The "Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from drained organic soils" dataset describes and disseminates the geospatial data from which FAOSTAT statistics on drained organic soils are derived. The dataset includes six layers: drained area of cropland organic soils and corresponding CO2 and N2O emissions and drained area of grassland organic soils and associate N2O and CO2 emissions. Particularly, this metadata includes the area of drained organic soils (in ha) under cropland for the years 1992 – 2020.
Organic soils are wet soils ecosystems, characterized by high levels of organic matter, which accumulates under the anoxic conditions that exist in the presence of water. They include tropical and boreal peatlands, high-latitude bogs, ferns and mires. While organic soils cover globally a mere 3 percent of the terrestrial land area, they represent up to 30 percent of the total soil carbon, playing an important role in maintaining the earth’s carbon balance. Agriculture is a major cause of drainage of organic soils around the world and restoration of degraded organic soils is currently a priority in several countries as part of their commitments under the climate convention.
The GHG emissions from drained organic soils dataset are computed in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform applying Tier I methods from the Intergovernmental Guidelines on Climate Change (IPCC) (IPCC, 2014). FAOSTAT estimates use histosols as a proxy for the presence of organic soils, in agreement with IPCC and annual land cover maps as time-dependent component for yearly cropland and grassland extents. Finally, a geospatial layer of the distribution of ruminants from the FAO Gridded Livestock of the World is used to identify grassland used for grazing.
More information can be found in:
a) FAO 2022. Drained organic soils In: FAO. Rome. Cited October 2022 https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/GV.
b) FAO, 2020. Drained organic soils 1990–2019. Global, regional and country trends. FAOSTAT Analytical Brief Series No 4, Rome. Cited October 2022 https://www.fao.org/3/cb0489en/CB0489EN.pdf.
c) Conchedda, G. & Tubiello, F. N. Drainage of organic soils and GHG emissions: validation with country data. Earth System Science Data 12, 3113–3137 (2020). Cited October 2022 https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-3113-2020
d) IPCC 2014, 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands, Hiraishi, T., Krug, T., Tanabe, K., Srivastava, N., Baasansuren, J., Fukuda, M. and Troxler, T.G. (eds). Published: IPCC, Switzerland.
Data creation: 2022-05-27
Contact points:
Metadata Contact: FAOSTAT
Metadata Contact: Francesco Nicola Tubiello
Distributor: Giulia Conchedda
Maintainer: Leon Casse
Data lineage:
FAOSTAT statistics are validated against official country data reported to the UN Climate Convention (UNFCCC). The FAOSTAT domains Drained Organic Soils also disseminates the activity data and emissions data reported by countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), under ‘Cultivation of organic soils’ for the N2O component and categories ‘Cropland drained organic soils’ and ‘Grassland drained organic soils’ for the CO2. Activity data are sourced from the most recently available GHG National Inventories (NGHGI) or from National Communications. Emission data are sourced directly from the UNFCCC data portal or from Biennial Update Reports (BURs). UNFCCC data are disseminated in FAOSTAT with permission, formalized via a FAO-UNFCCC Memorandum of Understanding.
Resource constraints:
license
Online resources:
Download: FAOSTAT Climate Change - Emissions Drained organic soils