Ten indicators, one landscape

Each indicator answers a concrete question about how the land is working. Pick one to see its national map and how it is computed.

ProductivityAPAR

Absorbed photosynthetically active radiation

What it measures: The solar energy that vegetation captures to grow.
How it is computed: The fraction of radiation absorbed by vegetation, estimated from the MODIS EVI index, multiplied by the radiation reaching the ground.

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Unit: MJ/m² per year
Updates: Every 16 days
Series: Since 2001
Resolution: 231 m

References

Monteith, J. L. (1972). Solar radiation and productivity in tropical ecosystems. Journal of Applied Ecology 9: 747–766.DOI 10.2307/2401901 (opens in a new tab)
Piñeiro, G., Oesterheld, M. & Paruelo, J. M. (2006). Seasonal variation in aboveground production and radiation-use efficiency of temperate rangelands estimated through remote sensing. Ecosystems 9: 357–373.DOI 10.1007/s10021-005-0013-x (opens in a new tab)

Map of Uruguay coloured by Absorbed photosynthetically active radiation — 836MJ/m² per year1,911
The map shows: Total for the 2025–26 growing year

Absorbed radiation through the year

MJ/m² every 16 days

View the data as a table

Absorbed radiation through the year
Period starting	Average 2001–2026	Year 2025–26
12 July	27	25
28 July	34	37
13 August	41	47
29 August	47	45
14 September	61	72
30 September	70	83
16 October	80	89
1 November	90	99
17 November	90	103
3 December	90	98
19 December	89	106
1 January	88	98
17 January	90	101
2 February	84	84
18 February	84	93
6 March	74	74
22 March	64	68
7 April	53	65
23 April	41	46
9 May	35	42
25 May	29	27
10 June	26	27
26 June	26	28

EcosystemCOB

Land cover

What it measures: What covers each place in the country: natural grassland, crops, tree plantations, native forest or water.
How it is computed: Yearly classification of Landsat imagery by the MapBiomas Pampa project, at 30 m detail.

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Unit: Hectares per cover type
Updates: Yearly
Series: 1985–2021
Resolution: 30 m

References

Baeza, S. et al. (2022). Two decades of land cover mapping in the Río de la Plata grassland region: The MapBiomas Pampa initiative. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment 28: 100834.DOI 10.1016/j.rsase.2022.100834 (opens in a new tab)

Map of Uruguay coloured by Land cover — Natural grasslandOther uses
The map shows: Natural grassland in 2021

Natural grassland, as a share of the country

% of the country

View the data as a table

Natural grassland, as a share of the country
Year	Land cover
1985	71%
1986	70%
1987	70%
1988	70%
1989	70%
1990	70%
1991	70%
1992	70%
1993	69%
1994	68%
1995	68%
1996	68%
1997	68%
1998	67%
1999	67%
2000	66%
2001	66%
2002	66%
2003	66%
2004	65%
2005	64%
2006	64%
2007	64%
2008	63%
2009	62%
2010	61%
2011	60%
2012	59%
2013	58%
2014	58%
2015	58%
2016	58%
2017	58%
2018	58%
2019	58%
2020	58%
2021	58%

ProductivityANPP

Aboveground net primary production

What it measures: How much grass, as dry matter, the vegetation produces per hectare.
How it is computed: Monteith's model: the radiation absorbed by vegetation multiplied by the efficiency with which it becomes biomass.

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Unit: kg DM/ha per year
Updates: Every 16 days
Series: Since 2001
Resolution: 231 m

References

Piñeiro, G., Oesterheld, M. & Paruelo, J. M. (2006). Seasonal variation in aboveground production and radiation-use efficiency of temperate rangelands estimated through remote sensing. Ecosystems 9: 357–373.DOI 10.1007/s10021-005-0013-x (opens in a new tab)
Baeza, S., Lezama, F., Piñeiro, G., Altesor, A. & Paruelo, J. M. (2010). Spatial variability of above-ground net primary production in Uruguayan grasslands: a remote sensing approach. Applied Vegetation Science 13: 72–85.DOI 10.1111/j.1654-109X.2009.01051.x (opens in a new tab)

Map of Uruguay coloured by Aboveground net primary production — 1,420kg DM/ha per year7,839
The map shows: Total for the 2025–26 growing year

Total production of each growing year

kg DM/ha per year

View the data as a table

Total production of each growing year
Year	kg DM/ha per year
2001–02	5,585
2002–03	5,556
2003–04	5,505
2004–05	5,191
2005–06	5,461
2006–07	5,673
2007–08	5,118
2008–09	5,134
2009–10	5,733
2010–11	5,135
2011–12	5,537
2012–13	5,996
2013–14	5,705
2014–15	5,667
2015–16	5,334
2016–17	5,864
2017–18	5,297
2018–19	6,001
2019–20	5,694
2020–21	5,886
2021–22	5,822
2022–23	5,304
2023–24	6,595
2024–25	6,291
2025–26	6,138

WaterRH

Hydrological yield

What it measures: The water left over from the balance between rain and evapotranspiration, which feeds streams and aquifers.
How it is computed: A soil water balance using CHIRPS rainfall and satellite-based evapotranspiration.

