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

13 Feb 2026 University of Western Ontario partners with Copernicus Publications to support open-access publishing

Copernicus Publications has signed a new agreement with Western Libraries at the University of Western Ontario, providing a 50% APC reduction for eligible corresponding authors submitting from 1 January 2026. Please read more.

13 Feb 2026 University of Western Ontario partners with Copernicus Publications to support open-access publishing

Copernicus Publications has signed a new agreement with Western Libraries at the University of Western Ontario, providing a 50% APC reduction for eligible corresponding authors submitting from 1 January 2026. Please read more.

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.

Recent papers

12 Mar 2026
The PAGES CoralHydro2k Seawater δ18O Database: a FAIR-aligned compilation of seawater δ18O data to uncover “hidden” insights from the global ocean
Alyssa R. Atwood, Andrea L. Moore, Kristine L. DeLong, Sylvia E. Long, Sara C. Sanchez, Jessica A. Hargreaves, Chandler A. Morris, Raquel E. Pauly, Émilie P. Dassié, Thomas Felis, Antje H. L. Voelker, Sujata A. Murty, and Kim M. Cobb
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 1921–1941, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1921-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1921-2026, 2026
Short summary
12 Mar 2026
A new method for estimating atmospheric turbulence from global high-resolution radiosonde data and comparison with the Thorpe method
Han-Chang Ko and Hye-Yeong Chun
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 1905–1920, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1905-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1905-2026, 2026
Short summary
12 Mar 2026
Vertical observations of aerosol properties in the Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine atmospheric boundary layers with a tethered balloon
Julia Schmale, Roman Pohorsky, Yolanda Temel, Michael Lonardi, Joanna Alden, Radiance Calmer, Evan Thomas, Andrea Baccarini, Nora Bergner, Berkay Dönmez, Lionel Favre, Henrik Helmig, Benjamin Heutte, Marie Lou Hirschy, Romain Phan, Orpheas Solidakis, Aleksandrina Streltsova, Mihnea Surdu, and Arthur Tabary
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-146,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-146, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary
12 Mar 2026
A physically consistent soil thickness map of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau derived from coupled erosion mechanisms
Lihua Chen, Xingyu Ding, Shuping Zhao, Fujun Niu, Keting Feng, and Zhuotong Nan
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-809,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-809, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary
12 Mar 2026
META4.0: a new mesoscale eddy network atlas derived from altimetry
Juliette Gamot, Antoine Delepoulle, Francesco Nencioli, Marie-Isabelle Pujol, and Gérald Dibarboure
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-108,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-108, 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.