The distribution of lakes in space and its change over time are closely related to agricultural, environmental and ecological issues, and are critical factors for human socio-economic development. In the past decades, satellite based remote sensing has been developed rapidly to provide essential data sources for monitoring temporal lakes dynamics with its advantage of rapidness, wide coverage, and lower cost. This dataset was produced from Landsat images using the automated water detection method (Feng et al, 2015). We collected 96,278 Landsat images (about 25 terabytes) that acquired since 2000 with less than 80% cloud contamination in the arid region of central Asia and Tibetan Plateau. Water is detected in each of the image and then aggregated to monthly temporal resolution by taking advantage of the high-performance processing capability and large data storage provided by Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) at University of Maryland. The results are validated systematically and quantitatively using manually interpreted dataset, which consists of a set of locations collected by a stratified random sampling strategy to effectively represent different spatial-temporal distributions in the region. The validation suggests high accuracy of the results (overall accuracy: 99.45(±0.59); user accuracy: 85.37%±(3.74); produce accuracy: 98.17(±1.05)).

The data set was produced based on the SRTM DEM data collected by Space Shuttle Radar terrain mission in 2016, the reference data such as river, lake and other water system auxiliary data , using the arcgis hydrological model to analyze and extract the river network. There are 12 sub-basins over the Tibet Plateau, including AmuDayra、Brahmaputra、Ganges、Hexi、Indus、Inner、Mekong、Qaidam、Salween、Tarim、Yangtze、Yellow. The outer boundary is based on the 2500-metre contour line and national boundaries.

This data is originated from the 1:100,000 national basic geographic database, which was open freely for public by the National Basic Geographic Information Center in November 2017. The boundary of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was spliced and clipped as a whole, so as to facilitate the study on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. This data set is the 1:100,000 administrative boundaries of the qinghai-tibet plateau, including National_Tibet_line、 Province_Tibet、City_Tibet、County_Tibet_poly and County_Tibet_line. Administrative boundary layer (County_Tibet_poly) property name and definition: Item Properties Describe Example PAC Administrative division code 513230 NAME The name of the County line name Administrative boundary layer (BOUL) attribute name and definition: Item Properties Describe Example GB classification code 630200 Administrative boundary layer (County_Tibet_line) attribute item meaning: Item Properties Describe Example GB 630200 Provincial boundary GB 640200 Prefectural, municipal and state administrative boundaries GB 650201 county administrative boundaries (determined)

China's second glacier inventory uses the high-resolution Landsat TM/ETM+ remote sensing satellite data as the main glacier boundary data source and extracts the data source with the latest global digital elevation model, SRTM V4, as the glacier attribute, using the current international ratio threshold segmentation method to extract the glacier boundary in bare ice areas. The ice ridge extraction algorithm is developed to extract the glacier ice ridge, and it is used for the segmentation of a single glacier. At the same time, the international general algorithm is used to calculate the glacier attributes, so that the vector data and attribute data that contain the glacier information of the main glacier regions in west China are obtained. Compared with some field GPS field measurement data and higher resolution remote sensing images (such as from QuickBird and WorldView), the glacial vector data in the second glacier inventory data set of China have higher positioning accuracy and can meet the requirements for glacial data in national land, water conservancy, transportation, environment and other fields. Glacier inventory attributes: Glc_Name, Drng_Code, FCGI_ID, GLIMS_ID, Mtn_Name, Pref_Name, Glc_Long, Glc_Lati, Glc_Area, Abs_Accu, Rel_Accu, Deb_Area, Deb_A_Accu, Deb_R_Accu, Glc_Vol_A, Glc_Vol_B, Max_Elev, Min_Elev, Mean_Elev, MA_Elev, Mean_Slp, Mean_Asp, Prm_Image, Aux_Image, Rep_Date, Elev_Src, Elev_Date, Compiler, Verifier. For a detailed data description, please refer to the second glacier inventory data description.

Gridded climatic datasets with fine spatial resolution can potentially be used to depict the climatic characteristics across the complex topography of China. In this study we collected records of monthly temperature at 1153 stations and precipitation at 1202 stations in China and neighboring countries to construct a monthly climate dataset in China with a 0.025° resolution (~2.5 km). The dataset, named LZU0025, was designed by Lanzhou University and used a partial thin plate smoothing method embedded in the ANUSPLIN software. The accuracy of LZU0025 was evaluated based on three aspects: (1) Diagnostic statistics from the surface fitting model during 1951–2011. The results indicate a low mean square root of generalized cross validation (RTGCV) for the monthly air temperature surface (1.06 °C) and monthly precipitation surface (1.97 mm1/2). (2) Error statistics of comparisons between interpolated monthly LZU0025 with the withholding of climatic data from 265 stations during 1951–2011. The results show that the predicted values closely tracked the real true values with values of mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.59 °C and 70.5 mm, and standard deviation of the mean error (STD) of 1.27 °C and 122.6 mm. In addition, the monthly STDs exhibited a consistent pattern of variation with RTGCV. (3) Comparison with other datasets. This was done in two ways. The first was via comparison of standard deviation, mean and time trend derived from all datasets to a reference dataset released by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), using Taylor diagrams. The second was to compare LZU0025 with the station dataset in the Tibetan Plateau. Taylor diagrams show that the standard deviation, mean and time trend derived from LZU had a higher correlation with that produced by the CMA, and the centered normalized root-mean-square difference for this index derived from LZU and CMA was lower. LZU0025 had high correlation with the Coordinated Energy and Water Cycle Observation Project (CEOP) - Asian Monsoon Project, (CAMP) Tibet surface meteorology station dataset for air temperature, despite a non-significant correlation for precipitation at a few stations. Based on this comprehensive analysis, we conclude that LZU0025 is a reliable dataset. LZU0025, which has a fine resolution, can be used to identify a greater number of climate types, such as tundra and subpolar continental, along the Himalayan Mountain. We anticipate that LZU0025 can be used for the monitoring of regional climate change and precision agriculture modulation under global climate change.

