We comprehensively estimated water volume changes for 1132 lakes larger than 1 km2. Overall, the water mass stored in the lakes increased by 169.7±15.1 Gt (3.9±0.4 Gt yr-1) between 1976 and 2019, mainly in the Inner-TP (157.6±11.6 or 3.7±0.3 Gt yr-1). A substantial increase in mass occurred between 1995 and 2019 (214.9±12.7 Gt or 9.0±0.5 Gt yr-1), following a period of decrease (-45.2±8.2 Gt or -2.4±0.4 Gt yr-1) prior to 1995. A slowdown in the rate of water mass increase occurred between 2010 and 2015 (23.1±6.5 Gt or 4.6±1.3 Gt yr-1), followed again by a high value between 2015 and 2019 (65.7±6.7 Gt or 16.4±1.7 Gt yr-1). The increased lake-water mass occurred predominately in glacier-fed lakes (127.1±14.3 Gt) in contrast to non-glacier-fed lakes (42.6±4.9 Gt), and in endorheic lakes (161.9±14.0 Gt) against exorheic lakes (7.8±5.8 Gt) over 1976−2019.

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.

This dataset includes the monthly precipitation data with 0.0083333 arc degree (~1km) for China from Jan 1901 to Dec 2020. The data form belongs to NETCDF, namely .nc file. The unit of the data is 0.1 mm. The dataset was spatially downscaled from CRU TS v4.02 with WorldClim datasets based on Delta downscaling method. The dataset was evaluated by 496 national weather stations across China, and the evaluation indicated that the downscaled dataset is reliable for the investigations related to climate change across China. The dataset covers the main land area of China, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions, and excluding islands and reefs in South China Sea.

These datasets include mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) at the depth of zero annual amplitude (approximately 3 m to 25 m), active layer thickness (ALT), the probability of the permafrost occurrence, and the new permafrost zonation based on hydrothermal condition for the period of 2000-2016 in the Northern Hemisphere with an 1-km resolution by integrate unprecedentedly large amounts of field data (1,002 boreholes for MAGT and 452 sites for ALT) and multisource geospatial data, especially remote sensing data, using statistical learning modelling with an ensemble strategy, and thus more accurate than previous circumpolar maps.

Soil bulk density, porosity, water content, water characteristic curve, saturated hydraulic conductivity, particle analysis, infiltration rate, and sampling point location information in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin. 1. The data is for 2014 supplementary sampling for 2012, using the ring knife to take the original soil; 2. The soil bulk density is the dry bulk density of the soil and is measured by the drying method. The original ring-shaped soil sample collected in the field was thermostated at 105 ° C for 24 hours in an oven, and the soil dry weight was divided by the soil volume (100 cubic centimeters) , unit: g/cm 3 . 3. Soil porosity is obtained according to the relationship between soil bulk density and soil porosity; 4. Soil infiltration analysis data set, the data is the field experimental measurement data from 2013 to 2014. 5. The infiltration data is measured by “MINI DISK PORTABLE TENSION INFILTROMETER”, and the approximate saturated hydraulic conductivity under a certain negative pressure is obtained. 6. Soil particle size data was measured at the Grain Granulation Laboratory of the Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education of Lanzhou University. The measuring instrument is a Malvern laser particle size analyzer MS2000. 7. The saturated hydraulic conductivity is measured according to the enamel hair self-made instrument of Yi Yanli (2009). The Marioot bottle was used to maintain the head during the experiment; at the same time, the Ks measured at the time was converted to the Ks value at 10 °C for analysis and calculation. 8. Soil water content data is measured using ECH2O, including 5 layers of soil water content and soil temperature. 9. The water characteristic curve is measured by the centrifuge method: the undisturbed soil of the ring cutter collected in the field is placed in a centrifuge, and each of the speeds is measured at 0, 310, 980, 1700, 2190, 2770, 3100, 5370, 6930, 8200, 11600. The secondary rotor weight is obtained.

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

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.

Mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) at a depth of zero annual amplitude and permafrost thermal stability type are fundamental importance for engineering planning and design, ecosystem management in permafrost region. This dataset is produced by integrating remotely sensed freezing degree-days and thawing degree-days, snow cover days, leaf area index, soil bulk density, high-accuracy soil moisture data, and in situ MAGT measurements from 237 boreholes for the 2010s (2005-2015) on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) by using an ensemble learning method that employs a support vector regression (SVR) model based on distance-blocked resampling training data with 200 repetitions. Validation of the new permafrost map indicates that it is probably the most accurate of all available maps at present. The RMSE of MAGT is approximately 0.75 °C and the bias is approximately 0.01 °C. This map shows that the total area of permafrost on the TP is approximately 115.02 (105.47-129.59) *104 km2. The areas corresponding to the very stable, stable, semi-stable, transitional, and unstable types are 0.86*104 km2, 9.62*104 km2, 38.45*104 km2, 42.29*104 km2, and 23.80*104 km2, respectively. This new dataset is available for evaluate the permafrost change in the future on the TP as a baseline. More details can be found in Ran et al., (2020) that published at Science China Earth Sciences.

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.

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.