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Unit: mm per year
Updates: Every 16 days
Series: Since 2003
Resolution: 500 m

References

Gallego, F., Camba Sans, G., Di Bella, C. M., Tiscornia, G. & Paruelo, J. M. (2023). Performance of real evapotranspiration products and water yield estimations in Uruguay. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment 32: 101043.DOI 10.1016/j.rsase.2023.101043 (opens in a new tab)

Map of Uruguay coloured by Hydrological yield — 30mm per year1,896
The map shows: Total for the 2025–26 growing year

Water yield of each year

mm per year

View the data as a table

Water yield of each year
Year	mm per year
2003–04	508
2004–05	743
2005–06	397
2006–07	814
2007–08	378
2008–09	348
2009–10	985
2010–11	410
2011–12	478
2012–13	584
2013–14	698
2014–15	623
2015–16	1,074
2016–17	538
2017–18	621
2018–19	654
2019–20	516
2020–21	324
2021–22	436
2022–23	291
2023–24	887
2024–25	451
2025–26	264

WaterET

Actual evapotranspiration

What it measures: The water returned to the atmosphere from soil and plants.
How it is computed: Satellite evapotranspiration products evaluated for Uruguay against water balance models.

See on the map

Unit: mm per year
Updates: Every 8 days
Series: Since 2001
Resolution: 500 m

References

Gallego, F., Camba Sans, G., Di Bella, C. M., Tiscornia, G. & Paruelo, J. M. (2023). Performance of real evapotranspiration products and water yield estimations in Uruguay. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment 32: 101043.DOI 10.1016/j.rsase.2023.101043 (opens in a new tab)

Map of Uruguay coloured by Actual evapotranspiration — 444mm per year1,164
The map shows: Total for the 2025–26 growing year

Evapotranspiration of each growing year

mm per year

View the data as a table

Evapotranspiration of each growing year
Year	mm per year
2001–02	769
2002–03	806
2003–04	698
2004–05	663
2005–06	670
2006–07	746
2007–08	678
2008–09	644
2009–10	817
2010–11	633
2011–12	705
2012–13	803
2013–14	782
2014–15	822
2015–16	773
2016–17	839
2017–18	722
2018–19	871
2019–20	771
2020–21	741
2021–22	736
2022–23	616
2023–24	760
2024–25	728
2025–26	689

EcosystemESPI

Ecosystem Services Provision Index

What it measures: How much the ecosystem regulates carbon, water and biodiversity, judged by how much and how evenly vegetation grows through the year.
How it is computed: The yearly mean of the NDVI vegetation index multiplied by one minus its within-year variation.

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Unit: Index from 0 to 1
Updates: Yearly
Series: 2000–01 to 2021–22
Resolution: 231 m

References

Paruelo, J. M., Texeira, M., Staiano, L., Mastrángelo, M., Amdan, L. & Gallego, F. (2016). An integrative index of Ecosystem Services provision based on remotely sensed data. Ecological Indicators 71: 145–154.DOI 10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.06.054 (opens in a new tab)

Map of Uruguay coloured by Ecosystem Services Provision Index — 0.53Index from 0 to 10.81
The map shows: Productive year 2021–22

Country-wide average index

Index from 0 to 1

View the data as a table

Country-wide average index
Year	Ecosystem service supply
2000	0.74
2001	0.76
2002	0.73
2003	0.70
2004	0.70
2005	0.70
2006	0.73
2007	0.67
2008	0.64
2009	0.72
2010	0.67
2011	0.68
2012	0.72
2013	0.71
2014	0.69
2015	0.69
2016	0.73
2017	0.69
2018	0.74
2019	0.70
2020	0.70
2021	0.68

Ten indicators, one landscape

Absorbed photosynthetically active radiation

References

Absorbed radiation through the year

Land cover

References

Natural grassland, as a share of the country

Aboveground net primary production

References

Total production of each growing year

Natural grassland communities

References

Area of each community

Hydrological yield

References

Water yield of each year

Actual evapotranspiration

References

Evapotranspiration of each growing year

Ecosystem Services Provision Index

References

Country-wide average index

Ecosystem functional type diversity

References

How it spreads across the territory

Soil loss from erosion

References

How it spreads across the territory

Human appropriation of net primary production

References

How it spreads across the territory