Data and Code for: Experimental and observational data reveal that nitrogen deposition contributes significantly to global forest soil N2O emissions

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Anthropogenically enhanced nitrogen (N) deposition causes natural forest soils to release more N2O, exacerbating global warming. Using data from N addition experiments conducted in forests worldwide, we quantified the spatially-varying sensitivity (sN) of soil N2O emission (RN2O) to N deposition (Ndepo), and inferred soil RN2O dynamics from N deposition data. From 1985 to 2015, N2O emissions from global forest soils increased from 3.55 TgN2O-N yr–1 to 3.85 TgN2O-N yr–1. N deposition contributed directly to 9.0% of global forest soil N2O emissions. Derived sN for 145 countries could be used as localized emission factors for national inventories on N2O emissions from forestlands. This study sheds light on a new “process-augmented data-driven” approach to estimate global N2O emission by synthesizing experimental and observational data, which may bridge the gap between site-level experimental data and the demand for global GHG budgets.