The dataset of vegetation cover fraction observations was obtained by the self-made instrument and the camera at a height of 2.5m-3.5m above the ground in the Yingke oasis, Huazhaizi desert steppe and Biandukou foci experimental areas on May 20, 24, 25, 28 and 30, Jun. 11, 14, 15, 21, 23, 24, 27 and 30, and Jul. 2, 2008. Observations were carried out in Yingke oasis maize field, Yingke oasis wheat field, Huazhaizi desert No. 1 and 2 plots, the rape field, the barley field and grassland in Biandukou. A pole with known length was put in each photo to determine the size of the photo. GPS data was used for the location and the technology LAB was used to retieve the coverage of the green vegetation. Besides, surrounding environment was also recorded. The dataset included the primary collected vegetation images and retrieved fraction of vegetation coverage.

This dataset is the LAI observation in the artificial oasis experimental region of the middle stream of the Heihe River Basin. The observation period is from 24 May to 20 September 2012 (UTC+8). Measurement instruments: LAI-2000 (Beijing Normal University) Measurement positions: Core Experimental Area of Flux Observation Matrix 18 corn samples, 1 orchard sample, 1 artificial white poplar sample Measurement methods: To measure the incoming sky radiation on the canopy firstly. Then the transmission sky radiation are mearued under the canopy for serveral times. The canopy LAI is retrieved by using the gap probability model.

The first dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with TerraSAR-X was obtained in the Daman foci experimental area on 4 June, 2012. The satellite image was in StripMap mode and HH/VV polarization with an incidence angle of 22-24°, and the overpass time was approximately at 19:00 UTC+8. The second dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with TerraSAR-X was obtained in the Daman foci experimental area on 15 June, 2012. The satellite image was in StripMap mode and HH/VV polarization with an incidence angle of 22-24°, and the overpass time was approximately at 19:00 UTC+8. The third dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with TerraSAR-X was obtained in the Daman foci experimental area on 26 June, 2012. The satellite image was in StripMap mode and HH/VV polarization with an incidence angle of 22-24°, and the overpass time was approximately at 19:00 UTC+8. The measurements were conducted at a sampling plot southeast to the Daman Superstation with an area of around 100 m × 100 m, which was dominantly planted with maize. Steven Hydro probes were used to collect soil moisture and other measurements with an interval of 5 m. For each sampling point, two measurements were acquired within an area of 1 m2, with one for the soil covered by plastic film (point name was tagged as LXPXXA) and the other for exposed soil (point name was tagged as LXPXXB). Concurrently with soil moisture sampling, vegetation properties were measured at around 10 locations within this sampling plot. Observation items included: Soil parameters: volumetric soil moisture (inherently converted from measured soil dielectric constant), soil temperature, soil dielectric constant, soil electric conductivity. Vegetation parameters: biomass, LAI, vegetation water content, canopy height, row distance and leaf chlorophyll content. Data and data format: This dataset includes two parts of measurements, i.e. soil and vegetation parameters. The former is as shapefile, with measured items stored in its attribute table. The measured vegetation parameters are recorded in an Excel file.

The dataset of ground truth measurement synchronizing with Envisat ASAR was obtained in the arid region hydrological experimental area on Sep. 19, 2007 during the pre-observation period. One scene of Envisat ASAR image was captured on Sep. 19. The data were in AP mode and VV/VH polarization combinations, and the overpass time was approximately at 11:29 BJT. Those provide reliable ground data for remote sensing retrieval and validation of soil moisture from Envisat ASAR image. Observation items included: (1) soil moisture measured by the cutting ring method in Linze reed land, Zhangye farmland, Zhangye gobi, Linze maize land, Linze alfalfa land, Zhangye weather station, and Linze wetland. (2) GPS measured by GARMIN GPS 76 (3) vegetation measurements including the vegetation height, the green weight, the dry weight, the sampling method, and descriptions on the land type, uniformity and dry and wet conditions (4) atmospheric parameters at Daman Water Management office measured by CE318 (produced by CIMEL in France). The total optical depth, aerosol optical depth, Rayleigh scattering coefficient, column water vapor in 936 nm, particle size spectrum and phase function were then retrieved from these observations. The optical depth in 1020nm, 936nm, 870nm, 670nm and 440nm were all acquired by CE318. Those data include the raw data in .k7 and can be opened by ASTPWin. ReadMetext files (.txt) is attached for detail. Processed data (after retrieval of the raw data) archived as Excel files are on optical depth, rayleigh scattering, aerosol optical depth, the horizontal visibility, the near surface air temperature, the solar azimuth, zenith, solar distance correlation factors, and air column mass number. (5) roughness measured by the roughness plate together with the digital camera. The coordinates of the sample would be got with the help of ArcView; and after geometric correction, surface height standard deviation (cm) and correlation length (cm) could be acquired based on the formula listed on pages 234-236, Microwave Remote Sensing (Vol. II). The roughness data were initialized by the sample name, which was followed by the serial number, the name of the file, standard deviation and correlation length. Each text files (.txt) file is matched with one sample photo and standard deviation and correlation length represent the roughness. In addition, the length of 101 radius is also included for further checking.

