Chinese Cryospheric Information System is a comprehensive information system for the management and analysis of Chinese Cryospheric data. The establishment of Chinese Cryospheric Information System is to meet the needs of earth system science, to provide parameters and validation data for the development of response and feedback model of frozen soil, glacier and snow cover to global change under GIS framework; on the other hand, it is to systemically sort out and rescue valuable cryospheric data, to provide a scientific, efficient and safe management and division for it Analysis tools. The basic datasets of the Tibet Plateau mainly takes the Tibetan Plateau as the research region, ranging from longitude 70 -- 105 ° east and latitude 20 -- 40 ° north, containing the following types of data: 1. Cryosphere data. Includes: Permafrost type (Frozengd), (Fromap); Snow depth distribution (Snowdpt) Quatgla (Quatgla) 2. Natural environment and resources. Includes: Terrain: elevation, elevation zoning, slope, slope direction (DEM); Hydrology: surface water (Stram_line), (Lake); Basic geology: Quatgeo, Hydrogeo; Surface properties: Vegetat; 4. Climate data: temperature, surface temperature, and precipitation. 3. Socio-economic resources (Stations) : distribution of meteorological Stations on the Tibetan Plateau and it surrounding areas. 4. Response model of plateau permafrost to global change (named "Fgmodel"): permafrost distribution data in 2009, 2049 and 2099 were projected. Please refer to the following documents (in Chinese): "Design of Chinese Cryospheric Information System.doc", "Datasheet of Chinese Cryospheric Information System.DOC", "Database of the Tibetan Plateau.DOC" and "Database of the Tibetan Plateau 2.DOC".

Chinese Cryospheric Information System is a comprehensive information system for the management and analysis of cryospheric data over China. The establishment of Chinese Cryospheric Information System is to meet the needs of earth system science, and provide parameters and verification data for the development of response and feedback models of permafrost, glacier and snow cover to global changes under GIS framework. On the other hand, the system collates and rescues valuable cryospheric data to provide a scientific, efficient and safe management and analysis tool. Chinese Cryospheric Information System selected three regions with different spatial scales as its main research areas to highlight the research focus. The research area along the Qinghai-Tibet highway is mainly about 700 kilometers long from Xidatan to Naqu, and 20 to 30 kilometers wide on both sides of the highway. The datasets of the Tibetan highway contains the following types of data: 1. Cryosphere data.Including: snow depth distribution. 2. Natural environment and resources.Include: Digital elevation topography (DEM) : elevation elevation, elevation zoning, slope and slope direction; Fundamental geology: Quatgeo 3. Boreholes: drilling data of 200 boreholes along the qinghai-tibet highway. Engineering geological profile (CAD) : lithologic distribution, water content, grain fraction data, etc 4. Model of glacier mass equilibrium distribution along qinghai-tibet highway: prediction of frozen soil grid data. The graphic data along the qinghai-tibet highway includes 13 map scales of 1:250,000.The grid size is 100×100m. For details, please refer to the documents (in Chinese): "Chinese Cryospheric Information System design. Doc", "Chinese Cryospheric Information System data dictionary. Doc", "Database of the Tibetan highway. Doc".

