21. GAEZ v5 Platform User Guide - un-fao/gaezv5 GitHub Wiki

The Global Agro-Ecological Zoning (GAEZ) Platform provides open-access geographic and tabular data from the latest GAEZ v5 assessment. It features a comprehensive collection of spatial indicators related to natural resources and outputs from agro-ecological crop analyses.

The platform allows users to easily query, search, visualize, and download raster data outputs. Before using or downloading datasets, users are strongly encouraged to consult the GAEZ Model Documentation to understand the underlying methodologies, limitations, and constraints of the data. This user guide aims to offer detailed information about the GAEZ v5 Platform and the structure of its datasets. For specific inquiries or support, please contact us at [email protected].

Main functions of the platform

• Explorer data: to access the Data Catalogue, providing interoperability with extensive complementary data.
• Time-series analysis: explore trends and patterns over time.
• Side-by-side comparisons: compare datasets across different locations and time periods.
• Visualizations: gain insights through choropleth maps, customizable symbology, interactive charts, and 3D visualizations.
• Reports and stories: create comprehensive reports and build data-driven narratives.
• Areas of interest: use built-in geographic boundaries (e.g., administrative units, water basins) or upload/draw custom areas.
• Geospatial analysis: conduct spatial analysis and summarize results in tabular formats.
• Multilingual support: available in six official languages with an online tour and tutorials.
• Crop summary data: access tabulated results easily through dedicated summary tables.
• Search functionality: quickly locate relevant datasets.
• View and interact: preview data summaries and explore key details interactively.
• Data documentation: enhanced metadata following ISO 19115:2013 and STAC standards.
• Download options: retrieve data in cloud-native formats via APIs for streamlined analysis.

The GAEZ v5 Platform provides access to the majority of outputs generated by the GAEZ assessment. Users can explore all available datasets via the Explore Data button, which allows browsing and selection of layers for visualization on the map.

The Catalogue maintains the same modular structure as the GAEZ Model Documentation. Each module corresponds to a specific theme area, further divided into sub-themes and variables.

The GAEZ Platform organizes data into six main themes, aligned with specific modules of the GAEZ model:

• Theme 1: Land and Water Resources includes land cover, soil and terrain characteristics, selected soil suitability ratings, environmental exclusion areas, and the Agro-Ecological Zones classification.
• Theme 2: Agro-Climatic Resources contains agro-climatic indicators assessed in Module I.
• Theme 3: Agro-Climatic Potential Yield features agro-climatic suitability and potential yields derived from Modules II and III.
• Theme 4: Suitability and Attainable Yield provides crop-specific suitability, attainable yields, and production estimates, based on integrated outputs from Module V and soil/slope assessments from Module IV.
• Theme 5: Actual Yields and Production presents data on spatial crop areas, yields, and production from Module VI.
• Theme 6: Yield and Production Gaps displays yield and production gaps, calculated as the difference between actual production (Theme 5) and potential production (Theme 4), based on Module VII.

The schema below presents the main themes along with their sub-themes and the number of associated variables, totaling nearly 225,000 raster layers.

Each dataset hosted on the GAEZ platform is fully documented, including a detailed description, access to standardized metadata, and links to Google Cloud Storage for downloading data in GIS-native formats.

The GIS raster files follow a naming convention which follows a structured hierarchical format that encodes a set of information which depends on the specific theme. A complete list of variables and their corresponding codes is available in this file GAEZv5_Themes_Sub-themes_Variables.xlsx.

Each dataset filename follows a structured naming convention that encodes key information about the data. The format is: GAEZ-V5.<VARIABLE>.<TIME_PERIOD>.<CLIMATE_MODEL>.<SCENARIO>. This includes:

• the dataset version (GAEZ-V5),
• the variable (e.g., RES01-ET0 for reference evapotranspiration),
• the time period (e.g., HP8100 for 1981-2000, HP0120 for 2001-2020, FP2140 for 2021-2040, FP4160 for 2041-2060, FP6180 for 2061-2080 and FP8100 for 2081-2100) or the year for time-series data,
• the climate model (e.g., GFDL-ESM4), and
• the scenario (e.g., SSP126, SSP370, SSP585 or HIST that is used for historical data modelled using AgERA5 climate data).

