Chief editors: Kirsten Elger, Sibylle K. Hassler, Conrad Jackisch, Graciela Raga, François G. Schmitt, Hanqin Tian, Baptiste Vandecrux & Yuyu Zhou
eISSN: ESSD 1866-3516, ESSDD 1866-3591
Earth System Science Data (ESSD) is an international, interdisciplinary journal for the publication of articles on original research data (sets), furthering the reuse of high-quality data of benefit to Earth system sciences. The editors encourage submissions on original data or data collections which are of sufficient quality and have potential to contribute to these aims. The journal maintains sections for regular-length articles, brief communications (e.g. on additions to data sets) and commentaries, as well as review articles and special issues.
This short commentary draws on ESSD author, reviewer and editor experiences over its first 10 years of operation to define guidelines, requirements and benefits of the ESSD processes.
News
02 Apr 2026
Australia's terrestrial industrial footprint and ecological intactness
The authors developed two datasets representing human industrial pressures and ecological intactness across Australia's landscapes. These datasets fill a long-standing gap in national-scale pressure mapping, providing key insights into human disturbance of the environment. Please read more. 
02 Apr 2026
Australia's terrestrial industrial footprint and ecological intactness
The authors developed two datasets representing human industrial pressures and ecological intactness across Australia's landscapes. These datasets fill a long-standing gap in national-scale pressure mapping, providing key insights into human disturbance of the environment. Please read more.
03 Dec 2025
New MS Word template available for manuscript preparation
The existing MS Word template for authors has been significantly expanded and now includes many important notes on the standard sections that must be included in the manuscript. Please visit the "Submission" page, section "Templates for your manuscript file" and download the new template before writing your next manuscript.
03 Dec 2025
New MS Word template available for manuscript preparation
The existing MS Word template for authors has been significantly expanded and now includes many important notes on the standard sections that must be included in the manuscript. Please visit the "Submission" page, section "Templates for your manuscript file" and download the new template before writing your next manuscript.
07 Apr 2026
Validation samples for the Land Cover Map of Europe 2017
Małgorzata Jenerowicz-Sanikowska, Elke Krätzschmar, Peter Schauer, Ewa Gromny, Radek Malinowski, Michał Krupiński, Stanisław Lewiński, Marcin Rybicki, and Cezary Wojtkowski
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-811,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-811, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary
07 Apr 2026
Fusing Local and Regional Datasets to Develop a Composite Land Cover Product Across High Latitudes
Valeria Briones, Hélène Genet, Elchin Jafarov, Brendan Rogers, Jennifer Watts, Anna-Maria Virkkala, Annett Bartsch, Benjamin Maglio, Joshua Rady, and Susan Natali
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-29,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-29, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary
02 Apr 2026
A first approach towards dual-hemisphere sea ice reference measurements from multiple data sources repurposed for evaluation and product intercomparison of satellite altimetry
Ida Lundtorp Olsen, Henriette Skourup, Heidi Sallila, Stefan Hendricks, Renée Mie Fredensborg Hansen, Stefan Kern, Stephan Paul, Marion Bocquet, Sara Fleury, Dmitry Divine, and Eero Rinne
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 2469–2505, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2469-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2469-2026, 2026
Short summary
02 Apr 2026
NortheastChinaSoybeanYield20m: an annual soybean yield dataset at 20 m in Northeast China from 2019 to 2023
Jingyuan Xu, Xin Du, Taifeng Dong, Qiangzi Li, Yuan Zhang, Hongyan Wang, Jing Xiao, Jiashu Zhang, Yunqi Shen, and Yong Dong
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 2413–2441, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2413-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2413-2026, 2026
Short summary
Notice on APC invoices
In accordance with current European restrictions, Copernicus Publications does not step into business relations with and issue APC invoices (articles processing charges) to Russian and Belarusian institutions. The peer-review process and scientific exchange of our journals including preprint posting is not affected. However, these restrictions require that the first contact (contractual partner of Copernicus) has an affiliation and invoice address outside Russia or Belarus.
