The dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with PROBA CHRIS was obtained in the Biandukou foci experimental area on Jun. 22, 2008. Observation items included: (1) quadrates investigation including GPS by GARMIN GPS 76, species by manual cognition, the plant number by manual work, the height by the measuring tape repeated 4-5 times, the chlorophyll content by SPAD 502, the coverage by manual work and the biomass (samples from 0.5m×0.5m) by wet weight and dry weight. Data were archived as Excel files. (2) LAI of maize, desert scrub and the poplar by the fisheye camera (CANON EOS40D with a lens of EF15/28), shooting straight downwards, with exceptions of higher plants, which were shot upwards. Data included original photos (.JPG) and those processed by can_eye5.0 (as Excel files). For more details, see Readme file. (3) ground object spectrum of grassland, barley and the rape by ASD FieldSpec (350～2 500 nm) from BNU, with 20% reference board. Raw data were binary files direct from ASD (by ViewSpecPro), which were recorded daily in detail, and pre-processed data on reflectance were in .txt. (4) BRDF of grassland, barley and the rape by ASD FieldSpec (350～2 500 nm), with 20% reference board. Raw data were binary files direct from ASD (by ViewSpecPro), which were recorded daily in detail. The processed reflectance and transmittivity were archived in .txt files. The dataset includes processed spectrum data, soil moisture, BRDF, quadrates investigation, integrating spheres data on the rape, LAI, CHRIS data and the fisheye camera data.

The dataset of ground truth measurements for snow synchronizing with Envisat ASAR was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 15, 2008. The Envisat ASAR data were acquired in AP mode and VV/VH polarization combinations, and the overpass time was approximately at 11:34 BJT. Observation items included: (1) Snow density, snow complex permittivity, snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture by the snowfork in BG-B, BG-D, BG-E and BG-F; (2) Snow parameters including the snow surface temperature and the snow-soil interface temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer, the snow layer temperature by the probe thermometer, the snow grain size by the handheld microscope, snow density by the aluminum case, snow depth by the ruler, and the snow surface temperature synchronizing with ASAR in BG-H, BG-D, BG-E and BG-F; (3) The snow spectrum by the portable ASD (Xinjiang Meteorological Administration) synchronizing with ASAR in BG-H15; the major and minor axis and shape of the snow layer grain through the self-made snow sieve. Two files including raw data and the preprocessed data were archived.

The dataset of soil moisture profile (0cm, 20cm, 40cm and 1m) observations was obtained by TDR (with the probe 12cm and 20cm) in the Yingke oasis and Huazhaizi desert steppe foci experimental areas. Observation items included: (1) Soil moisture synchronizing with TM in Yingke oasis No. 1, 4 and 5 maize plots on May 20, 2008. (2) Soil moisture synchronizing with ASTER and MODIS in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on May 28, 2008. (3) Soil moisture synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on May 30, 2008. (4) Soil moisture synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in A'rou grassland on May 31, 2008. (5) Soil moisture synchronizing with OMIS-II in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on Jun. 4, 2008. (6) Soil moisture synchronizing with OMIS-II in Yingke oasis maize field on Jun. 16, 2008. (7) Soil moisture by TDR and the cutting ring, synchronizing with ASAR in Yingke oasis maize field and wheat field on Jun. 19, 2008. (8) Soil moisture synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on Jun. 29, 2008. (9) Soil moisture synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) and TM in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on Jul. 7, 2008. (10) Soil moisture synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in Yingke oasis foci experimental areas on Jul. 11, 2008.

