Land

Important land variables include soil moisture, vegetation coverage, surface radiation budgets and more. Overview pages summarize and compare selected datasets of a given variable.

To find a specific dataset or variable, jump to the search box below or click your desired variable from among the blue sub-category buttons.

To see only the datasets accompanied by expert commentaries, select the "Datasets with guidance" button when using the search box.

Climate datasets

Has expert guidance
Snow Cover Extent (Northern Hemisphere) Climate Data Record, by Rutgers Snow Cover Extent (Northern Hemisphere) Climate Data Record, by Rutgers

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The Snow Cover Extent Climate Data Record extends from the late 1960s to present. Historical analyses based on visual inspection have been digitized and combined with modern…

Main variables and Earth System components

Cryosphere Snow Cover Land
The monthly averaged downscaled 1 km and 9 km SMAP SM of descending overpass (6 a.m.) from 2020 in Danube River basin. (contributed by Bin Fang and Venkat Lakshmi) SMAP-Derived 1-km Downscaled Surface Soil Moisture

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This data product contains global daily 1 km resolution surface soil moisture (SM) derived from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) L-band radiometer observations.…

Main variables and Earth System components

Land Soil Moisture

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    • Daily

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maps of SIF and GPP (contributed by Jingfeng Xiao and Xing Li) Global dataset of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (GOSIF)

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GOSIF is a global, gridded dataset of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF). SIF, an energy flux re-emitted by plants a few nanoseconds after light absorption,…

Main variables and Earth System components

Biosphere GPP: Gross Primary Production solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) Land Gross Primary Production

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    • Monthly, Weekly

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Soil Moisture Data Sets: Overview & Comparison Tables Soil Moisture Data Sets: Overview & Comparison Tables

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Soil moisture is a state variable of the land that crosses the interfaces of several disciplines, including meteorology, hydrology, climatology and ecology. Soil moisture…

Main variables and Earth System components

Land Soil Moisture
Historical land-cover changes and land-use conversions global data set by Meiyappan and Jain Historical land-cover changes and land-use conversions global data set by Meiyappan and Jain

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A set of three estimates of land-cover types and annual transformations of land use are provided on a global 0.5°x0.5° grid at annual timesteps. The longest of the three…

Main variables and Earth System components

Land Land Cover Type Land Use Conversion Vegetation Cover

    • Timestep

    • Annual

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Landscape surface freeze/thaw status based on passive microwave remote sensing Landscape surface freeze/thaw status based on passive microwave remote sensing

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A global data set of the frozen state of the land surface (free-thaw (FT) status) has been developed spanning 1979-present at a daily timestep and 25 x 25 km spatial…

Main variables and Earth System components

Land Freeze/Thaw
graph Simulation performance of 19 Earth system models (credit: Justin Makin and Corey Lesk) Making sense of data from Land Surface Models (LSMs)

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The land surface is a dynamic and complex component of the Earth system, shaping climate and biogeochemical cycles and serving as the origin of many anthropogenic impacts on…

Main variables and Earth System components

Biosphere Land

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contribution from each of the different evaporation components in GLEAM for 1980-2022 (contributed by A Koppa and D Miralles) Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM)

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The Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) is a satellite remote sensing-based set of algorithms dedicated to the estimation of evaporation and soil moisture at…

Main variables and Earth System components

Biosphere land evaporation Land evapotranspiration Soil Moisture

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    • Timestep

    • Daily

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Global Permafrost Zonation Index Map Global Permafrost Zonation Index Map

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This data set contains a global (excluding Antarctica) 1 km map of permafrost zonation. It is an estimate of to what degree permafrost exists in a region nearly everywhere,…

Main variables and Earth System components

Cryosphere Permafrost Land
LANDSAT LANDSAT

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"The Landsat Program provides the longest continuous space-based record of Earth’s land in existence. Since 1972, Landsat satellites have collected measurements of Earth’s…

Main variables and Earth System components

Biosphere NPP: Net Primary Production Land Land Cover Type Vegetation Cover

  • Experts contributing reviews

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CERES: IGBP Land Classification CERES: IGBP Land Classification

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The International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme (IGBP) defines ecosystems surface classifications. The CERES (Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System)10-minute data can be…

Main variables and Earth System components

Land Land Cover Type Vegetation Cover

  • Experts contributing reviews

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