Data Dictionary
Field-level documentation for every dataset available through the R2Data2 API. Core risk signals are county-level; crop progress is state-level context.
Drought Monitor
Weekly county-level drought conditions from the U.S. Drought Monitor, with derived persistence and trend metrics.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| valid_date | date | USDM release date (always a Tuesday, reflecting conditions through the prior week). |
| severity | integer |
Drought severity level.
–1 = drought-free · 0 = D0 abnormally dry · 1 = D1 moderate · 2 = D2 severe · 3 = D3 extreme · 4 = D4 exceptional
|
| category | string | USDM category label (D0–D4). Null when drought-free. |
| regime | string |
Derived drought regime classification.
drought_free · entering · deepening · flash_drought · persistent · recovering
|
| weeks_in_drought | integer | Consecutive weeks at D0 or worse as of this release date. |
| severity_change_4w | integer | Change in severity over the past 4 weeks. Negative = improving, positive = worsening. |
| burden_52w | integer | Cumulative drought stress over the past 52 weeks — the sum of weekly severity values floored at 0. A county in D1 for 10 weeks contributes 10; D0 weeks contribute 0. |
Precipitation & Weather
Daily PRISM 4km gridded climate data spatially aggregated to county boundaries.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| latest_date | date | Date of the most recent observation. Rolling window sums are calculated relative to this date. |
| precip_7d_mm | float | Total precipitation over the past 7 days. Millimeters. |
| precip_30d_mm | float | Total precipitation over the past 30 days. Millimeters. |
| precip_90d_mm | float | Total precipitation over the past 90 days. Millimeters. |
| tmax_c | float | Most recent daily maximum temperature. Degrees Celsius. |
| tmin_c | float | Most recent daily minimum temperature. Degrees Celsius. |
| vpdmax_hpa | float | Most recent daily maximum vapor pressure deficit. Hectopascals. Higher values indicate greater atmospheric dryness and increased plant stress potential. |
Soil Moisture
NASA SMAP L3 passive microwave soil moisture retrievals aggregated to county level.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| obs_date | date | Date of the SMAP overpass used for this observation. |
| sm_mean_am | float |
Mean volumetric soil water content from the AM (descending) overpass. m³/m³.
Null when frozen ground or dense vegetation prevents valid retrieval. Typical range: 0.05 (very dry) – 0.45 (saturated).
|
| coverage_pct_am | float | Percentage of county grid cells with valid SMAP data on this date. Low values (<20%) indicate limited spatial coverage — treat the county mean with caution. |
| vwc_am | float | Mean vegetation water content from the AM overpass. kg/m². An indicator of plant water status and canopy conditions. |
Growing Degree Days
Season-to-date GDD accumulations derived from PRISM daily tmax/tmin, with crop-specific base and cap temperatures.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| season_start | date | Start of the accumulation period — January 1 of the current calendar year. |
| as_of | date | Latest date included in the season-to-date accumulation. |
| gdd_corn | float | Season-to-date GDD for corn. Base 10°C, cap 30°C. |
| gdd_soybeans | float | Season-to-date GDD for soybeans. Base 10°C, cap 30°C. |
| gdd_wheat | float | Season-to-date GDD for winter wheat. Base 0°C, cap 26°C. |
| gdd_cotton | float | Season-to-date GDD for cotton. Base 15.5°C, cap 37.7°C. |
| gdd_sorghum | float | Season-to-date GDD for sorghum. Base 10°C, cap 37.8°C. |
| gdd_*_prior_year | float | Same accumulation window (Jan 1 → same calendar date) for the prior year. Use for year-over-year pace comparison. Available for all five crops. |
Formula: GDD = max(0, ((min(tmax, cap) + max(tmin, base)) / 2) − base)
Crop Yields
USDA NASS county-level annual crop yield and harvested acreage. Values may be suppressed by NASS for counties with fewer than three reporting operations.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| year | integer | Crop year. Current year is not available — NASS finalizes prior-year county data each January. |
| crop | string |
Crop identifier.