Snow is a significant component of the ecosystem and water resources in high-mountain Asia (HMA). Therefore, accurate, continuous, and long-term snow monitoring is indispensable for the water resources management and economic development. The present study improves the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard Terra and Aqua satellites 8 d (“d” denotes “day”) composite snow cover Collection 6 (C6) products, named MOD10A2.006 (Terra) and MYD10A2.006 (Aqua), for HMA with a multistep approach. The primary purpose of this study was to reduce uncertainty in the Terra–Aqua MODIS snow cover products and generate a combined snow cover product. For reducing underestimation mainly caused by cloud cover, we used seasonal, temporal, and spatial filters. For reducing overestimation caused by MODIS sensors, we combined Terra and Aqua MODIS snow cover products, considering snow only if a pixel represents snow in both the products; otherwise it is classified as no snow, unlike some previous studies which consider snow if any of the Terra or Aqua product identifies snow. Our methodology generates a new product which removes a significant amount of uncertainty in Terra and Aqua MODIS 8 d composite C6 products comprising 46 % overestimation and 3.66 % underestimation, mainly caused by sensor limitations and cloud cover, respectively. The results were validated using Landsat 8 data, both for winter and summer at 20 well-distributed sites in the study area. Our validated adopted methodology improved accuracy by 10 % on average, compared to Landsat data. The final product covers the period from 2002 to 2018, comprising a combination of snow and glaciers created by merging Randolph Glacier Inventory version 6.0 (RGI 6.0) separated as debris-covered and debris-free with the final snow product MOYDGL06*. We have processed approximately 746 images of both Terra and Aqua MODIS snow containing approximately 100 000 satellite individual images. Furthermore, this product can serve as a valuable input dataset for hydrological and glaciological modelling to assess the melt contribution of snow-covered areas. The data, which can be used in various climatological and water-related studies, are available for end users at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.901821 (Muhammad and Thapa, 2019).

Alpine region is an important contributor in riverine and watershed ecosystems, which supplies freshwater and stimulates specific habitats of biodiversity. In parallel, extreme events (such as flood, wildfire, early snowmelt, drought and etc.) and other perturbations may reformat the hydrological processes and eco-functions in the area. It is then critical to advance a predictive understanding of the alpine hydrological processes through data-model integration. However, several formidable challenges, including the cold and harsh climate, high altitude and complex topography, inhibit complete and consistent data collection where/when needed, which hinders the associated development of interdisciplinary research in the alpine region. The current study presents a suite of datasets consisted of long-term hydrometeorological, snow cover and frozen ground data for investigating watershed science and functions from an integrated, distributed and multiscale observation network in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin (HRB) in China. Gap-free meteorological and hydrological data were monitored from the observation network connecting a group of automatic meteorological stations (AMSs), wireless sensors network (WSN) and runoff measurement spots. In addition, to capture snow accumulation and ablation processes, with the state-of-the-art techniques and instruments, snow cover properties were collected from a snow observation superstation. High-resolution soil physics datasets were also obtained to capture the freeze-thaw processes from a frozen ground observation superstation. The up-to-date datasets have been released to scientists with multidisciplinary backgrounds (i.e. cryosphere, hydrology, and meteorology) and expected to serve as a testing platform to provide accurate forcing data, validate and evaluate remote sensing data and distributed models to a broader community.

This dataset is the Fractional Vegetation Cover observation in the artificial oasis experimental region of the middle stream of the Heihe River Basin. The observations lasted for a vegetation growth cycle from May 2012 to September 2012 (UTC+8). Instruments and measurement method: Digital photography measurement is implemented to measure the FVC. Plot positions, photographic method and data processing method are dedicatedly designed. Details are described in the following: 0. In field measurements, a long stick with the camera mounted on one end is beneficial to conveniently measure various species of vegetation, enabling a larger area to be photographed with a smaller field of view. The stick can be used to change the camera height; a fixed-focus camera can be placed at the end of the instrument platform at the front end of the support bar, and the camera can be operated by remote control. 1. For row crop like corn, the plot is set to be 10×10 m2, and for the orchard, plot scale is 30×30 m2. Shoot 9 times along two perpendicularly crossed rectangular-belt transects. The picture generated of each time is used to calculate a FVC value. “True FVC” of the plot is then acquired as the average of these 9 FVC values. 2. The photographic method used depends on the species of vegetation and planting pattern: Low crops (<2 m) in rows in a situation with a small field of view (<30 ), rows of more than two cycles should be included in the field of view, and the side length of the image should be parallel to the row. If there are no more than two complete cycles, then information regarding row spacing and plant spacing are required. The FVC of the entire cycle, that is, the FVC of the quadrat, can be obtained from the number of rows included in the field of view. 3. High vegetation in rows (>2 m) Through the top-down photography of the low vegetation underneath the crown and the bottom-up photography beneath the tree crown, the FVC within the crown projection area can be obtained by weighting the FVC obtained from the two images. Next, the low vegetation between the trees is photographed, and the FVC that does not lie within the crown projection area is calculated. Finally, the average area of the tree crown is obtained using the tree crown projection method. The ratio of the crown projection area to the area outside the projection is calculated based on row spacing, and the FVC of the quadrat is obtained by weighting. 4. FVC extraction from the classification of digital images. Many methods are available to extract the FVC from digital images, and the degree of automation and the precision of identification are important factors that affect the efficiency of field measurements. This method, which is proposed by the authors, has the advantages of a simple algorithm, a high degree of automation and high precision, as well as ease of operation.

