Update of Global Agro-ecological Zones (GAEZ) system

A systematic update of the Global Agro-ecological Zones (GAEZ) system, began in 2013 and will be ready in mid-2014

Agricultural irrigation © deldew | iStock

Agricultural irrigation

The Global Agro-ecological Zones (GAEZ) system, developed at IIASA, assists rational land-use planning on the basis of an inventory of land resources and evaluation of the biophysical limitations and production potentials of land.

New climate model projections, the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP), developed for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report and beyond, are replacing/complementing the SRES-based climate scenario on which GAEZ version 3 is based. The new projections will provide input to agro-climatic resources inventories and crop potential assessments for the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s.  

In response to this, a new version of GAEZ (version 4.0) is being systematically coordinated by Günther Fischer. This began in 2013 and is expected to finish in mid-2014.  

Data were bias-corrected and downscaled to 0.5 degree in the Intersectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) and are available in GAEZ v4 from five climate models (HadGEM2, GFDL, IPSL, MIROC, NorESM) and for four RCPs (RCP 2.6, 4.5, 6.0, and 8.5).

The update entails the use of extended historical time series and new climate projections in the agro-ecological analysis; transfer of GAEZ knowledge and technology to FAO staff; and work with FAO staff to establish an operational GAEZ capacity at FAO Headquarters in Rome. 

The update of the IIASA/FAO GAEZ data portal was part of this work. All GAEZ-related research was co-funded by the FAO. 

GAEZ v4.0 also provides estimates of apparent yield and production gaps by comparing simulated potential attainable yields and production (using average climate of 30-year period 1981-2010) and actual yields and production estimated by downscaling of year 2009-11 statistics of main food and fiber crops.

Downscaling relies on country-level statistics, as provided in FAOSTAT and AQUASTAT; sub-national distribution of crop harvested areas and relative yields are available for many countries and selected years (period 2007-2011)  from AGROMAPS and various national statistical sources. See also: 

New GLC-Share database will improve GAEZ land cover layer information

GAEZ will be among the first applications to benefit from the creation of the “best available” land cover database developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). More

Collaborators

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).



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Last edited: 28 April 2016

CONTACT DETAILS

Günther Fischer

Distinguished Emeritus Research Scholar Water Security Research Group - Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program

Data portal unlocks potential to increase food production

Options Summer 2013

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International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313