Spring Phenological Grid Dataset of Typical Deciduous Broad-leaved Woody Plants in China from 1963 to 2015

Plant phenology is an important basis for assessing the effects of global climate change, studying the structure and function of ecosystems, and developing the models of climate and land surface. Based on the Chinese Phenological Observation Network (CPON), the leaf unfolding date (LUD) and the first flowering date (FFD) of 22 woody plants from 1963 to 2015 were abstracted, including that of Fraxinus chinensis, Salix babylonica, Robinia pseudoacacia, Albizia julibrissin, Morus alba, Ulmus pumila, Armeniaca vulgaris, Cercis chinensis, etc. Using three phenological models as Unified, UniChill and Temporal-Spatial Coupling (TSC), estimating the corresponding parameter value and testing models, the 0.5°x 0.5° grid data of the 8 species LUD and FFD among their distribution in the past 50 years was developed. The data verification results showed that the average simulation error of LUD is about 5-9 days, and the average simulation error of FFD is about 5-12 days. The dataset includes: (1) header files, containing grid data header information of the species phenophase and distribution range; (2) species phenophase, including the LUD and FFD of 8 species from 1963 to 2015; (3) species distribution range, containing the actual distribution range grid of 8 species. The dataset is archived in .txt and .tiff data formats with spatial resolution of 0.5°x 0.5°, and consists of 4688 data files with data size of 208 MB (Compressed to one single file with data size of 25.2 MB).