This data set includes a monthly composite of 30 m × 30 m surface vegetation coverage products in the Qilian Mountain Area in 2019. In this paper, the maximum value composition (MVC) method is used to synthesize monthly NDVI products and calculate FVC by using the reflectance data of Landsat 8 and sentinel 2 red and near infrared channels. The data is monthly synthesized by Google Earth engine cloud platform, and the index is calculated by the model. The missing pixels are interpolated with good quality, which can be used in environmental change monitoring and other fields.

Zhangye basin mainly includes 20 irrigation areas. Under the restriction of water diversion, the surface water consumption of the irrigation area is under control, but the groundwater exploitation is increased, resulting in the groundwater level drop in the middle reaches, resulting in potential ecological environment risks. Due to the complex and frequent exchange of surface water and groundwater in the study area, it is possible to realize the overall water resource saving by optimizing the utilization ratio of surface water and groundwater in each irrigation area. In this project, on the premise of not changing the water demand of the middle reaches irrigation area, the two problems of maximizing the outflow of Zhengyi Gorge (given groundwater reserve constraint) and maximizing the outflow of Zhengyi Gorge (given groundwater reserve constraint) are studied.

This data is digitized from the "Tianshui Land Use Status Map" of the drawing. This map is a key scientific and technological research project of the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" of the country: "Three North" Shelterbelt Remote Sensing Comprehensive Survey, one of the series maps of Ganqingning Type Area. The information is as follows: * Chief Editor: Wang Yimou * Deputy Editors: Feng Yushun, You Xianxiang, Shen Yuancun * Editors: Wang Xian, Wang Jingquan, Qiu Mingxin, Quan Zhijie, Mou Xindai, Qu Chunning, Yao Fafen, Qian Tianjiu, Huang Autonomy, Mei Chengrui, Han Xichun, Li Yujiu, Hu Shuangxi * Responsible Editor: Huang Meihua * Manuscript: Mou Xin-shi, Cui Sai-hua, Wang Xian. He Shouhua * Compiling: He Shouhua, Wang Xian, Quan Zhijie, Cui Saihua, Long Yaping, Mu Xinshi, He Shouhua, Mao Xiaoli, Cui Saihua, Wang Changhan * Editors: Feng Yushun and Wang Yimou * Qing Hua: Feng Yushun, Zhang Jingqiu, Yang Ping * Cartography: Feng Yushun, Yao Fafen, Wang Jianhua, Zhao Yanhua, Li Weimin * Cartographic unit: compiled by Desert Research Office of Chinese Academy of Sciences * Publishing House: Xi 'an Map Publishing House * Scale: 1: 500000 * Publication time: not yet available 2. File Format and Naming Data is stored in ESRI Shapefile format, including the following layers: Tianshui landuse map (landuse), River, Road, point-like residential land and area-like residential land 3. Data Fields and Attributes Type number land resource class Land_type 88 Exposedrock 86 bare soil Bareground 85 sandy beach and dry ditch Sandy flat and dryvally 446 Artemisia ordosica, miscellaneous grass G1. Artemisia subdingata mixed herbs 445 fern, miscellaneous grass G1. pterideumaquilumvar. latiusculummixedherbs444 Polygonum viviparum, grass G1. G1.Polygonumriciparum,grasses 443 Huang Qiangwei, Spiraea shrub miscellaneous grass G1. Rosa Hugo NIS, Spiraea Canes Cens Scrub Mixed Weeds 442 honeysuckle, elaeagnus pungens shrub miscellaneous grass g1.lonicera japonica eluegas pungens shurb mixed herbs 441 Tiger Hazelnut, Shrub Miscellaneous Grass G1. Ostryopsis Daridiana Scrub Mixed Herbs ............. Please refer to the data document for details. 2. Projection information: Angular Unit: Degree (0.017453292519943295) Prime Meridian: Greenwich (0.000000000000000000) Datum: D_Beijing_1954 Spheroid: Krasovsky_1940 Semimajor Axis: 6378245.000000000000000000 Semiminor Axis: 6356863.018773047300000000 Inverse Flattening: 298.300000000000010000

