The dataset of LAI measurements was obtained in the Linze station foci experimental area. (1) LAI of maize, desert scrub and the poplar measured by the fisheye camera (CANON EOS40D with a lens of EF15/28), shooting straight downwards, with exceptions of higher plants, which were shot upwards in Wulidun farmland quadrates (Jun. 3, 4 and 29, May 28 and 30 and Jul. 11), inside Linze station quadrates (Jun. 19, 25 and 30, Jul. 3 and 10, May 27), the desert transit zone (May 28 and 30) and the poplar forest (May 30). Sample points were archived in coordiantes.xls. Data included original photos (.JPG) and those processed by can_eye5.0 (in excel). For more details, see Readme file. (2) LAI measured by the ruler and the set square in Wulidun farmland quadrate inside Linze station on May 22, 23, 24, 28 and 30 and Jul. 11, 2008. Part of the samples were also measured by LI-3100 and compared with those by manual work for further correction. Data were archived as Excel files. (3) LAI and SD of maize measured by LAI2000 in Wulidun farmland quadrates (Jun. 24 and 29 and Jul. 10) and inside Linze station quadrates (Jun. 19, 25 and 30, Jul. 3, 9 and 10). Data educed from LAI2000 periodically were archived as text files (.txt) and marked with one ID. Raw data (table of word and txt) and processed data (Excel) were included. Besides, observation time, the observation method and the repetition were all archived. See the metadata record “WATER: Dataset of setting of the sampling plots and stripes in the Linze station foci experimental area” for more information of the quadrate locations.

This dataset contains the flux measurements from the cropland eddy covariance system (EC) in the lower reaches of the Heihe hydrometeorological observation network from 14 July to 11 December, 2013. The site (101.134° E, 42.005° N) was located in the muskmelon surface, Ejin Banner in Inner Mongolia. The elevation is 875 m. The EC was installed at a height of 3.5 m, and the sampling rate was 10 Hz. The sonic anemometer faced north, and the separation distance between the sonic anemometer and the CO2/H2O gas analyzer (CSAT3&EC150) was 0 m. The raw data acquired at 10 Hz were processed using the Edire post-processing software (University of Edinburgh, http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/abs/research/micromet/EdiRe/), including the spike detection, lag correction of H2O/CO2 relative to the vertical wind component, sonic virtual temperature correction, coordinate rotation (2-D rotation), corrections for density fluctuation (Webb-Pearman-Leuning correction), and frequency response correction. The EC data were subsequently averaged over 30 min periods. The observation data quality was divided into three classes according to the quality assessment method of stationarity (Δst) and the integral turbulent characteristics test (ITC), as proposed by Foken and Wichura [1996]: class 1 (level 0: Δst<30 and ITC<30), class 2 (level 1: Δst<100 and ITC<100), and class 3 (level 2: Δst>100 and ITC>100), which represent high-, medium-, and low-quality data, respectively. In addition to the above processing steps, the half-hourly flux data were screened using a four-step procedure: (1) data from periods of sensor malfunction were rejected; (2) data collected before or after 1 h of precipitation were rejected; (3) incomplete 30 min data were rejected when the missing data constituted more than 3% of the 30 min raw record; and (4) data were rejected at night when the friction velocity (u*) was less than 0.2 m/s. There were 48 records per day, and the missing data were replaced with -6999. Suspicious data were marked in red. Due to the CF card storage problem and calibration of CO2/H2O gas analyzer, data during 29 July to 19 August and 11 December to 31 December were missing. The released data contained the following variables: data/time, wind direction (Wdir, °), wind speed (Wnd, m/s), the standard deviation of the lateral wind (Std_Uy, m/s), virtual temperature (Tv, ℃), H2O mass density (H2O, g/m^3), CO2 mass density (CO2, mg/m^3), friction velocity (ustar, m/s), stability (z/L), sensible heat flux (Hs, W/m^2), latent heat flux (LE, W/m^2), carbon dioxide flux (Fc, mg/ (m^2s)), quality assessment of the sensible heat flux (QA_Hs), quality assessment of the latent heat flux (QA_LE), and quality assessment of the carbon flux (QA_Fc). In this dataset, the time of 0:30 corresponds to the average data for the period between 0:00 and 0:30; the data were stored in *.xls format. For more information, please refer to Li et al. (2013) (for hydrometeorological observation network or sites information), Liu et al. (2011) (for data processing) in the Citation section.

