1) Dataset: The dataset includes mass balance data during 2010-2015 on the Laohuogou Glacier No. 12. 2) Sourc and methods: the mass balances were measured at each 100 m elevation belt, and every elevation had installed three plastic stick to measure mass balance. The mass balance of entire glacier was mesrued in May and September, the glacier-wide mass balance was calculated following met Area-Average method. 3) Data quality dsecription: data were manually measured following glaciology method, with a good quality.

This data set is the distribution data of permafrost and underground ice in Qilian Mountains. Based on the existing borehole data, combined with the Quaternary sedimentary type distribution data and land use data in Qilian mountain area, this paper estimates the distribution of underground ice from permafrost upper limit to 10 m depth underground. In this data set, 374 boreholes in Qilian mountain area are used, and the indication function of Quaternary sedimentary type to underground ice storage is considered, so it has certain reliability. This data has a certain scientific value for the study of permafrost and water resources in Qilian Mountains. In addition, it has a certain promotion value for the estimation of underground ice reserves in the whole Qinghai Tibet Plateau.

The data content mainly includes the main and micro data of the whole rock of some magmatic rocks in the Hoh Xil Lhasa plate of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. The samples were mainly distributed in Hoh Xil lake, South Qiangtang guoganjianian, Dugur, and Gangdise Nasongduo and Saga counties. There are more than 300 major and trace elements in the samples, including olivine leucite, quartz monzonite, diorite and granite, which are of great significance to the study of the lithospheric evolution of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. Data mainly come from published articles or being accepted. XRF spectroscopy was used to determine the major elements and ICP-MS was used to determine the trace elements. The data quality is highly reliable, and the testing units include the State Key Laboratory of Guangzhou Institute of geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc. The data are published in high-level journals, including geology, BSA bulletin and Journal of petroleum.

These data contain two data files: GLOBELAND30 TILES (raw data) and TIBET_ GLOBELAND30_MOSAIC (mosaic data). The raw data were downloaded from the Global Land Cover Data website (GlobalLand3) (http://www.globallandcover.com) and cover the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding areas. The raw data were stored in frames, and for the convenience of using the data, we use Erdas software to splice and mosaic the raw data. The Global Land Cover Data (GlobalLand30) is the result of the “Global Land Cover Remote Sensing Mapping and Key Technology Research”, which is a key project of the National 863 Program. Using the American Landsat images (TM5, ETM+) and Chinese Environmental Disaster Reduction Satellite images (HJ-1), the data were extracted by a comprehensive method based on pixel classification-object extraction-knowledge checks. The data include 10 primary land cover types—cultivated land, forest, grassland, shrub, wetland, water body, tundra, man-made cover, bare land, glacier and permanent snow—without extracting secondary types. In terms of accuracy assessment, nine types and more than 150,000 test samples were evaluated. The overall accuracy of the GlobeLand30-2010 data is 80.33%. The Kappa indicator is 0.75. The GlobeLand30 data use the WGS84 coordinate system, UTM projection, and 6-degree banding, and the reference ellipsoid is the WGS 84 ellipsoid. According to different latitudes, the data are organized into two types of framing. In the regions of 60° north and south latitudes, the framing is carried out according to a size of 5° (latitude) × 6° (longitude); in the regions of 60° to 80° north and south latitudes, the framing is carried out according to a size of 5° (latitude) × 12° (longitude). The framing is projected according to the central meridian of the odd 6° band. GLOBELAND30 TILES: The original, unprocessed raw data are retained. TIBET_ GLOBELAND30_MOSAIC: The Erdas software is used to mosaic the raw data. The parameter settings use the default value of the raw data to retain the original, and the accuracy is consistent with that of the downloading site.

The data set collected long-term monitoring projects from multiple stations for atmosphere, hydrology and soil in the North Tibetan Plateau. The data set consisted of monitoring data obtained from the automatic weather station (AWS) and the atmospheric boundary layer tower (PBL) in the field. The sensors for temperature, humidity and pressure were provided by Vaisala of Finland; the sensors for wind speed and direction were provided by Met One of America, the radiation sensors were provided by APPLEY of America and EKO of Japan; the gas analyzers were provided by Licor of America; the soil water content instrument, ultrasonic anemometers and data collectors were provided by CAMPBELL of America. The observation system was maintained by professionals regularly (2-3 times a year), the sensors were calibrated and replaced, and the collected data were downloaded and reorganized. The data set was processed by forming a time continuous sequence after the raw data were quality-controlled. It met the accuracy level of the original meteorological observation data of the National Weather Service and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The quality control included the elimination of the missing data and the systematic error caused by the failure of the sensor.