The dataset of airborne imaging spectrometer (OMIS-II) mission was obtained in the Linze station-Linze grassland flight zone on Jun. 15, 2008. Data after radiometric correction and calibration and geometric approximate correction were released. The flying time of each route was as follows: {| ! id ! flight ! file ! starttime ! lat ! long ! alt ! image liange ! endtime ! lat ! long ! lat |- | 1 || reservoir 1 || 2008-06-15_11-55-28_DATA.BSQ || 12:12:48 || 39.013 || 100.236 || -1.0 || 2540 || 12:15:37 || 39.085 || 100.150 || -1.0 |- | 2 || 1-13 || 2008-06-15_12-15-51_DATA.BSQ || 12:20:47 || 39.172 || 100.048 || 2867.7 || 5572 || 12:26:58 || 39.359 || 100.190 || 2867.8 |- | 3 || 1-12 || 2008-06-15_12-27-13_DATA.BSQ || 12:31:59 || 39.366 || 100.188 || 2846.6 || 5067 || 12:37:37 || 39.185 || 100.051 || 2867.8 |- | 4 || 1-11 || 2008-06-15_12-37-51_DATA.BSQ || 12:42:52 || 39.179 || 100.039 || 2878.8 || 5542 || 12:49:02 || 39.363 || 100.179 || 2884.8 |- | 5 || 1-10 || 2008-06-15_12-49-16_DATA.BSQ || 12:54:29 || 39.373 || 100.179 || 2909.9 || 5116 || 13:00:10 || 39.187 || 100.039 || 2897.3 |- | 6 || 1-9 || 2008-06-15_13-00-24_DATA.BSQ || 13:05:30 || 39.182 || 100.028 || 2864.2 || 5498 || 13:11:37 || 39.366 || 100.167 || 2859.7 |- | 7 || 1-8 || 2008-06-15_13-11-51_DATA.BSQ || 13:17:22 || 39.377 || 100.169 || 2846.8 || 5114 || 13:23:02 || 39.191 || 100.029 || 2862.3 |- | 8 || 1-7 || 2008-06-15_13-23-17_DATA.BSQ || 13:28:06 || 39.187 || 100.0187 || 2857.1 || 5497 || 13:34:13 || 39.372 || 100.158 || 2842.5 |- | 9 || 1-6 || 2008-06-15_13-34-27_DATA.BSQ || 13:39:10 || 39.380 || 100.158 || 2909.7 || 5184 || 13:44:55 || 39.197 || 100.019 || 2861.8 |- | 10 || 1-5 || 2008-06-15_13-45-10_DATA.BSQ || 13:50:09 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 5488 || 13:56:09 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |- | 11 || 1-4 || 2008-06-15_13-56-23_DATA.BSQ || 14:01:20 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 5353 || 14:07:18 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |- | 12 || 1-3 || 2008-06-15_14-07-32_DATA.BSQ || 14:12:36 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 5350 || 14:18:30 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |- | 13 || 1-2 || 2008-06-15_14-18-46_DATA.BSQ || 14:22:48 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 5236 || 14:28:31 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |- | 14 || 1-1 || 2008-06-15_14-28-49_DATA.BSQ || 14:34:02 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 5964 || 14:40:11 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |- | 15 || reservoir 2 || 2008-06-15_14-40-51_DATA.BSQ || 14:51:05 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 || 6846 || 14:58:35 || -1.000 || -1.000 || -1.0 |}

The dataset of airborne WiDAS mission was obtained in the A'rou flight zone on Jul. 7, 2008. Due to cloud/cloud shadow influence, atmospheric correction could not be performed, and geometric registration was performed manually instead of automatic matching. Level-2B (after radiometric and manual geometric corrections) and mosaic images were available for users. For the visible near infrared band the resolution is 1.25m, Radiance was recorded (W/ (sr•m^2•nm);DN=Radiance*100000); for TIR band, the brightness temperature was recorded (℃; DN=Brightness_Temperature*100) . The flying time of each route was as follows: {| ! id ! flight ! relative height ! starttime ! endtime ! data size ! data state ! data quality ! ground targets |- | 1 || 6#1 || 1500m || 13:43:18 || 13:46:26 || 48 || incomplete || incomplete |- | 2 || 6#3 || 1500m || 13:52:26 || 13:55:18 || 43 || incomplete || incomplete |- | 3 || 6#5 || 1500m || 13:59:30 || 14:02:38 || 48 || incomplete || incomplete || A’rou freeze/thaw observation station |- | 4 || 6#7 || 1500m || 14:08:02 || 14:11:02 || 46 || incomplete || incomplete |}