CORN · SOYBEANS · WHEAT_WINTER · COTTON · SORGHUM
|
| yield_value | float | Yield per harvested acre. Null when NASS suppresses the value (fewer than 3 operations or confidentiality threshold). |
| yield_unit | string | Unit of yield_value. BU / ACRE for grain crops, LB / ACRE for cotton. |
| acres_harvested | integer | Total harvested acres in the county for that crop and year. May also be null when suppressed. |
Crop Progress
USDA NASS weekly crop progress percentages by state. Tracks planting, emergence, and harvest advancement through the growing season.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| state_fips | string | 2-digit state FIPS code. Join to county data via LEFT(fips, 2). |
| week_ending | date | The Saturday the NASS survey week ends on. |
| crop | string |
Crop identifier.
CORN · SOYBEANS · WHEAT_WINTER · WHEAT_SPRING · COTTON · SORGHUM
|
| stage | string |
Growth stage label. Varies by crop.
CORN: PLANTED · EMERGED · SILKING · DOUGH · DENTED · MATURE · HARVESTED
SOYBEANS: PLANTED · EMERGED · BLOOMING · SETTING PODS · DROPPING LEAVES · HARVESTED
WHEAT: PLANTED · EMERGED · HEADED · HARVESTED
COTTON: PLANTED · SQUARED · SETTING BOLLS · BOLLS OPENING · HARVESTED
SORGHUM: PLANTED · EMERGED · HEADED · HARVESTED
|
| progress_pct | float | Percentage of the crop at or past this stage (0–100). Published only during the active growing season — absence of a row means the survey was not conducted that week. |
Risk Score
Composite agricultural stress index derived from all available signals. Requires Starter plan or above.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| score | integer | Composite risk score from 0 (no stress) to 100 (extreme stress). Scaled to available data — see data_coverage_pct. |
| rating | string |
Human-readable label.
minimal (0–15) · low (16–30) · moderate (31–50) · elevated (51–65) · high (66–80) · extreme (81–100)
|
| components.drought | integer | Drought component contribution. 0–50. Weighted most heavily as USDM severity is already region-normalized. |
| components.precipitation | integer | Precipitation deficit component. 0–20. Based on 90-day total and recent 7-day trend. |
| components.soil_moisture | integer | Soil moisture stress component. 0–20. Null when SMAP coverage is unavailable (e.g. frozen ground). |
| components.gdd_pace | integer | GDD pace component. 0–10. Based on corn GDD relative to the same window in the prior year. Null early in the season when both values are near zero. |
| data_coverage_pct | integer | Percentage of the total possible component points (100) that had valid data. A score with 100% coverage is fully constrained; lower values indicate the score was scaled from fewer signals. |
County Summary
A single joined response combining all datasets for a county. The fastest way to get a complete current picture without making multiple API calls.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| fips | string | 5-digit county FIPS code, zero-padded. |
| county_name | string | County name as reported by USDM. |
| state_abbr | string | Two-letter state abbreviation. |
| drought | object | Latest drought observation. Contains all fields from the Drought Monitor dataset. Null if no drought data is available for this county. |
| precipitation | object | Rolling precipitation windows and latest weather scalars from PRISM. Contains all fields from the Precipitation & Weather dataset. Null if no PRISM data is available. |
| soil_moisture | object | Latest SMAP soil moisture observation. Contains all fields from the Soil Moisture dataset. Null if no SMAP data is available.
Commonly null in winter months due to frozen ground preventing valid microwave retrieval.
|
| gdd | object | Season-to-date GDD accumulations for all five crops plus prior-year comparison. Contains all fields from the Growing Degree Days dataset. Null if no GDD data is available. |
| crop_yields | array | Most recent available yield record per crop. Each item contains year, crop, yield_value, yield_unit, and acres_harvested. Empty array if no NASS data exists for this county.
Year may differ by crop — NASS suppresses data for thin counties, so the most recent available year varies.
|
Portfolio Summary
Batch endpoint that returns a county summary for up to 50 counties in a single request. Each county counts as one request toward your daily limit.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| fips | array | List of 5-digit FIPS codes to retrieve. Maximum 50 per request. Each FIPS consumes one request from your daily limit. |
| include_risk_score | boolean | When true, each item in the response includes a risk_score and risk_rating computed from the county's current conditions. Defaults to false. |
| count | integer | Number of counties returned in the response. |
| items | array | Array of county results. Each item contains the same fields as the County Summary endpoint, plus optional risk_score and risk_rating fields. |
| items[].risk_score | integer | Composite 0–100 risk score for the county. Only present when include_risk_score is true. See Risk Score for component definitions. |
| items[].risk_rating | string | Human-readable rating label. Only present when include_risk_score is true. |