Productivity of U.S. Rangelands, Annual Data Z-scores

This raster dataset depicts rangelands in the coterminous U.S., including transitional rangelands and small patch-size rangelands. Each 30 meter pixel is assigned a land cover category, including Rangeland, Afforested Rangeland (experiencing encroachment by trees [> 25% tree cover]) and Transitional Rangeland (currently dominated by herbs or shrubs that will likely become forested without management intervention).

This raw lbs/acre data that the Z-scores were derived from as well as the Z-scores dataset can be downloaded from: https://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/rangelands/index.php.

Production data were generated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the Thematic Mapper Suite from 1984 to 2023 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.