ESM-SnowMIP meteorological and evaluation datasets at ten reference sites (in situ and bias corrected reanalysis data)

In situ meteorological forcing and evaluation data, and bias-corrected reanalysis forcing data for cold regions modelling at ten sites: one maritime (Sapporo, Japan), one arctic (Sodankylä, Finland), three boreal (Old Aspen, Old Jack Pine and Old Black Spruce, Saskatchewan, Canada) and five mid-latitude alpine (Col de Porte, France; Reynolds Mountain East, Idaho, USA, Senator Beck and Swamp Angel, Colorado, USA; Weissfluhjoch, Switzerland). The long-term datasets are the reference sites chosen for evaluating models participating in the Earth System Model-Snow Model Intercomparison Project (ESM-SnowMIP). Periods covered by the in situ data vary between seven and twenty years of hourly meteorological data, with evaluation data (snow depth, snow water equivalent, albedo, soil temperature and surface temperature) available at varying temporal intervals. 30-year (1980-2010) time-series have been extracted from a global gridded surface meteorology dataset (Global Soil Wetness Project Phase 3) for the grid cells containing the reference sites, interpolated to one-hour timesteps and bias corrected.