunks of nominally 10 day periods (also known as "dekads"). Thus the date scale within each year would be:
01-10 Jan (10 days)

11-20 Jan (10 days)

21-31 Jan (11 days)

01-10 Feb (10 days)

11-20 Feb (10 days)

21-28/29 Feb (8/9 days)

From the dekadal resolution, it will be possible to aggregate the data up to calendar months, quarterly seasons, or indeed to approximate any arbitrary growing season. The aggregation method will depend on the indicator, e.g. min, max, sum, mean. To compensate for slightly varying number of days, the mean should be weighted accordingly.

It should be noted that dekadal resolution is not appropriate for indicators representing a continuous spell of weather (e.g. warm, cold, wet, dry, etc.), since the 10 day boundary will interfere with the number of consecutive days attaining a threshold. Therefore these indicators are computed for 3 month periods representing the standard meteorological seasons:

  • Dec, Jan, Feb (DJF)
  • Mar, Apr, May (MAM)
  • Jun, Jul, Aug (JJA)
  • Sep, Oct, Nov (SON)


This applies to the following indicators: CDD, CFD, CSDI , WSDI, CSU, CWD.

One indicator, the growing season length GSL, can be computed only on an annual basis, i.e. for the Jan – Dec period in the Northern Hemisphere and for the Juli to June period in the Southern Hemisphere.

Note: The winter season (DJF) of a year is composed of December the current calendar year and January and February of the following calendar year (e.g. DJF 2000 is composed of Dec 2000, Jan 2001 and Feb 2001)

3.3.2. Compute Algorithms

In this section the definitions and algorithms that has been used for generating agroclimatic indicators are outlined. The following information are provided for each indicator:

  • Description: definition of the indicator
  • Units: SI units of the variable
  • Temporal resolution: time frequency of the provided indicator
  • Definition: algorithm for computing the indicator using daily climate data

CDD


Description:                                     Maximum number of consecutive dry days (drought spell)

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       seasonal Definition:

Let RRij be the daily precipitation amount for day i of period j. Then counted is the largest number of consecutive days where:

RRij < 1 mm

CFD


Description:                                     Maximum number of consecutive frost days (cold spell)

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       seasonal Definition:

Let TNij be the daily minimum temperature at day i of period j. Then counted is the largest number of consecutive days where:

TNij < 0 °C

CDSI


Description:                                     Cold-spell duration index

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       seasonal Definition:

Let TNij be the daily minimum temperature at day i of period j and let TNin10 be the calendar day 10th percentile calculated for a 5-day window centered on each calendar day in the 1981–2010 period. Then counted is the number of days per period where, in intervals of at least 6 consecutive days:

TNij < TNin10

WSDI


Description:                                     Warm-spell duration index

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       seasonal Definition:

Let TXij be the daily maximum temperature at day i of period j and let TXin90 be the calendar day 90th percentile calculated for a 5-day window centered on each calendar day in the 1981–2010 period.

Then counted is the number of days per period where, in intervals of at least 6 consecutive days:

TXij > TXin90

CSU


Description:                                     Maximum number of consecutive summer days (hot spell)

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       seasonal Definition:

Let TXij be the daily maximum temperature for day i of period j. Then counted is the largest number of consecutive days where:

TXij > 25°C

CWD


Description:                                      Maximum number of consecutive wet days (wet spell)

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       seasonal Definition:

Let RRij be the daily precipitation amount for day i of period j. Then counted is the largest number of consecutive days where:

RRij ≥ 1 mm

WW


Description:                                     Warm/Wet days

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       seasonal Definition:

Let TGij be the daily mean temperature at day i of period j and let TGin75 be the calendar day 75th percentile calculated for a 5-day window centered on each calendar day in the 1981–2010 period. Let RRwj be the daily precipitation amount at wet day w (RR ≥ 1.0 mm) of period j and let RRwn75 be the 75th percentile of precipitation at wet days in the 1981–2010 period. Then counted is the number of days where:

TGij > TGin75 AND RRwj > RRwn75

DRT


Description:                                     Mean of diurnal temperature range

