Finer-Resolution Long-Term Plant Functional Types-specific Leaf Area Index at 500-m Resolution for Earth System Modeling

This dataset provides a global monthly plant functional type–specific leaf area index (PFT LAI) product at 500 m spatial resolution for the period 1985–2020. The dataset was developed by combining the PFT dataset with reprocessed MODIS Collection 6.1 LAI and GIMMS LAI4g products, using a remote-sensing-derived phenology scheme rather than conventional empirical approaches. By directly constraining phenological dynamics with satellite observations, the PFT LAI dataset captures realistic seasonal variations across different vegetation types. It enables detailed analysis of vegetation dynamics and land surface processes and supports fine-scale simulations and long-term assessments of land use and land cover change impacts. The dataset is provided in NetCDF format using a 5° × 5° spatial tiling scheme, with files corresponding to each 30° × 30° region packaged into a single tar archive, named as RG_{latN}_{lonW}_{latS}_{lonE}.LSAI500m.{YEAR}.tar. Due to the large volume of the full long-term dataset, this deposition provides data for the year 2005 only. Data for 2015 is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18131035, and data for other years can be provided upon request. The corresponding PFT dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18139027.