The dateset of TIR (Patent No.: ZL 02 2 37640.2) emissivity measurements was obtained in No. 3 quadrate of the A'rou foci experimental area on Mar. 14, 2008. The observation site was covered with dry pasture with height less than 5cm, in which the center point of each grid was measured twice and was named in the form of A3-9 (number 9 point in No. 3 quadrate of A'rou). Each measurement was carried out at 45° and followed strictly the order: Tsky, Tcha, Tsm and Tcm. Meanwhile, the surface temperature was also acquired by the handheld infrared thermometer and the thermal imager (FLIR ThermaCAM). [emissivity=1- (Tcm^4 – Tsm^4)/ (Tcha^4 – Tsky^4)]. Those provide reliable data for retrieval and study of the surface temperature, and energy and radiation balance.

The dataset of airborne WiDAS mission was obtained in the Linze station-Linze grassland flight zone on Jun. 29, 2008. Data available for general users include Level-2C data (after geometric, radiometric and atmospheric corrections), Level-1B browse image (after intra-band matchingintra-band) and Level-2B browse image (intra-bandafter registration). The raw data, Level-1A, and data processing parameters were filed; applications would be evaluated prior to access. Data processing started in Aug. 2008 and ended in Apr. 2009, and in Nov. 2009, CCD data were reprocessed to adjust radiometric calibration. The flying time of each route was as follows: {| ! id ! flight ! relative height ! starttime ! endtime ! data size ! data state ! data quality ! ground targets |- | 1 || 1#13 || 1500m || 11:44:35 || 11:50:31 || 90 || processed;complete || good || Pingchuan reservoir |- | 2 || 1#11 || 1500m || 11:55:55 || 12:01:55 || 91 || processed;complete || good || Linze grass station |- | 3 || 1#9_1 || 1500m || 12:06:27 || 12:12:27 || 91 || incomplete || incomplete || Pingchuan reservoir |- | 4 || 1#9_2 || 1500m || 13:01:35 || 13:07:43 || 93 || processed;complete || good || Pingchuan reservoir |- | 5 || 1#7 || 1500m || 12:17:59 || 12:23:59 || 91 || processed;complete || good || desert transit plot |- | 6 || 1#5 || 1500m || 12:28:35 || 12:34:31 || 　90 || processed;complete || good || North-south desert strip |- | 7 || 1#3 || 1500m || 12:39:11 || 12:45:03 || 　89 || processed;complete || good || Pingchuan reservoir |- | 8 || 1#1 || 1500m || 12:50:55 || 12:56:51 || 90 || processed;complete || good || Linze station |}

The dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with PROBA CHRIS was obtained in the Biandukou foci experimental area on Jun. 22, 2008. Observation items included: (1) quadrates investigation including GPS by GARMIN GPS 76, species by manual cognition, the plant number by manual work, the height by the measuring tape repeated 4-5 times, the chlorophyll content by SPAD 502, the coverage by manual work and the biomass (samples from 0.5m×0.5m) by wet weight and dry weight. Data were archived as Excel files. (2) LAI of maize, desert scrub and the poplar by the fisheye camera (CANON EOS40D with a lens of EF15/28), shooting straight downwards, with exceptions of higher plants, which were shot upwards. Data included original photos (.JPG) and those processed by can_eye5.0 (as Excel files). For more details, see Readme file. (3) ground object spectrum of grassland, barley and the rape by ASD FieldSpec (350～2 500 nm) from BNU, with 20% reference board. Raw data were binary files direct from ASD (by ViewSpecPro), which were recorded daily in detail, and pre-processed data on reflectance were in .txt. (4) BRDF of grassland, barley and the rape by ASD FieldSpec (350～2 500 nm), with 20% reference board. Raw data were binary files direct from ASD (by ViewSpecPro), which were recorded daily in detail. The processed reflectance and transmittivity were archived in .txt files. The dataset includes processed spectrum data, soil moisture, BRDF, quadrates investigation, integrating spheres data on the rape, LAI, CHRIS data and the fisheye camera data.

The dataset of ground truth measurements for snow synchronizing with Envisat ASAR was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 15, 2008. The Envisat ASAR data were acquired in AP mode and VV/VH polarization combinations, and the overpass time was approximately at 11:34 BJT. Observation items included: (1) Snow density, snow complex permittivity, snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture by the snowfork in BG-B, BG-D, BG-E and BG-F; (2) Snow parameters including the snow surface temperature and the snow-soil interface temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer, the snow layer temperature by the probe thermometer, the snow grain size by the handheld microscope, snow density by the aluminum case, snow depth by the ruler, and the snow surface temperature synchronizing with ASAR in BG-H, BG-D, BG-E and BG-F; (3) The snow spectrum by the portable ASD (Xinjiang Meteorological Administration) synchronizing with ASAR in BG-H15; the major and minor axis and shape of the snow layer grain through the self-made snow sieve. Two files including raw data and the preprocessed data were archived.