Units:                                                Degrees Celsius

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TXij and TNij be the daily maximum and minimum temperature at day i of period j, then the mean diurnal temperature range in period j is:

$$DRT_{j} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^I(TX_{ij}-TN_{ij})}{I}$$

BEDD


Description: Biologically Effective Degree Days
Units: Degrees Celsius
Temporal resolution: dekadal
Definition:
Let TGii be the daily mean temperature at day i of period j. BEDD is calculated by:

$$BEDD = \sum_{i=1}^I min[max[TG_{ij}-T_{low,0}],t_{high}-T_{low}]$$

where 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ and 𝑇𝑙𝑜𝑤 are effective temperature upper and lower thresholds respectively.
Note:
BEDD indicator (v1.0) is calculated using the following parameters:
𝑇𝑙𝑜𝑤 = 10 °C
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ = 30 °C
BEDD indicator (v1.1) is calculated using the following parameters:
𝑇𝑙𝑜𝑤 = 0 °C , 2 °C , 4 °C , 6 °C , 8 °C , 10 °C
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ = 30 °C

GSL


Description: Growing Season Length
Units: days
Temporal resolution: yearly
Definition:
Let TGij be the mean temperature at day i of period j. Then counted is the number of days between the first occurrence after 1st January (1st July in southern hemisphere) of at least 6 consecutive days with:
TGij > 5 °C
and the first occurrence after 1st July (1st January in southern hemisphere) of at least 6 consecutive days with:
TGij < 5 °C

FD


Description:                                     Frost days

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TNij be the daily minimum temperature at day i of period j. Then counted is the number of days where:

TNij < 0 °C

 ID


Description:                                      Ice days

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TXij be the daily maximum temperature at day i of period j. Then counted is the number of days where:

TXij < 0 °C

RR


Description:                                     Precipitation sum

Units:                                                mm

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let RRij be the daily precipitation amount for day i of period j. Then sum values are given by:

$$RR_{j} = \sum_{i=1}^I RR_{ij}$$

R10mm


Description:                                     Heavy precipitation days

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let RRij be the daily precipitation amount for day i of period j. Then counted is the number of days where:

RRij10 mm

R20mm


Description:                                     Very heavy precipitation days

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal

Definition:

Let RRij be the daily precipitation amount for day i of period j. Then counted is the number of days where:

RRij ≥ 20 mm

RR1


Description:                                     Wet days

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let RRij be the daily precipitation amount for day i of period j. Then counted is the number of days where:

RRij ≥ 1 mm

SDII


Description:                                     Simple daily intensity index

Units:                                                mm

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let RRwj be the daily precipitation amount for wet day w (RR ≥ 1 mm) of period j. Then the mean precipitation amount of wet days is given by:

$$SDII_{j}=\frac{\sum_{w=1}^W RR_{wj}}{W}$$

SU


Description:                                     Summer days

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal

Definition:

Let TXij be the daily maximum temperature at day i of period j. Then counted is the number of days where:

TXij > 25 °C

Note:

SU indicator (v1.1) is calculated using the following thresholds for TXij :

20 °C, 25 °C, 30 °C, 35 °C

TG


Description:                                     Mean of daily mean temperature

Units:                                                Kelvins

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TGij be the mean temperature at day i of period j. Then mean values in period j are given by:

$$TG_{j}=\frac{\sum_{i=1}^I TG_{ij}}{I}$$

TN


Description:                                     Mean of daily minimum temperature

Units:                                                Kelvins

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TNij be the minimum temperature at day i of period j. Then mean values in period j are given by:

$$TN_{j}=\frac{\sum_{i=1}^I TN_{ij}}{I}$$

TNn


Description:                                     Minimum value of daily minimum temperature

Units:                                                Kelvins

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TNij be the daily minimum temperature on day i of period j. Then the minimum daily minimum temperature for period j is:

TNnj = min(TNij)

TNx


Description:                                     Maximum value of daily minimum temperature

Units:                                                Kelvins

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TNij be the daily minimum temperature on day i of period j. Then the maximum daily minimum temperature for period j is:

TNxj = max(TNij)

TR


Description:                                     Tropical nights

Units:                                                days

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TNij be the daily minimum temperature at day i of period j. Then counted is the number of days where:

