IPUMS Terra

IPUMS Terra integrates global population data with data on the environment and provides a framework for locating, analyzing, and visualizing the the data in time and space for investigating agents of change, assessing implications for human society and environment, and developing policies to meet future challenges. 

IPUMS Terra focuses on five kinds of data:

1. Census and survey microdata describing characteristics of individuals, families, and households.
2. Aggregated census and survey data describing the characteristics of places, including aggregated population characteristics, land use, and land cover.
3. Data derived from remote-sensing describing land cover and other characteristics.
4. Climate data describing temperature, precipitation, and other climate-related variables.
5. Vector-based geographic information system (GIS) data delineating administrative and census unit boundaries.

The data are held in three formats: microdata, area-level data, and raster data. The IPUMS Terra ingest process for acquiring, processing, and describing data is well-documented and incorporates the production of provenance metadata. Terra aims to capture information on the sources of data included, along with as much information as is practicable on how data were obtained, processed, and developed by the providers.