ESSD cover
Chief editors: Kirsten Elger, Sibylle K. Hassler, Conrad Jackisch, Ken Mankoff, Graciela Raga, François G. Schmitt, Hanqin Tian & Yuyu Zhou
eISSN: ESSD 1866-3516, ESSDD 1866-3591

Earth System Science Data (ESSD) is an international, interdisciplinary journal for the publication of articles on original research data (sets), furthering the reuse of high-quality data of benefit to Earth system sciences. The editors encourage submissions on original data or data collections which are of sufficient quality and have potential to contribute to these aims. The journal maintains sections for regular-length articles, brief communications (e.g. on additions to data sets) and commentaries, as well as review articles and special issues.

This short commentary draws on ESSD author, reviewer and editor experiences over its first 10 years of operation to define guidelines, requirements and benefits of the ESSD processes.

News

03 Dec 2025 New MS Word template available for manuscript preparation

The existing MS Word template for authors has been significantly expanded and now includes many important notes on the standard sections that must be included in the manuscript. Please visit the "Submission" page, section "Templates for your manuscript file" and download the new template before writing your next manuscript.

03 Dec 2025 New MS Word template available for manuscript preparation

The existing MS Word template for authors has been significantly expanded and now includes many important notes on the standard sections that must be included in the manuscript. Please visit the "Submission" page, section "Templates for your manuscript file" and download the new template before writing your next manuscript.

21 Aug 2025 The JapanFlux2024 dataset for eddy covariance observations covering Japan and East Asia from 1990 to 2023

The JapanFlux2024 dataset, created through collaboration across Japan and East Asia, includes eddy covariance data from 83 sites spanning 683 site-years (1990–2023). Please read more.

21 Aug 2025 The JapanFlux2024 dataset for eddy covariance observations covering Japan and East Asia from 1990 to 2023

The JapanFlux2024 dataset, created through collaboration across Japan and East Asia, includes eddy covariance data from 83 sites spanning 683 site-years (1990–2023). Please read more.

19 Jun 2025 Indicators of Global Climate Change 2024: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence

ESSD announces the publication of an update to IPCC's most recent assessment. Please read more.

19 Jun 2025 Indicators of Global Climate Change 2024: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence

ESSD announces the publication of an update to IPCC's most recent assessment. Please read more.

Recent papers

03 Feb 2026
Annual carbon emissions from land-use change in China from 1000 to 2019
Fan Yang, Guanpeng Dong, Xiaoyu Meng, Richard A. Houghton, Yang Gao, Fanneng He, Meijiao Li, Wenjin Li, Bing Li, Zhihao Liu, Qinqin Mao, Pengfei Wu, Yuanzhi Yao, Xudong Zhai, Hongjuan Zhang, and Chao Yue
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 875–902, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-875-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-875-2026, 2026
Short summary
03 Feb 2026
The INFLUX network – eddy covariance in and around an urban environment
Jason P. Horne, Scott J. Richardson, Samantha L. Murphy, Helen C. Kenion, Bernd J. Haupt, Benjamin J. Ahlswede, Natasha L. Miles, and Kenneth J. Davis
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 823–843, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-823-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-823-2026, 2026
Short summary
03 Feb 2026
A multiyear eddy covariance and meteorological dataset from five pairs of agroforestry systems with open cropland or grassland in Northern Germany
José Ángel Callejas-Rodelas, Justus van Ramshorst, Alexander Knohl, Lukas Siebicke, Dietmar Fellert, Marek Peksa, Dirk Böttger, and Christian Markwitz
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 845–874, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-845-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-845-2026, 2026
Short summary
03 Feb 2026
A Global Drought Dataset from Clustering-Based Event Identification with Integrated Population, and GDP Exposure and Socioeconomic Impacts
Alok Kumar Samantaray and Gabriele Messori
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-646,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-646, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary
03 Feb 2026
TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe
Yohann Chauvier-Mendes, Antoine Adde, Ariel Bergamini, Gerhard Rambold, Silvia Stofer, Ninetta Graf, Andrin Gross, Stefan Blaser, Stuart P. M. Roberts, Simon G. Potts, Joan Casanelles-Abella, Marco Moretti, Michael P. Nobis, Jean-Paul Theurillat, Heike Hofmann, Ann-Michelle Hartwig, Francois Claude, Gauvain Saucy, and Florian Altermatt
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-754,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-754, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary

Notice on the current situation in Ukraine

To show our support for Ukraine, all fees for papers from authors (first or corresponding authors) affiliated to Ukrainian institutions are automatically waived, regardless if these papers are co-authored by scientists affiliated to Russian and/or Belarusian institutions. The only exception will be if the corresponding author or first contact (contractual partner of Copernicus) are from a Russian and/or Belarusian institution, in that case the APCs are not waived.

In accordance with current European restrictions, Copernicus Publications does not step into business relations with and issue APC-invoices (articles processing charges) to Russian and Belarusian institutions. The peer-review process and scientific exchange of our journals including preprint posting is not affected. However, these restrictions require that the first contact (contractual partner of Copernicus) has an affiliation and invoice address outside Russia or Belarus.