TNij > 20 °C

TX


Description:                                     Mean of daily maximum temperature

Units:                                                Kelvins

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TXij be the maximum temperature at day i of period j. Then mean values in period j are given by:

$$TX_{j}=\frac{\sum_{i=1}^I TX_{ij}}{I}$$

TXn


Description:                                     Minimum value of daily maximum temperature

Units:                                                Kelvins

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TXij be the daily maximum temperature on day i of period j. Then the minimum daily maximum temperature for period j is:

TXnj = min(TXij)

 TXx


Description:                                     Maximum value of daily maximum temperature

Units:                                                Kelvins

Temporal resolution:                       dekadal Definition:

Let TXij be the daily maximum temperature on day i of period j. Then the maximum daily maximum temperature for period j is:

TXxj = max(TXij)

3.4. Output Data

C3S global agriculture SIS gridded agroclimatic indicators are delivered in Network Common Data Form (NetCDF-4) format, each one covering 30 years climate periods. In the scope of this service, datasets for the climate periods in Table 3 are provided.

Table 3: Climate periods covered by gridded datasets for each indicator

Start

End

Available Indicators

1951

1980

1 historical run from each of 5 GCMs (note 1950 is disregarded)

1981

2010

1 historical run from each of 5 GCMs (respective RCP8.5 data from the model is used for 2005-2010)

1 historical observational from WFDEI

2011

2040

4 RCP scenarios for each of 5 GCMS

2041

2070

4 RCP scenarios for each of 5 GCMS

2071

2099

4 RCP scenarios for each of 5 GCMS

Therefore for each agroclimatic indicator in Table 2, there are 71 netCDF files available as follows:

  • 5 GCMs × 2 historical periods
  • 5 GCMs × 4 RCPs x 3 future periods
  • 1 historical from climate forcing data (WFDEI)

Figure 1 shows a graphical illustration of the time periods covered by these datasets, for each indicator:


Figure 1: Graphical illustration of the time periods covered for each indicator.

4. Crop specific Agroclimatic Indicators

4.1. Introduction

To facilitate the assessment of tailored crop-specific indicators we have chosen not to precalculate these as the number of options is near indefinite. Instead we provide the necessary information to allow the user to calculate these on demand, such as sowing date, harvest date, growing range of min and max temperatures, thermal requirements, geographical distribution, etc. This way the user can generate outputs specific to the crops of interest.
For spatially distributed crop characteristics NETCDF files have been created combining several pre- existing datasets in one common CF compliant format. They facilitate spatio- temporal masking of, and parameters for crop specific agroclimatic indicators. One file for each crop has been created, with global coverage at 0.5 degrees lat/lon resolution. A version at 5 minutes lat/lon resolution can be produced too. Initially these have been compiled for four crops: wheat (spring and winter variety), maize, rice and soybean.
The following data sets have been combined (details next sections below):

  • crop maps, based on the SPAM-2005 dataset (You et al, 2017); they serve to facilitate spatial aggregation of historic and contemporary statistics to crop growing areas; it is not recommended to use these for future climate projections, as crop suitability may change
  • crop calendars, based on the FAO-GAEZ data set (FAO/IIASA, 2010); the serve to derive temporal aggregation of historic and contemporary statistics to specific crop growing seasons; it is not recommended to use these for future climate projections, as crop calendars may change in response to climate change
  • crop mega-environments, based on CGIAR definitions (for an overview see Fischer et al., 2014); they serve to derive crop specific parameters for phenological development (e.g. thermal requirements) of crop cultivars adapted to certain climates, and so to facilitate aggregation of historic and contemporary statistics to specific crop phenological phases; it is not recommended to use these maps for future climate projections, as crop suitability may change; the associated parameter tables can be used both contemporary and for the future
  • crop thermal requirements, based on optimization of WOFOST simulated yield with respect to GAEZ calendar. they serve to determine crop development based on BEDD (biologically effective degree days, also known as growing degree days or temperature sums) Thus TSUMs have been calculated for emergence-anthesis (sowing-flowering), anthesis-maturity (flowering-harvest) and emergence-maturity (sowing-ripening; sum of previous two)

4.2. Crop maps


Crop maps give for each pixel the number of hectares under that crop. The maps are representative for the situation around 2005. This leads to eight NETCDF variables, presented in the table below.
From the original SPAM database 2 'variables' and 4 'technologies' have been retained. SPAM data have a resolution of 5', so we summed the data over each set of 6x6 original grid boxes to come to the 0.5o grid boxes in our set.