The dataset of airborne Polarimetric L-band Multibeam Radiometers (PLMR) was acquired on 1 August, 2012, located in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin. The aircraft took off at 8:30 am (UTC+8) from Zhangye airport and landed at 12:30 pm, with the flight time of 4 hours. The flight was performed in the altitude of about 1000 m and at the speed of about 220-250 km during the observation, corresponding to an expected ground resolution of about 300 m. The PLMR instrument flown on a small aircraft operates at 1.413 GHz (L-band), with both H- and V-polarizations at incidence angles of ±7.5°, ±21.5° and ±38.5°. PLMR ‘warm’ and ‘cold’ calibrations were performed before and after each flight. The processed PLMR data include 2 DAT files (v-pol and h-pol separately) and 1 KMZ file for each flying day. The DAT file contains all the TB values together with their corresponding beam ID, incidence angle, location, time stamp (in UTC) and other flight attitude information as per headings. The KMZ file shows the gridded 1-km TB values corrected to 38.5 degrees together with flight lines. Cautions should be taken when using these data, as the RFI contaminations are often higher than expected at v-polarization.

The dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with airborne WiDAS mission was obtained in the Linze grassland foci experimental area on Jul. 11, 2008. WiDAS, composed of four CCD cameras, one mid-infrared thermal imager (AGEMA 550), and one infrared thermal imager (S60), can acquire CCD, MIR and TIR band data. These simultaneous ground data were mainly the land surface temperature measured by the hand-held infrared thermometer in the reed plot A, the saline plots B and C, the alfalfa plot D and the barley plot E, the maximum of which were 120m×120m and the minimum were 30m×30m. 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 dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with airborne WiDAS mission was obtained in the Linze grassland foci experimental area on Jun. 29, 2008. WiDAS, composed of four CCD cameras, one mid-infrared thermal imager (AGEMA 550), and one infrared thermal imager (S60), can acquire CCD, MIR and TIR band data. The simultaneous ground data were mainly the land surface temperature measured by the hand-held infrared thermometer in the reed plot A, the saline plots B and C and the barley plot E, the maximum of which were 120m×120m and the minimum were 30m×30m. 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 dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with airborne WiDAS mission was obtained in the Linze grassland foci experimental area on May 30, 2008. WiDAS, composed of four CCD cameras, one mid-infrared thermal imager (AGEMA 550), and one infrared thermal imager (S60), can acquire CCD, MIR and TIR band data. The simultaneous ground data included the land surface temperature measured by the hand-held infrared thermometer in the reed plot A, the saline plots B and C, the alfalfa plot D and the barley plot E, the maximum of which were 120m×120m and the minimum were 30m×30m, and soil gravimetric moisture, volumetric moisture, and soil bulk density after drying measured by the cutting ring and the mean soil temperature from 0-5cm measured by the probe thermometer in plot A, B and C; the soil temperature, soil moisture, the loss tangent, soil conductivity, the real part and the imaginary part of soil complex permittivity measured by the POGO soil sensor, and the mean soil temperature from 0-5cm measured by the probe thermometer in plot D and E. See WATER: Dataset of setting of the sampling plots and stripes in the foci experimental area of Linze station for more information.

The dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with ALOS PALSAR was obtained in the Linze station foci experimental area on Jul. 10, 2008. The ALOS PALSAR data were in FBS mode and HH polarization combinations, and the overpass time was approximately at 23:39 BJT. Soil moisture (0-5cm) data were measured by the cutting ring method (50cm^3) in LY07 and LY08 quadrates (repeated nine times). The quadrate location information was listed in coordinates.xls and data were archived as Excel files. 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.

