New! LUH2 "Extension" datasets for years 2100-2300 now available

LUH2 v2e Release (02/22/19): LUH2 v2e extends three harmonized future land-use forcing datasets (from LUH2 v2f) for the years 2100-2300. All land-use states and management variables are held constant at year 2100 values during these extension years, and as a result almost all transitions between land-use states are set to zero, with the exception of crop rotations, shifting cultivation, and wood harvest (which uses year 2099 national wood harvest demands for all years from 2100 to 2299). LUH2 v2e is now available for SSP1 RCP2.6, SSP5 RCP3.4OS, and SSP5 RCP8.5 and can be downloaded directly from the following links:

LUH2 v2f Notice (11/30/18): The Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) implementation of the SSP1 RCP1.9, SSP1 RCP2.6, and SSP2 RCP4.5 future scenarios includes strong re/afforestation signals. While LUH2 is primarily a 'land-use' dataset, it does also provide an estimate of land cover. For models relying on LUH2- land cover per se, a set of supplementary files has been developed to specify the added tree cover that should be planted in each grid cell each year to better represent the intended forest cover gains in these cases. Using these supplementary files along with the harmonized LUH2 v2f data set, captures > 80% of the re/afforestation signal in the IAMs in offline LUH2 diagnostics and CESM-test simulations. These supplementary files are available for direct download from the following links:

LUH2 v2f Release (11/29/18): In addition to the six previously released LUH2 v2f future harmonized land-use forcing datasets for CMIP6, two new scenarios are now available: SSP1 RCP1.9 (from IMAGE) and SSP5 RCP3.4OS, an overshoot scenario (from REMIND-MAGPIE). As with the previous LUH2 v2f datasets, these new datasets cover the period 2015-2100, they transition continuously from the new gridded historical dataset (LUH2 v2h), and they include annual gridded fractions of land-use states, all transitions between those states, and associated management layers. The harmonized SSP1 RCP1.9 and SSP5 RCP3.4OS scenarios are now available for direct download from the following links:

LUH2 v2h_high and LUH2 v2h_low Release (06/22/18): LUH2 v2h_high and LUH2 v2h_low are "high" and "low" (i.e. more and less, respectively) historical reconstructions of land-use and land-use transitions, designed to accompany the LUH2 v2h "baseline" scenario for model sensitivity studies. As with the baseline historical scenario, the "high" and "low" datasets include annual gridded fractions of land-use states, all transitions between those states, and associated management layers for the period 850-2015. The "high" and "low" scenarios are based on alternative high and low data-driven reconstructions of land-use from HYDE and accompanying wood harvest. LUH2 v2h_high and LUH2 v2h_low are now available for direct download from the following links:

LUH2 v2f Release (12/21/17): LUH2 v2f is the official release of the future harmonized land-use forcing dataset for CMIP6, and covers the period 2015-2100. It transitions continuously from the new gridded historical dataset (LUH2 v2h), to multiple new future scenarios identified in ScenarioMIP for CMIP6 and provided by Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). The dataset includes annual gridded fractions of land-use states, all transitions between those states, and associated management layers. All six future scenarios (including RCP4.5 SSP2) are now available for direct download from the following links:

LUH2 v2h, v2f_beta Notice (5/4/17): When estimating the effects of grazing land area expansion (both managed pasture and rangeland) on land cover, diagnostics suggest that as a general rule all natural vegetation should be cleared for managed pasture, and only cleared for rangeland if it is forested. We caution however, that the impacts of land-use change on land cover change may differ in different regions, in different models, and in comparison with different diagnostics. Note that this Notice replaces the previous Notice on this topic.

LUH2 v2f_beta Release (3/21/17): LUH2 v2f_beta is a beta release of the future harmonized land-use forcing dataset, and covers the period 2015-2100. It transitions continuously from the new gridded historical dataset (LUH2 v2h), to 6 new future scenarios identified in ScenarioMIP for CMIP6 and provided by Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). All land-use states, transitions, and management layers are computed and available here as *DRAFT* values.

