• Relationship between modern pollen and climate, and its representative to vegetation are the important references in explaining and reconstructing past climate and vegetation qualitatively or quantitatively. To extrct past climate and vegetation signals from fossil pollen spectrum of a lacustrine sediment, a corresponding modern pollen dataset collected from lake-sediment surface is necessary. At present, there are a few modern pollen datasets extracted from lake sediment-surface established on the Tibetan Plateau, however, the geographic gaps (e.g. the central and east Tibetan Plateau) of available sampled lakes influence the correct understanding. To ensure the even distribution of the representative lakes, we collected lake sediment-surface samples (n=117) covering the alpine meadow evenly on the east and central Tibetan Plateau, in July and August 2018. For pollen extraction, approximately 10 g (wet original sediment) per sample were sub-sampled. Pollen sample was processed by the standard acid-alkali-acid procedures followed by 7-μm-mesh sieving. More than 500 terrestrial pollen grains were counted for each sample. Pollen assemblages of the dataset from alpine meadow are dominated by Cyperaceae (mean is 68.4%, maximum is 95.9%), with other herbaceous pollen taxa as commen taxa including Poaceae (mean is 10.3%, maximum is 87.7%), Ranunculaceae (mean is 4.8%, maximum is 33.6%), Artemisia (mean is 3.7%, maximum is 24.5%), Asteraceae (mean is 2.1%, maximum is 33.6%), etc. Salix (mean is 0.4%, maximum is 5.3%) is the major shrub taxon in these pollen assemblages, while arboreal taxa occur with low percentages generally (mean of total arboreal percentages is 0.9% (maximum is 5.8%), including mainly Pinus (mean is 0.3%, maximum is 1.8%), Betula (mean is 0.1%, maximum is 0.9%) and Alnus (mean is 0.1%, maximum is 0.7%). These pollen assemblages represent the plant components well in the alpine meadow communities, although they are influenced slightly by long-distance pollen grain transported by wind or river (such as these arboreal pollen taxa). Together with pollen counts and percentages, we also provided the modern climatic data for the sampled lakes. The China Meteorological Forcing Dataset (CMFD; gridded near-surface meteorological dataset) with a temporal resolution of three hours and a spatial resolution of 0.1° was employed, and the climatic data of the nearest pixel of one sampled lake was defined to represent climatic conditions of the lake. Finally, the mean annual precipitation (Pann), mean annual temperature (Tann) and mean temperature of the coldest month (Mtco) and warmest month (Mtwa) are calculated for each sampled lake.

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  • 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)).

