Vector dataset of Cladophora blooms in Qinghai Lake during 1986–2023

Cladophora is a type of benthic filamentous green algae with elongated cellular morphology and tiny hair-like projections. The growth and attachment characteristics of Cladophora enable it to reproduce rapidly under suitable environmental conditions, and it will detach from the substrate and float on the surface of the water to form yellowish-green water blooms under the action of strong wind or its own physiological deterioration conditions. The frequent outbreaks of the Cladophora blooms in the shallow waters along the Qinghai Lake have damaged the ecological landscape and reduced the tourism value. It is urgent to carry out the monitoring of Cladophora blooms in the whole lake area and understand their spatial and temporal patterns of change. Based on Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI and Sentinel-2 MSI cloudless remote sensing images, the Floating Algae Index (FAI) method and manual visual revision were used to obtain the May-October Cladophora blooms dataset of Qinghai Lake from 1986-2023. The vector dataset gives the location, area, length and remote sensing image data source of each bloom patch. This dataset is verified by UAV imagery with high accuracy, which can provide data support for the governmental departments and the management department of Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve to grasp the growth dynamics of the Cladophora in Qinghai Lake in a timely manner and formulate the corresponding preventive measures.