On 1 August 2012 (UTC+8), a Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner (WIDAS) carried by the Harbin Y-12 aircraft was used in a visible near Infrared thermal Dual-mode airborne remote sensing experiment, which is located in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin. WIDAS includes a CCD camera with a spatial resolution of 0.08 m, a visible near Infrared multispectral camera with five bands scanner (an maximum observation angle 48° and spatial resolution 0.4 m), and a thermal image camera with a spatial resolution of 2 m. The CCD camera data are recorded in DN values processed by mosaic and orthorectification. The mutispectral camera data production are recorded in reflectance processed by atmospheric and geometric correction. Thermal image camera data production are recorded in radiation brightness temperature processed by atmospheric and geometric correction.

This dataset contains data on river water level and flow velocity at No.3 in the intensive runoff observation in the middle reaches of Heihe River runoff from July 28, 2014 to December 31, 2014. The observation point is located at Heihe Bridge, Lan-Xin Railway, Zhangye City, Gansu Province. The riverbed is gravel and the section is stable. The latitude and longitude of the observation point is N39°2'33.08", E100°25'49.42", the altitude is 1443 meters, and the river channel width is 50 meters. The water level observation is measured by SR50 ultrasonic range finder with a frequency of 60 minutes. The flow profile observation is conducted by StreamPro micro ADCP. The data declaration includes the following two parts: Water level observation, the observation frequency is 60 minutes, unit (cm); data covering time period from July 28, 2014 to December 31, 2014; Flow observation, unit (m3); monitoring flow and obtaining water level flow curve according to different water levels. The process of the runoff changing is obtained by observing the water level process. The missing data is uniformly represented by the string -6999. For hydrometeorological network or site information, please refer to Li et al. (2013). For observation data processing, please refer to He et al. (2016).

This dataset contains the automatic weather station (AWS) measurements from site No.4 in the flux observation matrix from 10 May to 17 September, 2012. The site (100.35753° E, 38.87752° N) was located in a residential area in Yingke irrigation district, which is near Zhangye, Gansu Province. The elevation is 1561.87 m. The installation heights and orientations of different sensors and measured quantities were as follows: air temperature and humidity (HMP45C; 5 m, towards north), air pressure (CS100; 2 m), rain gauge (TE525M; 10 m), wind speed and direction (010C/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, 0.06 m). The observations included the following: air temperature and humidity (Ta_5 m and RH_5 m) (℃ and %, respectively), air pressure (press, hpa), precipitation (rain, mm), wind speed (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, 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.

This dataset contains the flux measurements from the large aperture scintillometer (LAS) at site No.2 in the flux observation matrix. There were two types of LASs at site No.2: German BLS900 and German BLS450. The observation periods were from 7 June to 19 September, 2012, and 18 June to 19 September, 2012, for the BLS900 and the BLS450, respectively. The north tower is placed with the receiver of BLS900 and the transmitter of BLS450, and the south tower is placed with the transmitter of BLS900 and the receiver of BLS450. The site (north: 100.363° E, 38.883° N; south: 100.362° E, 38.857° N) was located in the Yingke irrigation district, which is near Zhangye, Gansu Province. The elevation is 1552.75 m. The underlying surface between the two towers contains corn, greenhouse, and village. The effective height of the LASs was 33.45 m; the path length was 2841 m. Data were sampled at 1 min intervals. Raw data acquired at 1 min intervals were processed and quality-controlled. The data were subsequently averaged over 30 min periods. The main quality control steps were as follows. (1) The data were rejected when Cn2 was beyond the saturated criterion (Cn2>4.08E-14). (2) Data were rejected when the demodulation signal was small (BLS900: Average X Intensity<1000; BLS450: Minimum X<50). (3) Data were rejected within 1 h of precipitation. (4) Data were rejected at night when weak turbulence occurred (u* was less than 0.1 m/s). The sensible heat flux was iteratively calculated by combining with meteorological data and based on Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. There were several instructions for the released data. (1) The data were primarily obtained from BLS900 measurements; missing flux measurements from the BLS900 were filled with measurements from the BLS450. Missing data were denoted by -6999. (2) The dataset contained the following variables: data/time (yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss), the structural parameter of the air refractive index (Cn2, m-2/3), and the sensible heat flux (H_LAS, W/m^2). (3) 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. 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 dataset of LAS (Large Aperture Scintillometer, made in Holland) observations was obtained in the Linze grassland station, Linze county (Gansu province), from May 19 to Aug. 31, 2008. The instrument was composed of the transmitter (100°04′10.4″E, 39°15′02.8″N, 9.25m), the receiver (100°03′36.8″E, 39°15′02.8″N, 9.1m) and the data acquisition system. The transmitter and the receiver were 1550m away from each other and the operating altitude was 9.2m. The observation item was natural logarithm of structural parameters of the refractive index (UCn2). The transmitting frequency was 0.5HZ. The data were named after WATER_LAS_Linze_yyyymmdd-yyyymmdd.csv (yyyymmdd-yyyymmdd for observation time). The missing data were marked "None". For more detailed information, please refer to Directions on LAS (Large Aperture Scintillometer) observations.