Active layer thickness in mountians shows strong spatial heterogeneity mainly due to the complex terrain. In this data set, the active layer thickness in the upper reaches of Heihe River Basin is systematically investigated by ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and other traditional methods. Compared with other direct measurement methods, the error is about 8 cm, indicating a high reliability. This data set can provide detailed field data for understanding the active layer thickness in this area and can provide evaluation datasets for the land surface model, especially for permafrost research.

The active layer is one of the main characteristics of permafrost. It melts in warm season and freezes in cold season, showing seasonal changes. The change of ground temperature of active layer will directly affect the change of temperature of permafrost, thus affecting the stability of permafrost.The monitoring station of this data set is located at 92 °E, 35 ° N, with an elevation of 4,600 M. The monitoring site is flat, the vegetation type is alpine meadow, and the monitoring instrument is DT500 series data acquisition instrument. The monitoring of ground temperature is carried out at 5 depths below the surface, 10 cm, 20 cm, 40 cm, 80 cm and 160cm respectively. The time interval of this data set is 1 day, which is the average value of data once every 30 minutes.Data are stable and continuous during the period.Scientific subjects such as thermal change process and change mechanism of active layer are carried out by combining data of soil heat flux and soil moisture.

Glacier surface micrometeorology is to observe the wind direction, wind speed, temperature, humidity, air pressure, four component radiation, ice temperature and precipitation at a certain height of the glacier surface. Glacier surface micrometeorology monitoring is one of the important contents of glacier monitoring. It is an important basic data for the study of energy mass balance, glacier movement, glacier melt runoff, ice core and other related model simulation, which lays a foundation for exploring the relationship between climate change and glacier change. Automatic monitoring is mainly carried out by setting up Alpine weather stations on the glacier surface, and portable weather stations can also be used for short-term flow monitoring. In recent years, more than 20 glacier surfaces in Tianshan, West Kunlun, Qilian, Qiangtang inland, Tanggula, Nianqing Tanggula, southeastern Tibet, Hengduan and Himalayas have been monitored. The data set is monthly meteorological data of glacier area and glacier end.

The dataset includes vector map of the lakes larger than 1k㎡ on Tibetan Plateau in 1970s, 1990, 2000, 2010. The lake boundry data was extracted from remote sensing image like Landsat MSS, TM, ETM+, by means of visual interpretation. The data type is vector data, and it's attribute class includes Area (km²). The Projected Coordinate System is Albers Conical Equal Area. It is mainly used in the study of changes in lakes, hydrological and meteorological on the Tibetan Plateau.

Based on the meteorological data of 105 meteorological stations in and around the Qinghai Tibet Plateau from 1980 to 2019 (data from China Meteorological Administration and National Meteorological Science Data Center), the oxygen content was calculated. It was found that there was a significant linear correlation between oxygen content and altitude, y = -0.0263x + 283.8, R2 = 0.9819. Therefore, the oxygen content distribution map can be calculated based on DEM data grid. Due to the limitation of the natural environment in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, there are few related fixed-point observation institutions. This data can reflect the distribution of oxygen content in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau to a certain extent, and has certain reference significance for the research of human living environment in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau.

The spectral characteristics of different land use types are mainly determined by spectrograph in the surface spectral data set of Qinghai Tibet Plateau. The measured ground features are mainly divided into woodland, (Alpine) shrub, (Alpine) grassland, wetland, cultivated land and bare land. It includes the field observation points in Lhasa, Linzhi, Shigatse, Ali and Naqu. The spectral characteristics of forests were measured based on the different growth stages of vegetation; The spectral characteristics of grassland were measured based on different coverage; The spectral characteristics of cultivated land were measured based on the main crop types, rape flowers and highland barley; The measurements of wetlands were conducted on the rivers, low-lying valleys and lakes; The measurements of bare lands were conducted on the desert, Gobi and roads, which have no vegetation cover. The measurement conducted from July to August in 2019, and the data is daily observation data. The data set can provide a reference for the field verification of remote sensing interpretation.

Photosynthetic effective radiation absorption coefficient photosynthetically active radiation component is an important biophysical parameter. It is an important land characteristic parameter of ecosystem function model, crop growth model, net primary productivity model, atmosphere model, biogeochemical model and ecological model, and is an ideal parameter for estimating vegetation biomass. The data set contains the data of photosynthetically active radiation absorption coefficient in Qinghai Tibet Plateau, with spatial resolution of 500m, temporal resolution of 8D, and time coverage of 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. The data source is MODIS Lai / FPAR product data mod15a2h (C6) on NASA website. The data are of great significance to the analysis of vegetation ecological environment in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau.