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Agricultural, soil and food science

Agricultural science studies crop and livestock production, soil processes and food systems. It explains how weather, pests, soil degradation and markets combine to affect yields and food availability. Food Nexus stewards this page for the Nexus Consortium.

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01Contents

Agricultural, soil and food science in six parts.

In this dossier6 parts
  1. 01The methodWhat agricultural, soil and food science covers
  2. 02Reference practiceAgricultural evidence spans field trials, crop models and statistics
  3. 03In systemic risk workFrom yield to access
  4. 04Applied inPlatforms that apply this method
  5. 05StewardshipWho maintains this page
  6. 06SourcesWhere this page’s references lead
02The method

What agricultural, soil and food science covers.

  1. 01

    Core methods

    crop growth simulation; soil fertility and erosion assessment; field trials; pest and disease surveillance; yield gap analysis; food supply chain analysis.

  2. 02

    Data and instruments

    experimental field stations; soil surveys and laboratory analysis; agricultural census and yield statistics; satellite vegetation indices; weather station networks.

  3. 03

    Validation

    Crop models are compared with observed yields across sites and seasons. Replicated field trials and multi-model intercomparisons test robustness.

  4. 04

    Limits

    Models often omit management practices, pests and extreme events that drive actual losses. Smallholder systems are underrepresented in data.

  5. 05

    Use in risk decisions

    Agricultural assessment supports early warning of food shortages, crop insurance design and adaptation planning. It connects climate, water and trade risks to nutrition and price stability.

03Geography

Water now worldwide.

Crop greenness, root-zone soil moisture and plant growth across the world, from NASA GIBS. Each layer carries its own date.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 3

Water now, for this page

About this layer
Evidence
Observed (clouds leave gaps)
Source
MODIS Terra NDVI (NASA LANCE)
Provider
NASA LANCE
Licence
NASA open data
Vintage
daily; Satellite index; clouds leave gaps
Newest at build
2026-10-13
Resolution
about 250 m grid
Uncertainty
Satellite greenness index over the 8 days to the date shown; an indicator of crop and pasture condition, not a yield estimate or a food security warning.
Reached through
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
Evidence
Modelled
Source
SMAP Level 4 (NASA NSIDC DAAC)
Provider
NASA NSIDC DAAC
Licence
NASA open data
Vintage
daily; Model with satellite data assimilated
Newest at build
2026-10-11
Resolution
about 2 km grid
Uncertainty
Model with satellite data assimilated. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
Reached through
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
Evidence
Modelled (latest 8-day period GIBS publishes)
Source
MODIS Aqua GPP (MYD17) (NASA LP DAAC)
Provider
NASA LP DAAC
Licence
NASA open data
Vintage
8-day; Satellite-driven model; latest 8-day period GIBS publishes
Newest at build
2026-09-30
Resolution
about 500 m grid
Uncertainty
Model estimate of carbon taken up by plants over the 8-day period shown; an indicator of growth, not harvest or production.
Reached through
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
Evidence
Modelled (latest year GIBS publishes)
Source
MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1) (NASA LP DAAC)
Provider
NASA LP DAAC
Licence
NASA open data
Vintage
yearly; Satellite classification; latest year GIBS publishes
Newest at build
2024-01-01
Resolution
about 500 m grid
Uncertainty
Satellite land cover classes for the year shown, including croplands; a classification with known errors, not a farm register.
Reached through
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
Evidence
Observed
Source
VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance (NASA LANCE)
Provider
NASA LANCE
Licence
NASA open data
Vintage
daily; Satellite image
Newest at build
2026-10-14
Resolution
about 250 m grid
Uncertainty
Satellite image. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
Reached through
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map
About this layer
Evidence
Estimated
Source
GPM IMERG (NASA GES DISC)
Provider
NASA GES DISC
Licence
NASA open data
Vintage
daily; Satellite estimate, near real time
Newest at build
2026-10-12
Resolution
about 2 km grid
Uncertainty
Satellite estimate, near real time. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
Reached through
gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov, only after you allow the live map

