Satellite-Driven Data
for Tracking Conservation
Operational Tillage Information System
CTIC has partnered since 2010 with Regrow and The Nature Conservancy on the development, testing and application of the Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS), an automated system to map tillage, residue cover, winter cover, and soil health practices using remote sensing data.
The latest version of the OpTIS data are available below for Croplands. Timed with the April 2024 update to the visualization tool, the partners released analogous data for Grasslands. Later in 2024 (October), the state-scale Livestock GHG Inventory was released (as a report and an Excel workbook).
All pages include charts and maps to further enhance identification of trends and opportunities to promote the adoption of conservation practices. As with previous releases, all data are undergoing various forms of peer review and may be updated in the future.
Explore The Data
Croplands
Remote-sensing derived, CONUS-wide cropland data for the adoption of two important conservation practices (cover crops and reduced tillage), as well…
Grasslands
Remote-sensing derived, CONUS-wide grassland data for various vegetation type and health metrics, as well as soil and GHG outcomes based…
Livestock
CONUS-wide estimates of annual, state-scale enteric- and manure-based GHG emissions for dairy and beef systems, during a recent baseline year…
OpTIS 4.0 Background
CTIC has partnered with Regrow and The Nature Conservancy on the development, testing and application of the Operational Tillage Information System (OpTIS), an automated system to map tillage, residue cover, winter cover, and soil health practices using remote sensing data. While OpTIS calculations are performed at the farm-field scale using publicly available data, the privacy of individual producers is fully protected by reporting only spatially-aggregated results at regional and watershed scales.
OpTIS-based data are currently available for the years 2015 through 2021. The Version 4.0 dataset released in September 2023 uses updated algorithms for croplands in all lower 48 states (CONUS). Both the OpTIS and DNDC pages include charts and maps to further enhance identification of trends and opportunities to promote the adoption of conservation practices. The OpTIS data are available for Croplands and a companion product is now available for Grasslands, for the same geography (CONUS) and time period (2015-2021). As with previous releases, all data are undergoing various forms of peer review and may be updated in the future.
Some of the organizations that have supported the development of OpTIS have included USDA, NASA, Bayer, Corteva, Enterprise, Ecosystem Services Market Consortium, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, Howard G. Buffet Foundation, John Deere, Monsanto, The Mosaic Company, The Nature Conservancy, Simplot, Soil Health Partnership, Syngenta, Walmart Foundation, and Walton Family Foundation.
Data Release Date: September, 2023
How does it work?
Both the Croplands (OpTIS) and Grassland systems produce spatially comprehensive maps of tillage, crop residue cover, winter cover, and soil health practices using information integrated from multiple earth-observing satellites. Click either of the links below for detailed reports on the Croplands (OpTIS) or Grasslands methodology.