The dataset of spectral reflectance of canopy leafs observed by the integrating sphere was obtained by ASD Spectroradiometer (350～2 500 nm) and integrating spheres from BNU and the reference board (40% before Jun. 15 and 20% hereafter), in the Linze station foci experimental area. Maize quadrate, the desert green quadrate and withered scrub quadrate in Linze station (on May 28, 30, Jun. 19, 30 and Jul. 9), Wulidun farmland quadrates (on Jun. 24, 29 and Jul. 11) and the desert strips were measured. According to the fact that the ratio of the two DN values equals that of their reflectivity, the reflectivity and the tranmittivity can be calculated with the caliberation coefficient, reflection DN of the observed objects and reference plates. The reflectivity and the tranmittivity of interior vegetation leaves can be got by the integrating spheres. Raw spectral data were archived as binary files, which were recorded daily in detail, and pre-processed data on reflectance and transmittivity were archived as text files (.txt).

The data set include crop leaf chlorophyll content observed at four sample regions, that is the soil moisture control experimental field at Daman county, and the EC plots, the super station, and Shiqiao sample plots at Wuxing village in Zhangye city. 1) Objective Crop leaf chlorophyll content, a key biophysical parameter, was observed as model parameter or a priori knowledge for canopy radiative transfer model or eco-hydrological models. 2) Measuring instruments SPAD. 3) Measuring site a. the soil moisture control experimental field at Daman county, Twelve soil water treatments are set. The wheat leaf chlorophyll content for each treatment is measured on 17, 23 and 29 May, and 3, 9, 14 and 24 June, and 5 and 12 July. b. the EC site The maize leaf chlorophyll content at 14 EC site (EC-2,EC-3,EC-5,EC-6,EC-7,EC-8,EC-9, EC-10, EC-11, EC-12, EC-13, EC-14, EC-15, EC-16) are measured on 14, 21, 25 and 31 May, 7, 13, 23 and 28 June, 3, 13, 18 and 23 July, 3, 12 and 28 August. c. the Super Station The maize chlorophyll content at the super station is measured on 22 and 28 May, 5, 11, 18, and 25 June, and 1, 8, 15, 22 and 31 July, 9, 15 and 22 August, and 3 and 11 September. d. the Shiqiao sample site The maize chlorophyll content at the Shiqiao village is measured on 17, 22 and 28 May, 4, 11, 17 and 25 June, 1, 8, 15, 22, and 30 July, 8, 16 and 27 August, and 9 September. 4) Data processing The observational data was recorded in the sheets and reorganized in the EXCEL sheets. The time used in this dataset is in UTC+8 Time.

Trough the select tasking, we obtained the WorldView-2 stereo image data in Dayekou Watershed production in mid-May 2012. In the same year from July to August, 27 GPS ground control points (GCP) and checkpoints were measured based on the watershed differential GPS control network. Based on the full-field GCPs, the rational polynomial coefficients (RPC) files of WorldView-2 images were corrected in the digital photogrammetry software system. In the stereo model, 60 high-precision tie points evenly distributed were got through image matching technology, and the 1-m and 2-m resolution digital elevation model (DEM) were rapid extracted. Based on collinearity equations, images at nadir were corrected to adjust relief displacements and geometric errors, and the 0.5-m resolution digital orthorectified images DOM were obtained with the principle of digital differential rectification in Dayekou Basin.

