Photosynthetically active radiation dataset in Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (2005 – 2015)

Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) plays important roles in multiple subjects such as ecology, agronomy and climatology. It is the fundamental physiological variable that reveals the exchange processes of material and energy. PAR is essential for studying the potential photosynthesis, potential yield and simulation of plant growth and soil carbon fixation. The daily average PAR dataset in 8 Chinese typical terrestrial ecosystems covers 40 radiation stations (which belong to Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, CERN) from 2005 to 2015. To ensure the reliability and comparability of observational data, centralized calibration and normative data quality control are conducted. Standard radiative lamp and spectrometer are used to establish quantum sensor calibration system and the accuracy of the calibrated quantum sensor is within 5% which meets the WMO criterion of photosynthetically active radiation study; then the quality control of PAR dataset is conducted using the extremum method.