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  • This dataset contains five types of boundaries. 1. TPBoundary_ 2500m: Based on ETOPO5 Global Surface Relief, ENVI+IDL was used to extract data at an elevation of 2500m within the longitude (65~105E) and latitude (20~45N) range in the Tibetan Plateau. 2. TPBoundary_ 3000m: Based on ETOPO5 Global Surface Relief, ENVI+IDL was used to extract data at an elevation of 3000m within the longitude (65~105E) and latitude (20~45N) range in the Tibetan Plateau. 3. TPBoundary_ HF (high_frequency): This boundary is defined according to 2 previous studies. Bingyuan Li (1987) had a systematic discussion on the principles for determining the extent of the Tibetan Plateau and the specific boundaries. From the perspective of the formation and basic characteristics of the Tibetan Plateau, he proposed the basic principles for determining the extent of the Tibetan Plateau based on the geomorphological features, the plateau surface and its altitude, while considering the integrity of the mountain. Yili Zhang (2002) determined the extent and boundaries of the Tibetan Plateau based on the new results of research in related fields and years of field practice. He combined information technology methods to precisely locate and quantitatively analyze the extent and boundary location of the Tibetan Plateau, and concluded that the Tibetan Plateau in China extends from the Pamir Plateau in the west to the Hengduan Mountains in the east, from the southern edge of the Himalayas in the south to the northern side of the Kunlun-Qilian Mountains in the north. On April 14, 2017, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China issued the Announcement on Adding Geographical Names for Public Use in the Southern Tibetan Region (First Batch), adding six geographical names in the southern Tibetan region, including Wo’gyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidêngarbo Ri, Mainquka, Bümo La, and Namkapub Ri. 4. TPBoundary_ New (2021): Along with the in-depth research on the Tibetan Plateau, the improvement of multidisciplinary research and understanding inside and outside the plateau, and the progress of geographic big data and Earth observation science and technology, the development of the 2021 version of the Tibetan Plateau boundary data by Yili Zhang and et al. was completed based on the comprehensive analysis of ASTER GDEM and Google Earth remote sensing images. The range boundary starts from the northern foot of the West Kunlun Mountain-Qilian Mountain Range in the north and reaches the southern foot of the Himalayas and other mountain ranges in the south, with a maximum width of 1,560 km from north to south; from the western edge of the Hindu Kush Mountains and the Pamir Plateau in the west to the eastern edge of the Hengduan Mountains and other mountain ranges in the east, with a maximum length of about 3,360 km from east to west; the latitude and longitude range is 25°59′30″N~40°1′0″N, 67°40′37″E~104°40′57″E, with a total area of 3,083,400km2 and an average altitude of about 4,320m. Administratively, the Tibetan Plateau is distributed in nine countries, including China, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Kyrgyzstan. 5. TPBoundary_ Rectangle: The rectangle was drawn according to the range of Lon (63~105E) and Lat (20~45N). The data are in latitude and longitude projection WGS84. As the basic data, the boundary of the Tibetan Plateau can be used as a reference basis for various geological data and scientific research on the Tibetan Plateau.

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  • 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

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  • This data set is collected from the supplementary information part of the paper: Yao, T. , Thompson, L. , & Yang, W. . (2012). Different glacier status with atmospheric circulations in tibetan plateau and surroundings. Nature Climate Change, 1580, 1-5. This paper report on the glacier status over the past 30 years by investigating the glacial retreat of 82 glaciers, area reductionof 7,090 glaciers and mass-balance change of 15 glaciers. This data set contains 8 tables, the names and content are as follows: Data list: The data name list of the rest tables; t1: Distribution of Glaciers in the TP and surroundings; t2: Data and method for analyzing glacial area reduction in each basin; t3: Glacial area reduction during the past three decades from remote sensing images in the TP and surroundings; t4: Glacial length fluctuationin the TP and surroundings in the past three decades; t5: Detailed information on the glaciers for recent mass balance measurement in the TP and surroundings; t6: Recent annual mass balances in different regions in the TP; t7: Mass balance of Long-time series for the Qiyi, Xiaodongkemadi and Kangwure Glaciers in the TP. See attachments for data details: Supplementary information.pdf, Different glacier status with atmospheric circulations in Tibetan Plateau and surroundings.pdf.

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  • The dataset includes soil physical and chemical attributes: pH value, organic matter fraction, cation exchange capacity, root abundance, total nitrogen (N), total phosphorus (P), total potassium (K), alkali-hydrolysable N, available P, available K, exchangeable H+, Al3+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+ , Na+, horizon thickness, soil profile depth, sand, silt and clay fractions, rock fragment, bulk density, porosity, structure, consistency and soil color. Quality control information (QC) was provided. The resolution is 30 arc-seconds (about 1 km at the equator). The vertical variation of soil property was captured by eight layers to the depth of 2.3 m (i.e. 0- 0.045, 0.045- 0.091, 0.091- 0.166, 0.166- 0.289, 0.289- 0.493, 0.493- 0.829, 0.829- 1.383 and 1.383- 2.296 m) for convenience of use in the Common Land Model and the Community Land Model (CLM). 1.THSCH.nc: Saturated water content of FCH 2.PSI_S.nc: Saturated capillary potential of FCH 3.LAMBDA.nc: Pore size distribution index of FCH 4.K_SCH.nc: Saturate hydraulic conductivity of FCH 5.THR.nc: Residual moisture content of FGM 6.THSGM.nc: Saturated water content of FGM 7.ALPHA.nc: The inverse of the air-entry value of FGM 8.N.nc: The shape parameter of FGM 9.L.nc: The pore-connectivity parameter of FGM 10.K_SVG.nc: Saturated hydraulic conductivity of FGM 11.TH33.nc: Water content at -33 kPa of suction pressure, or field capacity 12.TH1500.nc: Water content at -1500 kPa of suction pressure, or permanent wilting point