This dataset contains the automatic weather station (AWS) measurements from site No.16 in the flux observation matrix from 1 Jun to 17 September, 2012. The site (100.36411° E, 38.84931° N) was located in a cropland (maize surface) in Daman irrigation district, which is near Zhangye, Gansu Province. The elevation is 1564.31 m. The installation heights and orientations of different sensors and measured quantities were as follows: air temperature and humidity (HMP155; 5 m, towards north), rain gauge (TE525M; 10 m), wind speed (03001; 10 m, towards north), a radiometer (Q7; 6 m, towards south), two infrared temperature sensors (SI-111; 6 m, vertically downward), soil temperature profile (AV-10T; 0, -0.02, and -0.04 m), soil moisture profile (CS616; 0.02, 0.04 m), and soil heat flux (HFT3; 3 duplicates with one below the vegetation and the other between plants, 0.06 m). The observations included the following: air temperature and humidity (Ta_5 m and RH_5 m) (℃ and %, respectively), precipitation (rain, mm), wind speed (Ws_10 m, m/s), four-component radiation (DR, incoming shortwave radiation; UR, outgoing shortwave radiation; DLR_Cor, incoming longwave radiation; ULR_Cor, outgoing longwave radiation; Rn, net radiation; W/m^2), infrared temperature (IRT_1 and IR_2, ℃), soil heat flux (Gs_1, below the vegetation; Gs_2 and Gs_3, W/m^2), soil temperature profile (Ts_0 cm, Ts_2 cm, and Ts_4 cm, ℃), and soil moisture profile (Ms_2 cm and Ms_4 cm, %). The data processing and quality control steps were as follows. (1) The AWS data were averaged over intervals of 10 min; therefore, there were 144 records per day. The missing data were filled with -6999. (2) Data in duplicate records were rejected. (3) Unphysical data were rejected. (4) In this dataset, the time of 0:10 corresponds to the average data for the period between 0:00 and 0:10; the data were stored in *.xlsx format. (5) Finally, the naming convention was AWS+ site no. Moreover, suspicious data were marked in red. For more information, please refer to Liu et al. (2016) (for multi-scale observation experiment or sites information), Xu et al. (2013) (for data processing) in the Citation section.

The data set includes observation data of meteorological elements in the downstream desert station of Heihe Hydrometeorological Observation Network from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. The site is located in the desert beach of Ejin Banner, Inner Mongolia, and the underlying surface is red sand desert. The latitude and longitude of the observation point is 100.9872E, 42.1135N, and the altitude is 1054m.The air temperature and relative humidity sensors are installed at 5m and 10m, facing the north; the barometer is installed at 2m; the tipping bucket rain gauge is installed at 10m; the wind speed sensor is set at 5m, 10m, and the wind direction sensor is set at 10m, facing the north; the four-component radiometer is installed at 6m, facing south; two infrared thermometers are installed at 6m, facing south, the probe orientation is vertically downward; the soil temperature probe is buried in the ground surface 0cm and underground 2cm, 4cm, 10cm, 20cm 40cm, 60cm and 100cm, in the south of the 2m from the meteorological tower; soil moisture sensors are buried in the underground 2cm, 4cm, 10cm, 20cm, 40cm, 60cm and 100cm, in the south of the 2m from the meteorological tower; soil heat flux plates (3 pieces) are buried in the ground 6 cm in order. Observation items include: air temperature and humidity (Ta_5m, RH_5m, Ta_10m, RH_10m) (unit: centigrade, percentage), air pressure (Press) (unit: hectopascal), precipitation (Rain) (unit: mm), wind speed (WS_5m, WS_10m) (unit: m / s), wind direction (WD_10m) (unit: degree), four-component radiation (DR, UR, DLR_Cor, ULR_Cor, Rn) (unit: watts / square meter), surface radiation temperature (IRT_1, IRT_2 ) (unit: centigrade), soil heat flux (Gs_1, Gs_2, Gs_3) (unit: watts/square meter), soil moisture (Ms_2cm, Ms_4cm, Ms_10cm, Ms_20cm, Ms_40cm, Ms_60cm, Ms_100cm) (unit: volumetric water content, percentage) and soil temperature (Ts_0cm, Ts_2cm, Ts_4cm, Ts_10cm, Ts_20cm, Ts_40cm, Ts_60cm, Ts_100cm) (unit: centigrade). Processing and quality control of the observation data: (1) ensure 144 data per day (every 10 minutes), when there is missing data, it is marked by -6999; From September 17, 2017 to September 23, due to the re-enhancement of the observation tower, the data is missing (the four-component radiation missing period is from September 9 to September 23); (2) eliminate the moment with duplicate records; (3) delete the data that is obviously beyond the physical meaning or the range of the instrument; (5) the format of date and time is uniform, and the date and time are in the same column. For example, the time is: 2016-6-10 10:30; (6) the naming rules are: AWS+ site name. For hydrometeorological network or site information, please refer to Li et al. (2013). For observation data processing, please refer to Liu et al. (2011).