This data set comprises the plateau soil moisture and soil temperature observational data based on the Tibetan Plateau, and it is used to quantify the uncertainty of model products of coarse-resolution satellites, soil moisture and soil temperature. The observation data of soil temperature and moisture on the Tibetan Plateau (Tibet-Obs) are from in situ reference networks at four regional scales, which are the Nagqu network of cold and semiarid climate, the Maqu network of cold and humid climate, and the Ali network of cold and arid climate，and Pali network. These networks provided representative coverage of different climates and surface hydrometeorological conditions on the Tibetan Plateau. - Temporal resolution: 1hour - Spatial resolution: point measurement - Measurement accuracy: soil moisture, 0.00001; soil temperature, 0.1 °C; data set size: soil moisture and temperature measurements at nominal depths of 5, 10, 20, 40 - Unit: soil moisture, cm ^ 3 cm ^ -3; soil temperature, °C

A multi-layer soil particle-size distribution dataset (sand, silt and clay content), based on USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) standard for regional land and climate modelling in China. was developed The 1:1,000,000 scale soil map of China and 8595 soil profiles from the Second National Soil Survey served as the starting point for this work. We reclassified the inconsistent soil profiles into the proper soil type of the map as much as possible because the soil classification names of the map units and profiles were not quite the same. The sand, silt and clay maps were derived using the polygon linkage method, which linked soil profiles and map polygons considering the distance between them, the sample sizes of the profiles, and soil classification information. For comparison, a soil type linkage was also generated by linking the map units and soil profiles with the same soil type. The quality of the derived soil fractions was reliable. Overall, the map polygon linkage offered better results than the soil type linkage or the Harmonized World Soil Database. The dataset, with a 1-km resolution, can be applied to land and climate modelling at a regional scale. Data characteristics： projection：projection Coverage: China Resolution: 0.00833 (about 1 km) Data format: FLT, TIFF Value range: 0%-100% Document describing： Floating point raster files include: Sand1. FLT, clay1. FLT -- surface (0-30cm) sand, clay content. Sand2. FLT, clay2. FLT -- content of sand and clay in the bottom layer (30-100cm). PSD. HDR -- header file: Ncols - the number of columns Nrows- rows Xllcorner - latitude in the lower left corner Yllcorner - longitude of the lower left corner Cellsize - cellsize NODATA_value - a null value byteorder - LSBFIRST, Least Significant Bit First TIFF raster files include: Sand1. Tif, clay1. Tif - surface (0-30cm) sand, clay content. Sand2. Tif, clay2. Tif - bottom layer (30-100cm) sand, clay content.

Effective evaluation of future climate change, especially prediction of future precipitation, is an important basis for formulating adaptation strategies. This data is based on the RegCM4.6 model, which is compatible with multi-model and different carbon emission scenarios: CanEMS2 (RCP 45 and RCP85), GFDL-ESM2M (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5), HadGEM2-ES (RCP2.6, RCP4.5 And RCP8.5), IPSL-CM5A-LR (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5), MIROC5 (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5). The future climate data (2007-2099) has 21 sets, with a spatial resolution at 0.25 degrees and the temporal resolution at 3 hours (or 6 hours), daily and yearly scales.

The dataset is a nearly 36-year (1983.7-2018.12) high-resolution (3 h, 10 km) global SSR (surface solar radiation) dataset, which can be used for hydrological modeling, land surface modeling and engineering application. The dataset was produced based on ISCCP-HXG cloud products, ERA5 reanalysis data, and MODIS aerosol and albedo products with an improved physical parameterization scheme. Validation and comparisons with other global satellite radiation products indicate that our SSR estimates were generally better than those of the ISCCP flux dataset (ISCCP-FD), the global energy and water cycle experiment surface radiation budget (GEWEX-SRB), and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES). This SSR dataset will contribute to the land-surface process simulations and the photovoltaic applications in the future. The unit is W/㎡, instantaneous value.

The long-term sequence data set of lake areas on the Tibetan Plateau contains area data of 364 lakes with areas greater than 10 square kilometers from 1970s to 2013. Based on Landsat images, Landsat data in October are mainly used, and one data is taken every three years to reduce seasonal variation and make the available data reach the maximum. The data set is extracted by the NDWI Water Index, and each lake undergoes manual visual inspection and edition. The data set can be used to study lake change, lake water balance and climate change on the Tibetan Plateau. Data type: Vector data. Projection: WGS84.