We introduce SPAM2010 – the latest global spatially explicit datasets on agricultural production circa 2010. The Spatial Production Allocation Model is an effective way to map detailed patterns of crop production using much less specific input data. A variety of information sources are used to generate plausible, disaggregated estimates of crop distribution, which are useful for understanding production and land use patterns. Identifying where trends take place is important for understanding why they take place. Moving the data from coarser units such as countries and subnational provinces, to finer units such as grid cells at 10×10 km resolution, reveals spatial patterns of crop performance, creating a global gridscape at the confluence between geography and agricultural production systems.
