Chief editors: Kirsten Elger, Sibylle K. Hassler, Conrad Jackisch, Graciela Raga, François G. Schmitt, Hanqin Tian, Baptiste Vandecrux & 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.
Online system Copernicus Office unavailable on Sunday, 12 April 2026
The Copernicus online application 'Copernicus Office', the infrastructure on which the journal review system and conference organization run, is being prepared for the coming years! On Sunday, 12 April 2026, the system will be migrated and will therefore be unavailable from 04:00 CEST until approximately 20:00 CEST. Our goal is to make the system more efficient, secure, and powerful.
What will be unavailable? The entire journal review process will be unavailable. Furthermore, the website search function will not be accessible. However, the online libraries containing preprints and journal articles can be used as usual.
We ask for your understanding regarding this significant change to the Copernicus Office and apologize for any inconvenience caused. Thank you very much for your interest in our services.
News
02 Apr 2026
Australia's terrestrial industrial footprint and ecological intactness
The authors developed two datasets representing human industrial pressures and ecological intactness across Australia's landscapes. These datasets fill a long-standing gap in national-scale pressure mapping, providing key insights into human disturbance of the environment. Please read more. 
02 Apr 2026
Australia's terrestrial industrial footprint and ecological intactness
The authors developed two datasets representing human industrial pressures and ecological intactness across Australia's landscapes. These datasets fill a long-standing gap in national-scale pressure mapping, providing key insights into human disturbance of the environment. 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.
09 Apr 2026
Differences in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions estimates explained
William F. Lamb, Robbie M. Andrew, Matthew Jones, Zebedee Nicholls, Glen P. Peters, Chris Smith, Marielle Saunois, Giacomo Grassi, Julia Pongratz, Steven J. Smith, Francesco N. Tubiello, Monica Crippa, Matthew Gidden, Pierre Friedlingstein, Jan Minx, and Piers M. Forster
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 2549–2572, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2549-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2549-2026, 2026
Short summary
09 Apr 2026
Soil information and soil property maps for the Kurdistan region, Dohuk governorate (Iraq)
Mathias Bellat, Mjahid Zebari, Benjamin Glissmann, Tobias Rentschler, Paola Sconzo, Nafiseh Kakhani, Ruhollah Taghizadeh-Mehrjardi, Pegah Kohsravani, Bekas Brifkany, Peter Pfälzner, and Thomas Scholten
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 2507–2548, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2507-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2507-2026, 2026
Short summary
08 Apr 2026
The Greenland GNSS Network (GNET): Geodetic Grade GNSS measurements of Greenland's 3D Bedrock Displacement from 1995–2025
Christian Solgaard, Finn Bo Madsen, Malte Winther-Dahl, Thomas Henry Nylen, Danjal Longfors Berg, Ole Bjerregaard, Javed Hassan, Per Knudsen, Michael Bevis, and Shfaqat Abbas Khan
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-198,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-198, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary
07 Apr 2026
Validation samples for the Land Cover Map of Europe 2017
Małgorzata Jenerowicz-Sanikowska, Elke Krätzschmar, Peter Schauer, Ewa Gromny, Radek Malinowski, Michał Krupiński, Stanisław Lewiński, Marcin Rybicki, and Cezary Wojtkowski
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-811,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-811, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary
Notice on APC invoices
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.