LUH2 v2h Notice (12/20/16): CMIP6 panel officially releases the CMIP6 Forcing Datasets for DECK and Historical Simulations (v1.0).

LUH2 v2h Notice (12/14/16): The LUH2 dataset files, supporting files, and documentation are also available from our Dropbox site. If you are not able to access dropbox, please access these datasets from the CMIP6 website at CMIP6, or download the dataset from our server using the links under the release notice below.

LUH2 v2h Release (10/14/16): The updated release of the historical land-use forcing dataset (LUH2 v2h) covers the period 850-2015 and corrects all known issues and notices identified with the previous version (LUH2 v1.0h). This dataset replaces the previously released dataset (LUH2 v1.0h). This product is the result of a series of prototypes released previously, uses the established data format, and will connect smoothly to gridded products for the future. The data is available for downloading from our server at the following links:

LUH2 v1.0h Notice (10/10/16): The country code map and the lat/lon coordinates in the staticData_quarterdeg.nc file were recently found to contain small errors. This will also be fixed in an updated release.

LUH2 v1.0h Notice (9/15/16): The biomass density and vegetation recovery rate maps used as inputs to the LUH2_v1.0h dataset was recently found to contain small errors in spatial patterns. This will also be fixed in an updated release.

LUH2 v1.0h Notice (9/1/16): The spatial pattern of nitrogen-fixing crops in the LUH2_v1.0h dataset was recently found to contain small errors. This will be fixed in an updated release, along with the other issues detailed below.

LUH2 v1.0h Notice (8/2/16): A key historical input to the dataset was recently found to contain errors for a few countries. An updated release addressing these issues will be made available in the future.

LUH2 v1.0h Notice (5/31/16): The format of LUH2 V1.0h data is not fully CMIP6 compliant. Known issues include incorrect labeling of time dimension, and missing time bound variable, in netCDF files. An updated release addressing these issues will be made available in the future.

LUH2 v1.0h Release (4/29/16): The release of the historical land-use forcing dataset covers the period 850-2015. This product is the result of a series of prototypes released previously, uses the established data format.

LUH2 v0.3 Release (10/16/15): Modeling teams that are interested in testing land-use data for future scenarios that connect smoothly to an historical reconstruction, should use this dataset. It is a prototype dataset only but provides a continuous time-series from 850 to 2100AD to enable modeling teams to run test simulations that include the future period (2015-2100). The historical period data in this prototype is not the same as the final release of our historical product listed above. New future scenarios that are continuously connected to the historical period data listed above are currently under development and will be released by summer 2016.

 

Archive: LUH Products used for CMIP5

The datasets below were developed for CMIP5 experiments and used by most modeling groups preparing simulations as part of CMIP5. They are provided here for ongoing use, while the second generation of our LUH products is being developed (see above). They are also permanently archived, along with supporting information and a DOI for citations, at the ORNL DAAC.

Downloadable files with "u2" in the filename include urban land, whereas the files without "u2" do not. Also, files with "t1" in the filename are based on historical simulations that start in 1700, whereas those without "t1" are based on simulations that start in 1500.

Note on version numbering for the archived products: the archived historical landuse dataset is named LUHa.v1 and the harmonization of IAM future land-use projections were built off that historical dataset and are named LUHa.v1_future.v1 (for MESSAGE and MiniCAM/GCAM), LUHa.v1_future.v1.1 (for IMAGE and AIM). The IMAGE data is an update to the previous V1 data that was posted and is identical to the previous release candidate LUHa.v1_future.v1.1_rc3. The AIM data is also an update to the previous V1 data that was posted and is identical to the previous release candidate LUHa.v1_future.v1.1_rc1.

For more information about the data, please refer to the readme files above, and for any questions or concerns please contact us using the contact information on the front page, or refer to our FAQ page.