Station and ERA5 metadata for daily reference evapotranspiration forecasting across mainland China (1985–2024)

This dataset provides metadata for 50 representative meteorological stations across mainland China covering the period 1985–2024. The deposited files include station metadata and ERA5 Hourly surface solar radiation downwards (SSRD) metadata used in the study. The station metadata document station identifiers, names, coordinates, elevations, study period, and data-source information. The ERA5 metadata document the data provider, product, variable, temporal resolution, study period, access platform, spatial extraction method, temporal aggregation, unit conversion, and use in reference evapotranspiration calculation and predictor construction. Surface meteorological observations were obtained from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Integrated Surface Database (ISD). ERA5 Hourly SSRD data were provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and accessed through Google Earth Engine using the ECMWF/ERA5/HOURLY collection. This repository contains metadata and documentation supporting identification and reproducibility of the data sources and preprocessing configuration used in the study.