Productivity of U.S. Rangelands, Annual Data Z-scores (Image Service)

Note: To download this raster dataset, go to ArcGIS Open Data Set and click the download button, and under additional resources select any of the download options. Data can also be downloaded from the FSGeodata Clearinghouse.
More information about rangeland productivity and the effects of drought are available in this StoryMap; additional drought and rangeland products from the Office of Sustainability and Climate are available in our Climate Gallery.
Time enabled image service showing estimates of annual production of rangeland vegetation.
Production data were generated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the Thematic Mapper Suite from 1984 to 2020 at 250 m resolution. The NDVI is converted to production estimates using two regression formulas depending on the level of the NDVI; there is one equation for lower values (and thus lower production values) and one for higher values. This raster dataset yields estimates of annual production of rangeland vegetation and should be useful for understanding trends and variability in forage resources. These results were then converted to Z-scores for easier comparison of annual relative productivity in coterminous U.S. rangelands, and for rapid display in online time-enabled applications. This Z-scores dataset as well as the raw lbs/acre data that the Z-scores were derived from can be downloaded from: https://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/rangelands/index.php
More information about rangeland productivity and the effects of drought are available in this story map.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
bureauCode {005:96}
catalog_@context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
catalog_describedBy https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
identifier https://data-usfs.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/usfs::productivity-of-u-s-rangelands-annual-data-z-scores-image-service
issued 2021-01-26
landingPage https://data-usfs.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/usfs::productivity-of-u-s-rangelands-annual-data-z-scores-image-service
license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
metadata_type geospatial
modified 2022-06-22
old-spatial -118.7710,22.7657,-65.2543,48.2708
programCode {005:059}
publisher U.S. Forest Service
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 0e0e8cdf7e19ec8345cf1207f94b093715c435dd
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-118.7710, 22.7657], [-118.7710, 48.2708], [-65.2543, 48.2708], [-65.2543, 22.7657], [-118.7710, 22.7657]]]}
theme {geospatial}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • ckan
  • drought-gallery
  • forage
  • forest-plan-revision
  • geo
  • geoss
  • living-atlas
  • national
  • nepa
  • north-america
  • office-of-sustainability-and-climate
  • open-data
  • osc
  • productivity
  • rangelands
  • rpa-assessment
  • united-states
  • usda-forest-service
  • usfs
isopen True
license_id cc-by
license_title Creative Commons Attribution
license_url http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-by
maintainer USFSEnterpriseContent
maintainer_email SM.FS.data@usda.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-22T00:27:42.168109
metadata_modified 2025-11-22T00:27:42.168114
notes Note: To download this raster dataset, go to <a href='https://data-usfs.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/productivity-of-u-s-rangelands-annual-data-z-scores-image-service' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>ArcGIS Open Data Set</a> and click the download button, and under additional resources select any of the download options. Data can also be downloaded from the <a href='https://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/rangelands/index.php' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>FSGeodata Clearinghouse</a>.<div><br /></div>More information about rangeland productivity and the effects of drought are available in this <a href='https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=d1a449c69c9e4538ad26a37d6daa6e0a' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>StoryMap</a>; additional drought and rangeland products from the <a href='https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/sc' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>Office of Sustainability and Climate</a> are available in our <a href='https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MinimalGallery/index.html?appid=46e069c721bb49c6abe5a9d57e3a365f' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>Climate Gallery</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Time enabled image service showing estimates of annual production of rangeland vegetation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Production data were generated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the Thematic Mapper Suite from 1984 to 2020 at 250 m resolution. The NDVI is converted to production estimates using two regression formulas depending on the level of the NDVI; there is one equation for lower values (and thus lower production values) and one for higher values. This raster dataset yields estimates of annual production of rangeland vegetation and should be useful for understanding trends and variability in forage resources. These results were then converted to Z-scores for easier comparison of annual relative productivity in coterminous U.S. rangelands, and for rapid display in online time-enabled applications. This Z-scores dataset as well as the raw lbs/acre data that the Z-scores were derived from can be downloaded from: <a href='https://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/rangelands/index.php' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>https://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/rangelands/index.php</a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style='color:rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:13.6px; background-color:rgb(255, 254, 249);'>More information about rangeland productivity and the effects of drought are available in this </span><a href='https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=d1a449c69c9e4538ad26a37d6daa6e0a' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>story map</a>.</div>
num_resources 6
num_tags 21
title Productivity of U.S. Rangelands, Annual Data Z-scores (Image Service)