This data is digitized from the "Yinchuan Land Use Status Map" of the drawing, which is a key scientific and technological research project in the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" of the country: "Three North" Shelter Forest Remote Sensing Comprehensive Survey, one of the series maps of Ganqingning Type Area, with the following information: * Chief Editor: Wang Yimou * Deputy Editors: Feng Yushun, You Xianxiang, Shen Yuancun * Editors: Wang Xian, Wang Jingquan, Qiu Mingxin, Quan Zhijie, Mou Xindai, Qu Chunning, Yao Fafen, Qian Tianjiu, Huang Autonomy, Mei Chengrui, Han Xichun, Li Yujiu, Hu Shuangxi * Responsible Editor: Huang Meihua * Editorial: Feng Yushun and Yao Fafen * Compilation: Yao Fafen, Li Zhenshan, Wang Xizhang, Zhu Che, Ma Bin, Yang Ping * Editors: Feng Yushun and Wang Yimou * Qing Hua: Wang Jianhua, Yao Fafen, Ma Bin, Li Zhenshan * Cartographic unit: compiled by Desert Research Office of Chinese Academy of Sciences * Publishing House: Xi 'an Map Publishing House * Scale: 1: 500000 * Publication time: not yet available 2. File Format and Naming Data is stored in ESRI Shapefile format, including the following layers: Desertification type map (desert), Yinchuan landuse map (landuse), railway, residential _ poly, residential, River, Road, Water_poly 3. Data Fields and Attributes Type number land_type Desert shape Paddy field Paddy field 12 Irrigated field 131 Plain non-irrigated field Valley non-irrigate field Slope non-irrigated field, 133 slope dryland 134 dryland Terrace non-irrigat field 14 Vegetable plot vegetable plot 15 Abandoned farmland Orchard orchard 31 Woodland ......... Specific attribute contents refer to data documents 2. Projection information: Angular Unit: Degree (0.017453292519943295) Prime Meridian: Greenwich (0.000000000000000000) Datum: D_Beijing_1954 Spheroid: Krasovsky_1940 Semimajor Axis: 6378245.000000000000000000 Semiminor Axis: 6356863.018773047300000000 Inverse Flattening: 298.300000000000010000

This data is the dunhuang land use status map digitized from the drawings. This map is one of the key scientific and technological research projects of the seventh five-year plan of China: comprehensive remote sensing survey of shelterbelt in the third north, and one of the series maps of the type area of gan qingning. The information is as follows: * chief editor: wang yimou, * deputy chief editor: feng yusun, you xianxiang, shenyuan village *, qing painting: wang jianhua, yao fafen, Yang ping * drawing: feng yu-sun, yao fa-fen, wang jianhua, zhao yanhua, li weimin * cartographic unit: desert laboratory, Chinese academy of sciences * publishing house: xi 'an map publishing house 2. File format and naming The data is stored in ESRI Shapefile format, including the following layers: Dunhuang land use status map, rivers, roads, lakes, railways, residential land, reservoirs, desertification 3. Data fields and properties Type code land resource class (Land_type) 12. Irrigated field 31 Woodland 311 Woodland 312 Joe irrigation mixed forest land (tree-shurb mixed) 321 Shrub land (Shrub) Sparse shrub 33 Sparse woods In winter and spring of 4111 Meadow grassland, Meadow grassland in the spring and winter) 4112 winter and spring of salinization meadow grassland, Saline meadow grassland in the spring and winter) 4112 winter and spring of salinization meadow grassland, Saline meadow grassland in the spring and winter) In winter and spring of 4113 salt meadow grassland (Salty soil meadow grassland in the spring and winter) 4122 gritty desert grassland autumn grass (Gravely desert - steppe grassland in autumn and winter) 4124 mountain desert grassland winter and spring pastures (Mountainous desert - steppe grassland in winter and spring) 4134 four seasons mountain desert grassland, Mountainous desert steppe in four seasons) Sandy desert steppe in autumn and winter Gravely desert steppe in autumn and winter Earthy desert steppe in four seasons Alpine steppe in four seasons 51 Urban and town land 52 Village land 73 Reservoir and pond 74 Reed marshes Tidal flat 81 Desert land 82 Saline-alkali land 83 Marshes 84 Sandy land Sandy flat and dry valley 86 Bare land 87 Gobi Gobi 88 Exposed rock Flat sandy land Compound dunes Undulatory sand-overlying land Dunes and barchan chain The sand ridge (Longitudinal dune) Check dune