Table 4: Map variables available for each crop

Variable

Description

area_rs_h

harvested area, rainfed, subsistence

area_rs_p

physical area, rainfed, subsistence

area_rh_h

harvested area, rainfed, high input

area_rh_p

physical area, rainfed, high input

area_rl_h

harvested area, rainfed, low input

area_rl_p

physical area, rainfed, low input

area_ir_h

harvested area, irrigated

area_ir_p

physical area, irrigated

Harvested area can be larger or smaller than physical area; larger implies that some form of double cropping is present; smaller implies that not all area suitable for the crop is actually planted / harvested. Please refer to http://mapspam.info/ for more information.

4.3. Crop calendars

Crop calendars give for each pixel the sowing/planting and harvest dates for that crop. For each pixel and average sowing date, an early sowing date or a late sowing date is given (respectively defined as 1st, 2nd or 3rd dekad of month of sowing specified in FAO-GAEZ), and similar of harvest dates. For a number of crops two crop cycles are represented: in temperate climate wheat and similar cereals (e.g. barley, rapeseed, etc.) can be sown before winter (winter wheat) already or after winter in spring (spring wheat). For these winter crops the 'sowing date' given is not the actual
sowing date in autumn but rather the end of the winter dormancy period, i.e. when the already emerged crops restarts to grow. For tropical crops in some areas two crop cycles are represented, a main season and a secondary season. Dates are given as 'dekad', so 'dekad' = 6 represents February 21-End of February. This leads to 6 variables, presented in the table below.

Table 5: Cropping calendars variables avialable for each crop

Variable

Description

sow_a

average sowing/planting dekad

sow_e

early sowing/planting dekad

sow_l

late sowing/planting dekad

har_a

average harvest dekad

har_e

early harvest dekad

har_l

late harvest dekad

FAO-GAEZ data have a resolution of 5', so we aggregated the data over each set of 6x6 original grid boxes to come to the 0.5o grid boxes in our set. For early sowing/harvest we took the minimum value found in the 6x6 boxes, for late sowing harvest the maximum value found, and for average sowing/harvest the rounded average of all 36 values.

4.4. Crop mega-environments

Crop mega environments define similar environments on a global scale. The main classification ME1... MEn) reflects climatic constraints, e.g. average temperature and precipitation of the growing season, in corresponding altitude/latitude bands. Sub-classifications (e.g. ME2b) may reflect soil conditions. The concept is very useful for crop breeders, where for each mega environment a cultivar (or variety) can be developed that in principal should grow well everywhere in that ME. Often for each ME a benchmark cultivar and representative site can be identified.

The number of MEs defined for each crop varies. In this collection the following have been retained, and only so for wheat and maize these have been included in the respective NETCDF files., as for the others no publicly available data have been found.
ME maps have been compiled from high resolution (ca. 3' equivalent) shape files, tagging a 0.5o grid box as belonging to a certain ME if its polygon occupied any fraction of the grid box. This means there is overlap in the ME's, i.e. one grid box can be classified to more than one ME. This is not unrealistic as cultivars optimized for a certain ME will thrive best (i.e. have the highest yields) in the interior of their domain, whereas at its fringes, also other cultivars may become suitable.

Table 6: MegaEnvironment numbers available for each crop

Crop

ME number

Reference

Wheat

12 (6 spring wheat; 3 facultative; 3 winter wheat)

Braun et al. 2010

Maize

8 (6 tropical, 2 temperate)

Bellon et al. 2005

Rice

7 (4 irrigated, 2 rainfed, 1 deep water); however, no publicly available maps have been found

?

Soybean

6 ( ? ); however, no publicly available maps have been found

?

Each crop/ME combination is specified by clearly defined set of climate requirements or climate suitability criteria. These are given in the following table.