The dataset of soil moisture profile (0cm, 20cm, 40cm and 1m) observations was obtained by TDR (with the probe 12cm and 20cm) in the Yingke oasis and Huazhaizi desert steppe foci experimental areas. Observation items included: (1) Soil moisture synchronizing with TM in Yingke oasis No. 1, 4 and 5 maize plots on May 20, 2008. (2) Soil moisture synchronizing with ASTER and MODIS in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on May 28, 2008. (3) Soil moisture synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on May 30, 2008. (4) Soil moisture synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in A'rou grassland on May 31, 2008. (5) Soil moisture synchronizing with OMIS-II in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on Jun. 4, 2008. (6) Soil moisture synchronizing with OMIS-II in Yingke oasis maize field on Jun. 16, 2008. (7) Soil moisture by TDR and the cutting ring, synchronizing with ASAR in Yingke oasis maize field and wheat field on Jun. 19, 2008. (8) Soil moisture synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on Jun. 29, 2008. (9) Soil moisture synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) and TM in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on Jul. 7, 2008. (10) Soil moisture synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on Jul. 11, 2008.

The dataset of airborne imaging spectrometer (OMIS-II) mission was obtained in the Linze station-Linze grassland flight zone on Jun. 15, 2008. Data after radiometric correction and calibration and geometric approximate correction were released. The flying time of each route was as follows: {| ! id ! flight ! file ! starttime ! lat ! long ! alt ! image liange ! endtime ! lat ! long ! lat |- | 1 || reservoir 1 || 2008-06-15_11-55-28_DATA.BSQ || 12:12:48 || 39.013 || 100.236 || -1.0 || 2540 || 12:15:37 || 39.085 || 100.150 || -1.0 |- | 2 || 1-13 || 2008-06-15_12-15-51_DATA.BSQ || 12:20:47 || 39.172 || 100.048 || 2867.7 || 5572 || 12:26:58 || 39.359 || 100.190 || 2867.8 |- | 3 || 1-12 || 2008-06-15_12-27-13_DATA.BSQ || 12:31:59 || 39.366 || 100.188 || 2846.6 || 5067 || 12:37:37 || 39.185 || 100.051 || 2867.8 |- | 4 || 1-11 || 2008-06-15_12-37-51_DATA.BSQ || 12:42:52 || 39.179 || 100.039 || 2878.8 || 5542 || 12:49:02 || 39.363 || 100.179 || 2884.8 |- | 5 || 1-10 || 2008-06-15_12-49-16_DATA.BSQ || 12:54:29 || 39.373 || 100.179 || 2909.9 || 5116 || 13:00:10 || 39.187 || 100.039 || 2897.3 |- | 6 || 1-9 || 2008-06-15_13-00-24_DATA.BSQ || 13:05:30 || 39.182 || 100.028 || 2864.2 || 5498 || 13:11:37 || 39.366 || 100.167 || 2859.7 |- | 7 || 1-8 || 2008-06-15_13-11-51_DATA.BSQ || 13:17:22 || 39.377 || 100.169 || 2846.8 || 5114 || 13:23:02 || 39.191 || 100.029 || 2862.3 |- | 8 || 1-7 || 2008-06-15_13-23-17_DATA.BSQ || 13:28:06 || 39.187 || 100.0187 || 2857.1 || 5497 || 13:34:13 || 39.372 || 100.158 || 2842.5 |- | 9 || 1-6 || 2008-06-15_13-34-27_DATA.BSQ || 13:39:10 || 39.380 || 100.158 || 2909.7 || 5184 || 13:44:55 || 39.197 || 100.019 || 2861.8 |- | 10 || 1-5 || 2008-06-15_13-45-10_DATA.BSQ || 13:50:09 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 5488 || 13:56:09 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |- | 11 || 1-4 || 2008-06-15_13-56-23_DATA.BSQ || 14:01:20 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 5353 || 14:07:18 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |- | 12 || 1-3 || 2008-06-15_14-07-32_DATA.BSQ || 14:12:36 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 5350 || 14:18:30 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |- | 13 || 1-2 || 2008-06-15_14-18-46_DATA.BSQ || 14:22:48 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 5236 || 14:28:31 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |- | 14 || 1-1 || 2008-06-15_14-28-49_DATA.BSQ || 14:34:02 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 5964 || 14:40:11 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |- | 15 || reservoir 2 || 2008-06-15_14-40-51_DATA.BSQ || 14:51:05 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 6846 || 14:58:35 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |}