For details on the climate data and scenarios used please refer to Climate data section of the Model Documentation.

Each dataset filename follows a structured naming convention that encodes key information about the data. The format is: GAEZ-V5.<VARIABLE>.<TIME_PERIOD>.<CLIMATE_MODEL>.<SSP>.<CROP>.<WATER_MANAGEMENT_LEVEL>. This includes:

• the dataset version (GAEZ-V5),
• the variable (e.g., RES02-CBD for beginning crop growth cycle),
• the time period (e.g., HP8100 for 1981-2000, HP0120 for 2001-2020, FP2140 for 2021-2040, FP4160 for 2041-2060, FP6180 for 2061-2080 and FP8100 for 2081-2100) or the year for time-series data,
• the climate model (e.g., GFDL-ESM4),
• the scenario (e.g., SSP126, SSP370, SSP585 or HIST that is used for historical data modelled using AgERA5 climate data),
• the crop type (e.g., MAIZ for maize), and
• the inputs (see table below for specific codes adopted).

For details on the climate data and scenarios used please refer to Climate data section of the Model Documentation.

The complete list of modeled crops and their corresponding crop codes can be found here.

Agro-Climatic Potential Yield results are available for the following water content and input management levels:

Code	Description
HILM	Available water content of 200 mm/m (under irrigation conditions) and high input level of management
HRLM	Available water content of 200 mm/m (under rain-fed conditions) and high input level of management
LILM	Available water content of 200 mm/m (under irrigation conditions) and low input level of management
LRLM	Available water content of 200 mm/m (under rain-fed conditions) and low input level of management

Each dataset filename follows a structured naming convention that encodes key information about the data. Each dataset filename follows a structured naming convention that encodes key information about the data. The format is: GAEZ-V5.<VARIABLE>.<TIME_PERIOD>.<CLIMATE_MODEL>.<SSP>.<CROP>.<WATER_MANAGEMENT_LEVEL>. This includes:

• the dataset version (GAEZ-V5),
• the variable (e.g., RES05-SIX for suitability index),
• the time period (e.g., HP8100 for 1981-2000, HP0120 for 2001-2020, FP2140 for 2021-2040, FP4160 for 2041-2060, FP6180 for 2061-2080 and FP8100 for 2081-2100) or the year for time-series data,
• the climate model (e.g., GFDL-ESM4),
• the scenario (e.g., SSP126, SSP370, SSP585 or HIST that is used for historical data modelled using AgERA5 climate data),
• the crop type (e.g., CSV for cassava), and
• the inputs (see table below for specific codes adopted).

For details on the climate data and scenarios used please refer to Climate data section of the Model Documentation.

The complete list of modeled crops and their corresponding crop codes can be found here.

Suitability and Attainable Yield results are available for the following water supply and input management levels:

Code	Description
HILM	Irrigation and high input level of management
HRLM	Rain-fed and high input level of management
LILM	Irrigation and low input level of management
LRLM	Rain-fed and low input level of management

Each dataset filename follows a structured naming convention that encodes key information about the data. Each dataset filename follows a structured naming convention that encodes key information about the data. The format is: GAEZ-V5.<VARIABLE>.<CROP>.<WATER_SUPPLY>. This includes:

• the dataset version (GAEZ-V5),
• the variable (e.g., RES06-HAR for harvested area),
• the crop type (e.g., CSV for cassava), and
• the water supply (see table below for specific codes adopted).

The complete list of modeled crops and their corresponding crop codes can be found here.

Results are available for the following water supply systems:

Code	Description
WSI	Irrigated
WSR	Rain-fed
WST	Total