Collection of ERA5 and ASCAT Data Files for Soil Freeze–Thaw Analysis

This dataset contains original data files obtained from the following providers: ERA5 reanalysis data produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and distributed through the Copernicus Climate Data Store. ASCAT radar backscatter observations provided by EUMETSAT / TU Wien. The individual swath orbit files from the ASCAT Surface Soil Moisture (SSM) Climate Data Record (CDR) v8 at 12.5 km sampling (H121, https://doi.org/10.15770/EUM_SAF_H_0011 ) were stacked and converted into time series format. Since the data are provided on a fixed Earth grid, this processing step involved only restructuring the data without altering the original values. For each in situ station, the time series of the nearest ASCAT grid point was extracted. During this transformation, data from the corresponding Intermediate Climate Data Record (ICDR, H139) were appended as well. ERA5 data has been downloaded from the Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS) (https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47) and converted into time series format. The ERA5 data are provided on a 0.25 degree grid and data has not been altered during data conversion. The time series of the closest grid point of the ERA5 dataset has been extracted of each in situ station. Users should consult the original providers for full documentation and data descriptions.