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

Water now, framed on the world.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · NASA JPL OPERA DIST-ALERTSources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • SMAP Level 4 soil moisture and snow mass, NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office; distributed by the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center DAAC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • GPM IMERG precipitation, NASA Precipitation Processing System; distributed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
  • Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
  • Observed (EO): NASA JPL OPERA DIST-ALERT (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026). We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • River discharge forecast, 30 days with range (GloFAS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Emergency Management Service information 2026; not a flood warning.
  • Past year, daily temperature (ERA5 via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
  • Past year, daily temperature and sunshine (NASA POWER): These data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program..
  • Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • Optional layers (14 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Vegetation greenness (NDVI), rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra NDVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Root-zone soil moisture, 0 to 100 cm: SMAP Level 4, NASA NSIDC DAAC · 11 Oct 2026
  • Gross primary production, 8-day total: MODIS Aqua GPP (MYD17), NASA LP DAAC · 30 Sep 2026
  • Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
  • True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Precipitation rate, daily mean: GPM IMERG, NASA GES DISC · 12 Oct 2026

04Reference practice

Agricultural evidence spans field trials, crop models and statistics.

ReferenceWhat it sets
FAOSTATProduction, area, yield and trade by crop and country
GEOGLAM Crop MonitorConsensus crop condition reports from satellite and ground information
AgMIP (Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project)Crop and economic model intercomparison under climate scenarios
IPCClassification of food insecurity outcomes
05Process

How the process runs.

Process

Agricultural, soil and food science: Source to evidence record

A source is registered and assessed, its record labelled and classified, and a Digital Evidence Passport carries provenance; a correction reaches every dependent record.

  1. 01 Intake

    1. 01Identify the sourceSource · The source stewardDiscovery is not ingestion. Source identification records the source class, steward, institutional role and jurisdiction.
    2. 03Register the sourceStepRegistration makes a discovered source a governed participant in the evidence lifecycle. It implies no endorsement or certification.

  2. 02 Assessment

    1. 04Jurisdiction and rights classificationGateRights classification identifies licence, consent, confidentiality and reuse limits. The result determines access and routing.
    2. 05Evidence quality assessmentStepQuality assessment decides whether a record is fit for a defined use. Quality is multidimensional and never a single score.
    3. 06Evidence labelStepEvery finding carries one of nine evidence labels. Missing data is shown as missing, never as zero.

  3. 03 Record

    1. 07Evidence classificationRecordClassification gives records lifecycle states, such as source-verified, public-safe or restricted. States can coexist and set evidence use.
    2. 08Source release and identifierRecord · NXS-GRX (canonical data, provenance and risk)A source release records rights, temporal coverage and source lineage. A UNI is allocated through a catalogue and never typed by hand.
    3. 09Digital Evidence PassportRecordThe passport records provenance, quality, rights, jurisdiction, permitted use and history, so evidence keeps its context when it travels.

  4. 04 Use and correction

    1. 02Correction reaches dependent recordsStep · NXS-GRX (canonical data, provenance and risk)A source correction propagates to dependent cuts and products without rewriting old results.
    2. 10Public-safe reviewGatePublic-safe review decides whether a record can be shared publicly. It is a distinct stage and is not validation.

Data protocols: evidence lifecycle · Data protocols: core data objects and evidence records · The Global Risks Index (NXS-GRX)Designed programme process, not a record of operation. No cycle has run and every programme is at service level R0. A gate is a programme decision, never a public-authority approval, certification or deployment authorisation. The data-protocol pages describe a design, not a running system.

06In systemic risk work

From yield to access.

A yield shock matters for risk through prices, incomes and nutrition. Agricultural science supplies the first link: how heat, drought, pests and management change yields. The common mistake in systemic work is to stop at production; the same harvest loss can be absorbed by stocks and trade in one year and cause a crisis in another.

  • Crop models disagree most under heat extremes and CO2 effects; use ensembles.
  • Report whether yields are irrigated or rain-fed, since they respond differently to drought.
  • Link yields to stocks-to-use ratios and trade, not only to production totals.
  • Applications on Food Nexus.
07Applied in

Platforms that apply this method.

08Stewardship

Who maintains this page.

Food Nexus stewards agricultural, soil and food science: it keeps this description current and reviews how the method is applied across the platforms.

09Sources

Where this page’s references lead.

The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.

10Questions

Questions and answers.

Why does one institution host every method page?
GCRI hosts the STEM Commons so that each method has one canonical description. Platforms link to it rather than repeat it, which keeps definitions consistent.
How do I suggest a correction to a method page?
Write to the integrity concern form with the passage and the reason.
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