The dataset of ground truth measurement synchronizing with the airborne WiDAS mission was obtained in the Yingke oasis and Huazhaizi desert steppe foci experimental areas on May 30, 2008. WiDAS, composed of four CCD cameras, one mid-infrared thermal imager (AGEMA 550), and one infrared thermal imager (S60), can acquire CCD, MIR and TIR band data. The simultaneous ground data included: (1) The radiative temperature by the handheld radiometer (BNU) in Yingke oasis maize field and Huazhaizi desert maize field (the vertical canopy observation and the transect observation for both fields), and Huazhaizi desert No. 2 plot (the diagonal observation). The data included raw data (in .doc format), recorded data and the blackbody calibrated data (in Excel format). (2) The component temperature of maize and wheat by the handheld radiometer in Yingke oasis maize field, Yingke wheat field and Huazhaizi desert maize field. For maize, the component temperature included the vertical canopy temperature, the bare land temperature and the plastic film temperature; for the wheat, it included the vertical canopy temperature, the half height temperature, the lower part temperature and the bare land temperature. The data included raw data (in .doc format), recorded data and the blackbody calibrated data (in Excel format). (3) The radiative temperature of maize, wheat and the bare land in Yingke oasis maize field by ThermaCAM SC2000 (1.2m above the ground, FOV = 24°×18°), The data included raw data (read by ThermaCAM Researcher 2001), recorded data and the blackbody calibrated data (archived in Excel format). (4) The radiative temperature and the canopy multi-angle radiative temperature by the fixed automatic thermometer (FOV: 10°; emissivity: 1.0), observing straight downwards at intervals of 1s in Yingke oasis maize field (2 instruments for maize canopy), Huazhaizi desert maize field (only one for maize canopy) and Huazhaizi desert No. 2 plot (two for reaumuria soongorica canopy and the bare land). The thermal infrared remote sensing calibration was carried out in the resort plot. Raw data, blackbody calibrated data and processed data were all archived in Excel format. (5) Coverage fraction of maize and wheat by the self-made instrument and the camera (2.5m-3.5m above the ground) in Yingke oasis maize field. Based on the length of the measuring tape and the bamboo pole, the size of the photo can be decided. GPS date were also collected and the technology LAB was applied to retrieve the coverage of the green vegetation. Besides, such related information as the surrounding environment was also recorded. Data included the primarily measured image and final fraction of vegetation coverage. (6) Reflectance spectra of Yingke oasis maize field (350-2500nm, from Institute of Remote Sensing Applications) and resort calibration site (350-2500nm, from Beijing Univeristy) by ASD (Analytical Sepctral Devices); BRDF by the self-made observation platform. Raw data were binary files direct from ASD (by ViewSpecPro), and pre-processed data on reflectance were in Excel format. (7) Atmospheric parameters at the resort calibration site 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 format and can be opened by ASTPWin. ReadMe.txt is attached for detail. Processed data (after retrieval of the raw data) in Excel format 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. (8) Soil moisture (0-40cm) by the cutting ring, the soil temperature by the thermocouple thermometer, roughness by the self-made roughness board and the camera in Huazhaizi desert No. 1 plot. Sample points were selected every 30m along the diagonals. Data were all archived in Excel format. (9) Maize albedo by the shortwave radiometer in Yingke oasis maize field. R =10H (R for FOV radius; H for the probe height). Data were archived in Excel format. (10) FPAR (Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation) by SUNSACN and the digital camera in Yingke oasis maize field. FPAR= (canopyPAR－surface transmissionPAR－canopy reflection PAR+surface reflectionPAR) /canopy PAR; APAR=FPAR* canopy PAR. Data were archived in Word. LAI in Yingke oasis maize field. The maximum leaf length and width of each maize and wheat were measured. Data were archived in Excel format of May 31.

The dataset of surface roughness was obtained at the super site (100m×100m, pure Qinghai spruce) around the Dayekou Guantan forest station. 25 corner points and 16 center points were collected and each point was measured twice and photos were taken. With the roughness plate 110cm long and the measuring points distance 1cm, the samples were collected along the strip from south to north and from east to west, respectively. The photos were processed using ArcView software; 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 .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. Those provide reliable ground data for improving and verifying the remote sensing algorithms.