The dataset of meteorological station observations (2008-2009) was obtained at the Yeniugou cold region hydrological station (E99°33'/N38°28', 3320m), Qilian county, Qinghai province. Observation items were multilayer (2m and 10m) of the air temperature and air humidity, the wind speed and direction, the air pressure, precipitation, the global radiation, the net radiation, the multilayer soil temperature (20cm, 40cm, 60cm, 80cm, 120cm and 160cm), soil moisture (20cm, 40cm, 60cm, 80cm, 120cm and 160cm), and soil heat flux. For more details, please refer to the attached Data Directions.

The dataset of albedo observations was obtained in the Linze grassland foci experimental area. Measurements were carried out by using the shortwave radiometer (the upward radiometer: 071392; the downward radiometer: 071389) in the reed plot A, the saline plots B and C, the alfalfa plot D, the barley plot E and the temporary cement floor. Manual work was applied before Jun. 6, 2008 with the probe 1.3m-1.46m high and automatic observations hereafter with the probe 1.20m or 1.30m. Observation site cover type observation date Plot E barley May 25, 2008 Plot D alfalfa May 26, 2008 Plot D alfalfa May 27, 2008 Plot E cumin May 28, 2008 Plot E cumin May 30, 2008 Plot A reed Jun. 1, 2008 Plot B saline Jun. 2, 2008 Plot A reed Jun. 3, 2008 Temporary cement floor Jun. 4, 2008 Vicinity of plot E Jun. 6, 2008 Plot A reed Jun. 20, 2008 Plot A reed Jun. 22, 2008 Plot D alfalfa Jun. 23, 2008 Plot E barley Jun. 24, 2008 Plot E barley Jul. 11, 2008 Self-recording observations included: TIMESTAMP: observation time SOLAR_UP_AVG: downward shortwave radiation SOLAR_DOWN_AVG: upward shortwave radiation SOLAR_NET_AVG: net radiation = SOLAR_UP_AVG - SOLAR_DOWN_AVG albedo_Avg: albedo = SOLAR_DOWN_AVG / SOLAR_UP_AVG batt_volt_Min: voltage ptemp: CR1000 temperature Data were archived in Excel file. See WATER: Dataset of setting of the sampling plots and stripes in the foci experimental area of Linze station for more information.

The dateset of GPR (Ground Penetration Radar) observations was obtained in the A'rou foci experimental area from Mar. 10 to Jun. 19, 2008. Those provide reliable dataset for retrieval of soil moisture and frozen depth from GPR observations. Observation items, sites and time were as follows: (1) GPR in No. 1 quadrate of A'rou on Mar. 10, 2008 (2) GPR+TDR in No. 2 and 3 quadrates of A'rou on Mar. 11, 2008 (3) GPR in No. 1 quadrate of A'rou on Mar. 12, 2008 (4) GPR in No. 2 quadrate of A'rou on Mar. 14, 2008 (5) GPR +TDR in No. 1 quadrate of A'rou on Mar. 15, 2008 (6) GPR +TDR in L6 of A'rou on Mar. 16, 2008 (7) GPR +TDR in L6 of A'rou on Mar. 17, 2008 (8) GPR +TDR in L6 of A'rou on Mar. 18, 2008 (9) GPR +TDR in L6 of A'rou on Mar. 19, 2008 (10) GPR in L6 of A'rou on Mar. 20, 2008 (11) GPR +TDR in No. 3 quadrate of A'rou on Mar. 21, 2008 (12) GPR in No. 1 and 3 quadrates of A'rou on May. 31, 2008 (13) GPR in No. 1 quadrate of A'rou on Jun. 20, 2008