The Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is a center within the Columbia Climate School at Columbia University. CIESIN works at the intersection of the social, natural, and information sciences, and specializes in on-line data and information management, spatial data integration and training, and interdisciplinary research related to human interactions in the environment.

New SEDAC Data Releases Include First-Ever Global Poverty Grid

Several new data products have been released under CIESIN’s NASA-funded Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Foremost among them, the Global Gridded Relative Deprivation Index (GRDI) measures relative poverty and deprivation using subnational data on human development, infant mortality, and child dependency, as well as satellite-derived data on built-up areas, nighttime lights, and change in nighttime lights. It is the first product of its kind that covers the entire world at a 1 kilometer spatial resolution. Other new data sets from the NASA SEDAC include:

—Daily and Annual Air Quality Data Sets for the Contiguous U.S. support research in environmental epidemiology, environmental justice, and health equity by linking with ZIP Code-level demographic and medical data sets.

—Country Trends in Major Air Pollutants, a framework of public-health-focused air quality indicators that measures more than 200 countries' trends in exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone (O3), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Developed by an interdisciplinary team from Yale University with NASA SEDAC.

—Urban and Land Backscatter Time Series. Based on satellite microwave backscatter, the data set traces trends in urban settlements from 1993 to 2020. Developed by a team led by Steve Frolking, University of New Hampshire.

—Twentieth Century Crop Statistics, a crop yield data set spanning the period 1900‒2017 provides national and subnational data on production, yield, and harvested area of maize and wheat for many of the world’s major bread baskets. Developed by W. Anderson and others.

—Water Security Monthly Grids. Monthly surpluses and deficits of freshwater, computed on a 0.25 degree grid for 1948‒2014. Developed with ISciences.