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  • This data set is based on the evaluation of existing land cover data and the evidence theory,including a 1:100,000 land use map for the year 20 2000、a 1:1,000,000 vegetation map、a 1:1,000,000 swamp-wetland map, a glacier map and a Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer land cover map for China in 2001 (MODIS2001) were merged,Finally, the decision is made based on the principle of maximum trust, and a new 1KM land cover data of China in 2000 with IGBP classification system is produced. The new land cover data not only maintain the overall accuracy of China's land use data, but also supplement the information of vegetation types and vegetation seasons in China's vegetation map, update China's wetland map, add the latest information of China's glacier map, and make the classification system more general.

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  • 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)

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  • Snow cover dataset is produced by snow and cloud identification method based on optical instrument observation data, covering the time from 1989 to 2018 (two periods, from January to April and from October to December) and the region of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (17°N-41°N, 65°E-106°E) with daily product, which takes equal latitude and longitude projection with 0.01°×0.01° spatial resolution, and characterizes whether the ground under clear sky or transparent thin cloud is covered by snow. The input data sources include AVHRR L1 data of NOAA and MetOp serials of satellites, and L1 data corresponding to AVHRR channels taken from TERRA/MODIS. Decision Tree algorithm (DT) with dynamic thresholds is employed independent of cloud mask and its cloud detection emphasizes on reserving snow, particularly under transparency cirrus. It considers a variety of methods for different situations, such as ice-cloud over the water-cloud, snow in forest and sand, thin snow or melting snow, etc. Besides those, setting dynamic threshold based on land-surface type, DEM and season variation, deleting false snow in low latitude forest covered by heavy aerosol or soot, referring to maximum monthly snowlines and minimum snow surface brightness temperature, and optimizing discrimination program, these techniques all contribute to DT. DT discriminates most snow and cloud under normal circumstances, but underestimates snow on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in October. Daily product achieves about 95% average coincidence rate of snow and non-snow identification compared to ground-based snow depth observation in years. The dataset is stored in the standard HDF4 files each having two SDSs of snow cover and quality code with the dimensions of 4100-column and 2400-line. Complete attribute descriptions is written in them.

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  • The field observation platform of the Tibetan Plateau is the forefront of scientific observation and research on the Tibetan Plateau. The land surface processes and environmental changes based comprehensive observation of the land-boundary layer in the Tibetan Plateau provides valuable data for the study of the mechanism of the land-atmosphere interaction on the Tibetan Plateau and its effects. This dataset integrates the 2005-2016 hourly atmospheric, soil hydrothermal and turbulent fluxes observations of Qomolangma Atmospheric and Environmental Observation and Research Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences (QOMS/CAS), Southeast Tibet Observation and Research Station for the Alpine Environment, CAS (SETORS), the BJ site of Nagqu Station of Plateau Climate and Environment, CAS (NPCE-BJ), Nam Co Monitoring and Research Station for Multisphere Interactions, CAS (NAMORS), Ngari Desert Observation and Research Station, CAS (NADORS), Muztagh Ata Westerly Observation and Research Station, CAS (MAWORS). It contains gradient observation data composed of multi-layer wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, air pressure and precipitation data, four-component radiation data, multi-layer soil temperature and humidity and soil heat flux data, and turbulence data composed of sensible heat flux, latent heat flux and carbon dioxide flux. These data can be widely used in the analysis of the characteristics of meteorological elements on the Tibetan Plaetau, the evaluation of remote sensing products and development of the remote sensing retrieval algorithms, and the evaluation and development of numerical models.

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