Table 7: MegaEnvironment criteria for each crop

ME number

Wheat

Maize

ME1

spring wheat, temperate, irrigated, low latitude;

3 < TN < 11C, lat < 40

tropical wet, upper mid altitude;

24 < TX < 28C, P > 600 mm,
1600 < alt < 2000 masl

ME2

spring wheat, temperate, wet, low latitude;

3 < TN <16C, P > 500 mm, lat <
40

tropical wet, lower mid altitude;

28 < TX < 30C, P > 600 mm,
1200<alt<1600 masl

ME3

spring wheat, temperate, wet, acid soil, low latitude;

C, P > 500 mm, lat < 40

tropical dry, mid altitude;

24 < TX < 30C, 350 < P < 600
mm, 1200 < alt < 2000 masl

ME4

spring wheat, tropical dry, low latitude;

TGN > 17.5 C, 200 < P < 500
mm, lat < 40

tropical wet, low altitude;

TX > 30C, P > 800 mm, alt <
1200 masl

ME5

spring wheat, tropical, irrigated, low latitude;

TGN > 17.5 C, lat < 40

tropical dry, low altitude;

TX > 30C, 350 < P < 800 mm, alt
< 1200 masl

ME6

spring wheat, temperate, dry, high latitude;

T C, 200 < P < 500 mm, lat > 45

tropical, high altitude;

18 < TX < 24C, P > 350 mm, alt
> 2000 masl

ME7

facultative wheat, cool temperate, irrigated, mid latitude;

-2 < TN < 3C coolest quarter, 35 < lat < 50

temperate wet, low altitude;

26 < TX < 34C, P > 600 mm, alt
< 1500 masl

ME8

facultative wheat, cool temperate, wet, mid latitude;

-1 < TN < 6C coolest quarter, P
> 500 mm, 35 < lat < 50

temperate dry, low altitude;

26 < TX < 36C, 300 < P < 600
mm, alt < 1500 masl

ME9

facultative wheat, cool temperate, dry, mid latitude;

-2 < TN < 3C coolest quarter, 200 < P < 500 mm, 35 < lat < 50


ME10

winter wheat, cold temperate, irrigated, high latitude;

-13 < TN < -2C coolest quarter, lat > 45


ME11

winter wheat, cold temperate, wet, high latitude

-13 < TN < 1C coolest quarter, P
> 500 mm, lat > 45


ME12

winter wheat, cold temperate, dry, high latitude;

-13 < TN < 1C coolest quarter, 200 < P < 500 mm, lat > 45


At a next level, the benchmark cultivar for each crop/ME combination should be specified by a set of generic crop model parameters. These include thermal requirements for each major phenological development stage, optimal climatic growing conditions, thresholds for hot/cold stress, etc. No publicly available data of any consistency have been found, so parameters for each of these ME are not provided in our NETCDF files. Nevertheless we have chosen to retain the maps, for those knowledgeable to use them wisely.

4.5. Crop thermal-requirements

Crop crop thermal requirements are based on optimisation of WOFOST simulated yield with respect to the GAEZ calendar. Three TSUMs have been calculated for emergence-anthesis (sowing- flowering, TSUM1), anthesis-maturity (flowering-harvest, TSUM2) and emergence-maturity
(sowing-ripening; sum of previous two). Yield was optimised as max average yield over the period 2005-2015 using ERA-I global climate forcing. For the calculation of the thermal requirements the following base temperatures and TSUM ratios for determining anthesis/flowering have been used.

Table 8: Parameters used for thermal requirement calculation for each crop

Crop

Base temperature for BEDD

ratio TSUM1/(TSUM1+TSUM2)

Winter wheat

0

0.5

Spring wheat

0

0.4

Maize

6

0.5

Rice

8

0.7

Soybean

8

0.3

Thus for each crop the following thermal requirements have been defined:

Table 9: Thermal requirement variables available for each crop

Variable

Description

tsumEA

temperature sum from emergence to anthesis

tsumAM

temperature sum from anthesis to maturity

tsumEM

temperature sum from emergence to maturity

4.6. Crop files

Thus for each crop a single NETCDF files has been compiled using a Matlab® script, containing all above mentioned variables:

