Published in Environmental Modelling & Software

Map Agroecological
Similarity Across
the Globe

WEBAFSA harnesses the power of Fourier transforms to reveal hidden similarities between agricultural ecosystems — empowering researchers and policymakers with actionable insights.

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A Novel Computational Approach to Agroecological Similarity

WEBAFSA implements the Agroecology Fourier-based Similarity Assessment (AFSA), an innovative methodology that applies principles of the Fourier transform to systematically evaluate similarities among agroecological sites across the globe.

Designed for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, WEBAFSA transforms complex multivariate climate and soil data into intuitive, interactive similarity maps — no deep technical expertise required.

Global
Coverage with WorldClim & CHELSA datasets
1 km
Finest spatial resolution available
FFT
Fourier-based temporal alignment
Open
Free & accessible to all users

How AFSA Works

Four integrated computational stages transform raw agroecological data into actionable similarity insights.

01

Data Preprocessing

High-resolution climate and soil data is retrieved, filtered, and validated from global databases

02

Rotation Processing

FFT-based temporal alignment corrects seasonal shifts between reference and target sites

03

Dissimilarity Index

Weighted, normalized distances are computed across all selected environmental variables

04

Similarity Map

Results are rendered as an interactive, color-coded map overlaid on a global canvas

Built for Real-World Research

Every feature is designed to bridge the gap between complex agroecological data and actionable insights.

Interactive Mapping

Explore results on a dynamic Leaflet-powered map with switchable OpenStreetMap, LULC, and AFSA layers

Multiple Climate Datasets

Choose between WorldClim (10 km) for global analysis or CHELSA BIOCLIM+ (1 km) for regional precision

Customizable Variables

Select and weight temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, wind speed, and soil properties

Parallel Processing

Multi-core computation engine efficiently handles continental-scale datasets

LULC Integration

Cross-reference similarity results with ESA land use and land cover classification data

GIS Export

Download similarity maps as GeoTIFF files for use in QGIS, ArcGIS, and other platforms

Validated in the Field

🇹🇿
Maize Land Suitability — Tanzania

AFSA was rigorously tested through a maize land suitability assessment across Tanzania, leveraging six agroecological variables from the CHELSA BIOCLIM+ dataset and nearly 1,000 georeferenced yield observations from the TAMASA project. Chi-square analysis confirmed a statistically significant association between the computed suitability map and actual maize yields.

0 Field Observations
p < 0.001 Statistical Significance
0 Environmental Variables

Published Research

Environmental Modelling and Software · Volume 191
A novel integrated computational approach for agroecological similarity
Franck B.N. Tonle, Henri E.Z. Tonnang, Milliam M.Z. Ndadji, Maurice T. Tchendji, Armand Nzeukou, Saliou Niassy
DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106494 2025 · Open Access (CC BY 4.0)

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