The dataset contains all individual glacial storage (unit: km3) over the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in 1970s and 2000s. It is sourced from the resultant data of the paper entitled "Consolidating the Randolph Glacier Inventory and the Glacier Inventory of China over the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and Investigating Glacier Changes Since the mid-20th Century". The first draft of this paper has been completed and is planned to be submitted to Earth System Science Data journal. The baseline glacier inventories in 1970s and 2000s are the Randolph Glacier Inventory 4.0 dataset, and the Glacier Inventory of China, respectively. Based on the individual glacial boundaries extracted from the above-mentioned two datasets, the grid-based bedrock elevation dataset (https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/global/global.html, DOI: 10.7289/v5c8276m), and the glacier surface elevation obtained by a slope-dependent method, the individual glacier volumes in 1970s and 2000s are then calculated. In addition, the calculated results of individual glacier volumes in this study have been compared and verified with the existent results of several glacier volumes, relevant remote sensing datasets, and the global glacier thickness dataset based on the average of multiple glacier model outputs (https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/handle/20.500.11850/315707, doi:10.3929/ethz-b-000315707), and the errors in the calculations have also been quantified. The established dataset in this study is expected to provide the data basis for the future regional water resources estimation and glacier ablation-involved researches. Moreover, the acquisition of the data also provides a new idea for the future glacier storage estimation.

The data is digitized from a drawing, the map of developmental degree of desertification in Daqinggou, Keerqin (HORQIN) Steppe (1975). The specific information of this map is as follows: * Chief Editor: Zhu Zhenda * Editor: Feng Yusun * Drawer: Feng Yusun, Yao Fafen, Wang Jianhua, Zhao Yanhua, Li Weimin * Mapping unit: Prepared by Desert Research Office, Chinese Academy of Sciences * Publisher: No * Scale: 1: 50000 * Publication time: No * Legend: Gully Dense Forest, Sparse Woods, Brush, Artificial Woodland, Nursery and Vegetable Garden, Grass Land, Dry Farmland (Dry Farmland), Rejected Farmland, Marsh Land, Shifting Snad-Dunes, Semi-Shifting Sand-Dunes, Semi-Fixed Sand-Dunes ), Fixed Sand-Dunes, Water Area, Rice, Residential, Highway 1. File format and naming The data is stored in ESRI Shapefile format, including the following layers: Desertification map of Daqinggou area in Horqin steppe, rivers, swamps, roads, lakes, residential areas 2. Data desertification attribute fields: Type of desertification (Shape), Grassland (Grassland), Woodland (Woodland), Woodland Density (W_density), Farmland (Farmland) 3. Projection information: Angular Unit: Degree (0.017453292519943295) Prime Meridian: Greenwich (0.000000000000000000) Datum: D_Beijing_1954 Spheroid: Krasovsky_1940 Semimajor Axis: 6378245.000000000000000000 Semiminor Axis: 6356863.018773047300000000 Inverse Flattening: 298.300000000000010000