This dataset contains the automatic weather station (AWS) measurements from site No.6 in the flux observation matrix from 9 May to 21 September, 2012. The site (100.35970° E, 38.87116° N) was located in a cropland (maize surface) in Yingke irrigation district, which is near Zhangye, Gansu Province. The elevation is 1562.97 m. The installation heights and orientations of different sensors and measured quantities were as follows: air temperature and humidity (HMP45AC; 5 m and 10 m, towards north), air pressure (CS100; 2 m), rain gauge (TE525M; 10 m), wind speed (010C; 5 m and 10 m, towards north), wind direction (020C; 10 m, towards north), a four-component radiometer (CNR4; 6 m, towards south), two infrared temperature sensors (SI-111; 6 m, vertically downward), soil temperature profile (109ss-L; 0, -0.02, -0.04, -0.1, -0.2, -0.4, -0.6, and -1.0 m), soil moisture profile (CS616; -0.02, -0.04, -0.1, -0.2, -0.4, -0.6, and -1.0 m), and soil heat flux (HFP01; 3 duplicates with one below the vegetation and the other between plants, 0.06 m). The observations included the following: air temperature and humidity (Ta_5 m and Ta_10 m, RH_5 m and RH_10 m) (℃ and %, respectively), air pressure (press, hpa), precipitation (rain, mm), wind speed (Ws_5 m and Ws_10 m, m/s), wind direction (WD_10 m, °), four-component radiation (DR, incoming shortwave radiation; UR, outgoing shortwave radiation; DLR_Cor, incoming longwave radiation; ULR_Cor, outgoing longwave radiation; Rn, net radiation; W/m^2), infrared temperature (IRT_1 and IR_2, ℃), soil heat flux (Gs_1, below the vegetation; Gs_2 and Gs_3, W/m^2), soil temperature profile (Ts_0 cm, Ts_2 cm, Ts_4 cm, Ts_10 cm, Ts_20 cm, Ts_40 cm, Ts_60 cm, and Ts_100 cm, ℃), and soil moisture profile (Ms_2 cm, Ms_4 cm, Ms_10 cm, Ms_20 cm, Ms_40 cm, Ms_60 cm, and Ms_100 cm, %). The data processing and quality control steps were as follows. (1) The AWS data were averaged over intervals of 10 min; therefore, there were 144 records per day. The missing data were filled with -6999. (2) Data in duplicate records were rejected. (3) Unphysical data were rejected. (4) In this dataset, the time of 0:10 corresponds to the average data for the period between 0:00 and 0:10; the data were stored in *.xlsx format. (5) Finally, the naming convention was AWS+ site no. Moreover, suspicious data were marked in red. For more information, please refer to Liu et al. (2016) (for multi-scale observation experiment or sites information), Xu et al. (2013) (for data processing) in the Citation section.

On 26 July 2012, a Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner (WIDAS) carried by the Y-12 aircraft was used in a visible near Infrared thermal Dual-mode airborne remote sensing experiment, which is located in the artificial oasis eco-hydrology experimental area (5×5 km). WIDAS includes an CCD cameras with spatial resolution 0.2 m, a visible near Infrared multispectral camera with five bands scanner (an maximum observation angle 48° and spatial resolution 1 m), and a thermal image camera with spatial resolution 4.8 m. The CCD camera data are recorded in DN values processed by mosaic and orthorectification. The multispectral camera data are recorded in reflectance processed by atmospheric and geometric correction. Thermal image camera data are recorded in radiation brightness temperature processed by atmospheric and geometric correction.

