Dataset associated with "A 2020 permafrost distribution map over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" submitted to The Cryosphere

Data descriptionThis dataset provides the data associated with the paper: Chen, Y., Nan, Z., Tian, W., Zhao, Y., Zhao, S., Yang, D., Jing, G., & Niu, F. (2026). A 2020 permafrost distribution map over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, submitted to The Cryosphere for consideration for publication.This dataset contains a 2020 permafrost distribution map over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the thermal driving data used in mapping. All data are provided as GeoTIFF(.tif) files. The spatial resolution is 1 km, and the geographic coordinate system is WGS_1984.1. “Permafrost_distribution_map_2020_QTP.tif” is the 2020 permafrost distribution map over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.2. “DDT_mean_annual_2020.tif” contains annual thawing indices on the QTP averaged from 2016-2020 derived from MODIS LST data.3. “DDF_meann_annual_2020.tif” contains annual freezing indices on the QTP averaged from 2016-2020 derived from MODIS LST data.AbstractPermafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is undergoing rapid degradation, yet most existing distribution maps reflect long-term historical averages, failing to capture the current thermal state required for accurate ecological and hydrological modeling. To address this temporal mismatch, this study presents a 1-km QTP permafrost distribution map for the year 2020. We employed an extended ground surface frost number (FROSTNUM) model driven by satellite-derived freezing/thawing indices. To overcome the lack of concurrent field surveys for parameter calibration, we implemented a space-for-time substitution strategy, utilizing a Random Forest regression to robustly estimate the empirical soil parameter (E) based on environmental covariates. The resulting map reveals that in 2020, permafrost covered approximately 1.038 × 10⁶ km² (39.35% of the plateau), while seasonally frozen ground (SFG) covered 1.466 × 10⁶ km² (55.57%). Compared to the 2010 baseline, the permafrost area declined by(a 1.82% decrease). Spatially, the degradation of permafrost to SFG extensively occurred in the central QTP (accounting for 7.41% of the total change), and a significant marginal contraction of SFG to non-frozen ground in the southern margin (accounting for 39.62% of the total change). Validations against 109 independent borehole records from the 2020 period confirms the map’s reliability, achieving an overall accuracy of 0.84 and a Kappa of 0.58. This 2020 map provides an essential, up-to-date asset for quantifying the recent cryospheric shifts and supporting engineering risk assessments in this climate-sensitive region.