Roots play a key role in our Earth system. Here we combine 10 307 field measurements of forest root biomass worldwide with global observations of forest structure, climatic conditions, topography, land management and soil characteristics to derive a spatially explicit global high-resolution (~ 1 km) root biomass dataset. In total, 142 ± 25 (95 % CI) Pg of live dry-matter biomass is stored belowground, representing a global average root : shoot biomass ratio of 0.25 ± 0.10.

This paper is about the presentation of the UV-Indien measurement network. This network measures the ultraviolet radiation emitted by the Sun received at the Earth's surface and the clouding above each station. It has been deployed at several sites in the Indian Ocean region representing different environmental conditions. A description of the instruments and their calibration, maintenance, and data processing is presented in this paper along with a valuation of the data quality.

The FIRMOS far-infrared (IR) prototype, developed for the preparation of the ESA FORUM mission, was deployed for the first time at Mt. Zugspitze at 3000 m altitude to measure the far-IR spectrum of atmospheric emissions. The measurements, including co-located radiometers, lidars, radio soundings, weather, and surface properties, provide a unique dataset to study radiative properties of water vapour, cirrus clouds, and snow emissivity over the IR emissions, including the under-explored far-IR.

Marine Isotope Stage 5e (MIS 5e; the Last Interglacial, 125 ka) represents a period in the Earth’s geologic history when sea level was higher than present. In this paper, a standardized database was produced after screening and reviewing LIG sea-level data from published papers in Southeast Asia. We identified 43 unique sea-level indicators (42 from coral reef terraces and 1 from a tidal notch) and compiled the data in the World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines (WALIS).

Current sophisticated snow physics models were mostly designed for alpine conditions and cannot adequately simulate the physical properties of Arctic snowpacks. New snow models will require Arctic data sets for forcing and validation. We provide an extensive driving and testing data set from a high Arctic herb tundra site in Canada. Unique validating data include continuous time series of snow and soil thermal conductivity and temperature profiles. Field observations in spring are provided.

The creation of ERA5-Land responds to a growing number of applications requiring global land datasets at a resolution higher than traditionally reached. ERA5-Land provides operational, global, and hourly key variables of the water and energy cycles over land surfaces, at 9 km resolution, from 1981 until the present. This work provides evidence of an overall improvement of the water cycle compared to previous reanalyses, whereas the energy cycle variables perform as well as those of ERA5.

We developed seven global soil moisture datasets (1970–2016, monthly, half-degree, and multilayer) by merging a wide range of data sources, including in situ and satellite observations, reanalysis, offline land surface model simulations, and Earth system model simulations. Given the great value of long-term, multilayer, gap-free soil moisture products to climate research and applications, we believe this paper and the presented datasets would be of interest to many different communities.

The first multi-year stratospheric aerosol lidar dataset was recovered and recalibrated. The vertical profile dataset, January 1964 to August 1965 at Lexington, MA, and July to August 1964 at Fairbanks, AK, provides info on volcanic forcing after the 1963 Agung eruption. Applying two-way transmittance correction to the original dataset reveals data variations, with corrected stratospheric aerosol optical depth (sAOD) highest in 1965 with the highest 532 nm sAOD peak at 0.07 in March 1965.

The article presents a dataset comprising all manual observations of total column ozone taken at Belsk (Poland) from 23 March 1963 up to 31 December 2019 by the Dobson spectrophotometer. The dataset contains results of ~115 000 intraday measurements. The original data can be used for trend analyses as the instrument's aging has not been detected. For comparative research with other ozone data sources, correction procedures (for adjustments to the Brewer spectrophotometer output) are proposed.

In this study, a 9-year simulation of complete model output of a coupled atmosphere–land-surface–subsurface model on the catchment scale is discussed. We used the Neckar catchment in SW Germany as the basis of this simulation. Since the dataset includes the full model output, it is not only possible to investigate model behavior and interactions between the component models but also use it as a virtual truth for comparison of, for example, data assimilation experiments.

We present a library of high-resolution laser-induced fluorescence (LiF) reference spectra using the Smithsonian rare earth phosphate standards for electron microprobe analysis. With the recurring interest in rare earth elements (REEs), LiF may provide a powerful tool for their rapid and accurate identification. Applications of the spectral LiF library to natural materials such as rocks could complement the spectroscopy-based toolkit for innovative, non-invasive exploration technologies.

The paper is a critical review and standardization of 199 published scientific papers to compile a Last Interglacial sea-level database for the Western Mediterranean sector. In the database, 396 sea-level data points associated with 401 dated samples are included. The relative sea-level data points and associated ages have been ranked on a 0 to 5 scale score.

LamaH-CE is a large-sample catchment hydrology dataset for Central Europe. The dataset contains hydrometeorological time series (daily and hourly resolution) and various attributes for 859 gauged basins. Sticking closely to the CAMELS datasets, LamaH includes additional basin delineations and attributes for describing a large interconnected river network. LamaH further contains outputs of a conceptual hydrological baseline model for plausibility checking of the inputs and for benchmarking.

The upper part of the atmosphere, the ionosphere, is partially ionized, and it is being crossed by many multi-frequency signals of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites. This unique source of data can be acquired in real time from hundreds of permanent GNSS receivers. The real-time processing providing the distribution of the ionospheric free electrons (Global Ionospheric Maps) can be done as well in real time. We present their updated real-time assessment and combination.

A total of 1975 annual calving events larger than 1 km² were detected on the Antarctic ice shelves from August 2005 to August 2020. The average annual calved area was measured as 3549.1 ‬km², and the average calving rate was measured as 770.3 Gt yr^-1. Iceberg calving is most prevalent in West Antarctica, followed by the Antarctic Peninsula and Wilkes Land in East Antarctica. This annual iceberg calving dataset provides consistent and precise calving observations with the longest time coverage.

Water equivalent of snow cover (SWE) is a key variable for water management, hydrological forecasting and climate monitoring. A new Canadian SWE dataset (CanSWE) is presented in this paper. It compiles data collected by multiple agencies and companies at more than 2500 different locations across Canada over the period 1928–2020. Snow depth and derived bulk snow density are also included when available.

A phenological (seasonal occurrences) data set in Latvia, northern Europe, is presented. It includes phenological phases of eight taxonomic groups such as timing of leaf unfolding, bird migration, and leaf senescence as well as weather phenomena and agrarian activities from 1979 to 2018. The data provide direct and compelling evidence of climate change like earlier spring blossom and delayed autumn phases of some migratory birds and plants in recent years.