The dataset of airborne WiDAS mission was obtained in the A'rou flight zone on Jul. 7, 2008. Due to cloud/cloud shadow influence, atmospheric correction could not be performed, and geometric registration was performed manually instead of automatic matching. Level-2B (after radiometric and manual geometric corrections) and mosaic images were available for users. For the visible near infrared band the resolution is 1.25m, Radiance was recorded (W/ (sr•m^2•nm);DN=Radiance*100000); for TIR band, the brightness temperature was recorded (℃; DN=Brightness_Temperature*100) . The flying time of each route was as follows: {| ! id ! flight ! relative height ! starttime ! endtime ! data size ! data state ! data quality ! ground targets |- | 1 || 6#1 || 1500m || 13:43:18 || 13:46:26 || 48 || incomplete || incomplete |- | 2 || 6#3 || 1500m || 13:52:26 || 13:55:18 || 43 || incomplete || incomplete |- | 3 || 6#5 || 1500m || 13:59:30 || 14:02:38 || 48 || incomplete || incomplete || A’rou freeze/thaw observation station |- | 4 || 6#7 || 1500m || 14:08:02 || 14:11:02 || 46 || incomplete || incomplete |}

The dataset of airborne Polarimetric L-band Multibeam Radiometers (PLMR) was acquired on 1 August, 2012, located in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin. The aircraft took off at 8:30 am (UTC+8) from Zhangye airport and landed at 12:30 pm, with the flight time of 4 hours. The flight was performed in the altitude of about 1000 m and at the speed of about 220-250 km during the observation, corresponding to an expected ground resolution of about 300 m. The PLMR instrument flown on a small aircraft operates at 1.413 GHz (L-band), with both H- and V-polarizations at incidence angles of ±7.5°, ±21.5° and ±38.5°. PLMR ‘warm’ and ‘cold’ calibrations were performed before and after each flight. The processed PLMR data include 2 DAT files (v-pol and h-pol separately) and 1 KMZ file for each flying day. The DAT file contains all the TB values together with their corresponding beam ID, incidence angle, location, time stamp (in UTC) and other flight attitude information as per headings. The KMZ file shows the gridded 1-km TB values corrected to 38.5 degrees together with flight lines. Cautions should be taken when using these data, as the RFI contaminations are often higher than expected at v-polarization.

The dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with airborne WiDAS mission was obtained in the Linze grassland foci experimental area on Jul. 11, 2008. WiDAS, composed of four CCD cameras, one mid-infrared thermal imager (AGEMA 550), and one infrared thermal imager (S60), can acquire CCD, MIR and TIR band data. These simultaneous ground data were mainly the land surface temperature measured by the hand-held infrared thermometer in the reed plot A, the saline plots B and C, the alfalfa plot D and the barley plot E, the maximum of which were 120m×120m and the minimum were 30m×30m. Data were archived in Excel file. See WATER: Dataset of setting of the sampling plots and stripes in the foci experimental area of Linze station for more information.

The dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with airborne WiDAS mission was obtained in the Linze grassland foci experimental area on Jun. 29, 2008. WiDAS, composed of four CCD cameras, one mid-infrared thermal imager (AGEMA 550), and one infrared thermal imager (S60), can acquire CCD, MIR and TIR band data. The simultaneous ground data were mainly the land surface temperature measured by the hand-held infrared thermometer in the reed plot A, the saline plots B and C and the barley plot E, the maximum of which were 120m×120m and the minimum were 30m×30m. Data were archived in Excel file. See WATER: Dataset of setting of the sampling plots and stripes in the foci experimental area of Linze station for more information.

The dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with airborne WiDAS mission was obtained in the Linze grassland foci experimental area on May 30, 2008. WiDAS, composed of four CCD cameras, one mid-infrared thermal imager (AGEMA 550), and one infrared thermal imager (S60), can acquire CCD, MIR and TIR band data. The simultaneous ground data included the land surface temperature measured by the hand-held infrared thermometer in the reed plot A, the saline plots B and C, the alfalfa plot D and the barley plot E, the maximum of which were 120m×120m and the minimum were 30m×30m, and soil gravimetric moisture, volumetric moisture, and soil bulk density after drying measured by the cutting ring and the mean soil temperature from 0-5cm measured by the probe thermometer in plot A, B and C; the soil temperature, soil moisture, the loss tangent, soil conductivity, the real part and the imaginary part of soil complex permittivity measured by the POGO soil sensor, and the mean soil temperature from 0-5cm measured by the probe thermometer in plot D and E. See WATER: Dataset of setting of the sampling plots and stripes in the foci experimental area of Linze station for more information.

The dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with ALOS PALSAR was obtained in the Linze station foci experimental area on Jul. 10, 2008. The ALOS PALSAR data were in FBS mode and HH polarization combinations, and the overpass time was approximately at 23:39 BJT. Soil moisture (0-5cm) data were measured by the cutting ring method (50cm^3) in LY07 and LY08 quadrates (repeated nine times). The quadrate location information was listed in coordinates.xls and data were archived as Excel files. See the metadata record “WATER: Dataset of setting of the sampling plots and stripes in the Linze station foci experimental area” for more information of the quadrate locations.