  • mainrice-char-05d_C3S-glob-agric_2005_v5.nc
  • secondrice-char-05d_C3S-glob-agric_2005_v5.nc
  • springwheat-char-05d_C3S-glob-agric_2005_v5.nc
  • winterwheat-char-05d_C3S-glob-agric_2005_v5.nc
  • maize-char-05d_C3S-glob-agric_2005_v5.nc
  • soybean-char-05d_C3S-glob-agric_2005_v5.nc

These files are not meant to be downloadable from the CDS, but their contents can be accessed through a tool developed for the purpose that can be deployed in the C3S Toolbox:

getCropVariable(cropName, var)
Parameters:
cropName: string
Name of the crop. Currently ‘soybean’, ‘winterWheat’, ‘springWheat’, ‘mainRice’,
‘secondRice’ and ‘maize’ are available.
var: string
Name of the variables to be retrieved from the crop file. Currently these variables
can be selected: ‘area_rs_p’, ‘area_rs_h’, ‘area_rh_p’, ‘area_rh_h’, ‘area_rl_p’,
‘area_rl_h’, ‘area_ir_p’, ‘area_ir_h’, ‘sow_a1’, ‘sow_e1’, ‘sow_l1’, ‘mat_a1’,
‘mat_e1’, ‘mat_l1’, ‘ME1’, ‘ME2’, ‘ME3’, ‘ME4’, ‘ME5’, ‘ME6’, ‘ME7’, ‘ME8’, ‘ME9’,
‘tsumEM’, ‘tsumEA’, ‘tsumAM’; as defined above.
Returns:
out: xarray DataArray
A xarray dataarray containing the data for the crop variable.

5. References

Bellon, M.R., Hodson, D.P., Bergvinson, D.J., Beck, D.L., Martinez-Romero, E., Montoya, Y. (2005). Targeting agricultural research to benefit poor farmers: Relating poverty mapping to maize environments in Mexico. Food Policy 30: 476-492. Data retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/hdl/11529/10624

Braun, H.J., Atlin, G., Payne, T. (2010). Multi-location testing as a tool to identify plant response to global climate change. In: Climate Change and Crop Production. Reynolds MP (Ed). CABI,London, UK. p. 71-91. Data retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11529/10625

FAO/IIASA, 2010. Global Agro-ecological Zones 1960-1990 (GAEZ v3.0). FAO, Rome, Italy and IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria; Data retreived from https://gaez.fao.org/Main.html;

Fischer R.A., Byerlee D. and Edmeades G.O.* (2014). Crop yields and global food security: will yield increase continue to feed the world? ACIAR Monograph No. 158. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research: Canberra. xxii + 634 pp. Retrieved from http://aciar.gov.au/files/mn- 158/pdf/aciar-MN158_web-5.pdf

Hempel, S., Frieler, K., Warszawski, L., Schewe, J. and Piontek, F., 2013. A trend-preserving bias correction–the ISI-MIP approach. Earth System Dynamics, 4(2), pp.219-236.

Klein Tank, A., 2007. EUMETNET/ECSN optional programme: European Climate Assessment & Dataset (ECA&D) Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD), version 4. Report EPJ029135.

Weedon, G.P., Balsamo, G., Bellouin, N., Gomes, S., Best, M.J. and Viterbo, P., 2014. The WFDEI meteorological forcing data set: WATCH Forcing Data methodology applied to ERA‐Interim reanalysis data. Water Resources Research, 50(9), pp.7505-7514.

You, L., U. Wood-Sichra, S. Fritz, Z. Guo, L. See, and J. Koo (2017). Spatial Production Allocation Model (SPAM) 2005 v3.2., Data retrieved from http://mapspam.info cop


This document has been produced in the context of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

The activities leading to these results have been contracted by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, operator of C3S on behalf of the European Union (Delegation Agreement signed on 11/11/2014 and Contribution Agreement signed on 22/07/2021). All information in this document is provided "as is" and no guarantee or warranty is given that the information is fit for any particular purpose.

The users thereof use the information at their sole risk and liability. For the avoidance of all doubt , the European Commission and the European Centre for Medium - Range Weather Forecasts have no liability in respect of this document, which is merely representing the author's view.

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