This dataset contains the flux measurements from site No.12 eddy covariance system (EC) in the flux observation matrix from 28 May to 21 September, 2012. The site (100.36631° E, 38.86515° N) was located in a cropland (maize surface) in Daman irrigation district, which is near Zhangye, Gansu Province. The elevation is 1559.25 m. The EC was installed at a height of 3.5 m; the sampling rate was 10 Hz. The sonic anemometer faced north, and the separation distance between the sonic anemometer and the CO2/H2O gas analyzer (CSAT3&Li7500) was 0.15 m. Raw data acquired at 10 Hz were processed using the Edire post-processing software (University of Edinburgh, http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/abs/research/micromet/EdiRe/), including spike detection, lag correction of H2O/CO2 relative to the vertical wind component, sonic virtual temperature correction, coordinate rotation (2-D rotation), corrections for density fluctuation (Webb-Pearman-Leuning correction), and frequency response correction. The EC data were subsequently averaged over 30 min periods. Moreover, the observation data quality was divided into three classes according to the quality assessment method of stationarity (Δst) and the integral turbulent characteristics test (ITC), which was proposed by Foken and Wichura [1996]: class 1 (level 0: Δst<30 and ITC<30), class 2 (level 1: Δst<100 and ITC<100), and class 3 (level 2: Δst>100 and ITC>100), representing high-, medium-, and low-quality data, respectively. In addition to the above processing steps, the half-hourly flux data were screened in a four-step procedure: (1) data from periods of sensor malfunction were rejected; (2) data before or after 1 h of precipitation were rejected; (3) incomplete 30 min data were rejected when the missing data constituted more than 3% of the 30 min raw record; and (4) data were rejected at night when the friction velocity (u*) was less than 0.1 m/s. There were 48 records per day; the missing data were replaced with -6999. Moreover, suspicious data were marked in red. The released data contained the following variables: data/time, wind direction (Wdir, °), wind speed (Wnd, m/s), the standard deviation of the lateral wind (Std_Uy, m/s), virtual temperature (Tv, ℃), H2O mass density (H2O, g/m^3), CO2 mass density (CO2, mg/m^3), friction velocity (ustar, m/s), stability (z/L), sensible heat flux (Hs, W/m^2), latent heat flux (LE, W/m^2), carbon dioxide flux (Fc, mg/ (m^2s)), quality assessment of the sensible heat flux (QA_Hs), quality assessment of the latent heat flux (QA_LE), and quality assessment of the carbon flux (QA_Fc). In this dataset, the time of 0:30 corresponds to the average data for the period between 0:00 and 0:30; the data were stored in *.xlsx format. For more information, please refer to Liu et al. (2016) (for multi-scale observation experiment or sites information), Xu et al. (2013) (for data processing) in the Citation section.

The No. 3 hydrological section is located at Railway Heihe River Bridge (39°02′33.08″ N, 100° 25′49.42″ E, 1443 m a.s.l.) in the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin, Zhangye, Gansu Province. The dataset contains observations from the No.3 hydrological section from 14 June, 2012, to 24 November, 2012. The width of this section is 50 meters. The water level was measured using SR50 ultrasonic range and the discharge was measured using cross-section reconnaissance by the StreamPro ADCP. The dataset includes the following sections: Water level (recorded every 30 minutes) and Discharge. The data processing and quality control steps were as follows: 1) The water level data which collected from the hydrological station were averaged over intervals of 10 min for a total of 144 records per day. The missing data were denoted by -6999. 2) Data out the normal range records were rejected. 3) Unphysical data were rejected. For more information, please refer to Liu et al. (2016) (for multi-scale observation experiment or sites information), He et al. (2016) (for data processing) in the Citation section.

The No. 8 hydrological section is located at Gaotai Heihe River Bridge (39 ° 23′22 .93 ″ N, 99 ° 49′37 .29″ E, 1347 m a.s.l.) in the middle reaches of the Heihe River Basin, Zhangye, Gansu Province. The dataset contains observations from the No.8 hydrological section from 17 June, 2012, to 24 November, 2012. The width of this section is 130 meters. The water level was measured using SR50 ultrasonic range and the discharge was measured using cross-section reconnaissance by the StreamPro ADCP. The dataset includes the following sections: Water level (recorded every 30 minutes) and Discharge. The data processing and quality control steps were as follows: 1) The water level data which collected from the hydrological station were averaged over intervals of 10 min for a total of 144 records per day. The missing data were denoted by -6999. 2) Data out the normal range records were rejected. 3) Unphysical data were rejected. For more information, please refer to Liu et al. (2016) (for multi-scale observation experiment or sites information), He et al. (2016) (for data processing) in the Citation section.