DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.29974780
title: Supporting Data for “Arctic Greening at Its Limit”

description: README – Arctic Vegetation and Climate Data & Processing Scripts (1984–2023)<br>Overview<br>This package contains Google Earth Engine (GEE) scripts (in .txt format) and derived datasets used to analyze Arctic vegetation dynamics and climate conditions from 1984 to 2023. The materials support reproducibility of the analyses presented in the manuscript "Arctic Greening at Its Limit".<br>The package includes:<br>Processing scripts for vegetation and climate metrics.<br>Annual and monthly climate statistics derived from ERA5-Land.<br>Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC) statistics and distributions derived from Landsat imagery.<br>Metadata tables with median and standard deviation values for FVC.<br>File List1. Arctic_ERA5_Annual_and_Monthly_Climate_Stats_2000-2023Type: .txt (Google Earth Engine script)Description:Processes ERA5-Land monthly data to calculate:<br>Annual mean temperature (°C)<br>Annual total precipitation (mm)<br>Monthly mean temperature and precipitation<br>Monthly standard deviation of temperature and precipitationUsage:Open in the GEE Code Editor, paste the content, and run to export annual and monthly climate rasters for the Arctic region (EPSG:3413).<br>2. Arctic_FVC_Distribution_By_Coverage_Class_1984-2023Type: .csvDescription:Distribution (%) of Arctic land area across ten FVC classes (0.0–0.1, …, 0.9–1.0) for each year 1984–2023, derived from annual maximum FVC maps using Landsat data.Units: Percent of total Arctic land area per class.<br>3. Arctic_FVC_Median_and_SD_1984-2023Type: .csvDescription:Median and standard deviation of annual maximum FVC across the Arctic region for each year from 1984 to 2023.Units: FVC (unitless, range 0–1).<br>4. Arctic_Landsat_Annual_Monthly_Cloud_and_SatelliteID_Stats_1984-2023Type: .txt (GEE script)Description:Generates annual and monthly statistics for:<br>Landsat image count<br>Mean cloud cover percentage<br>List of spacecraft IDs usedOutputs a CSV table for each year and sensor type.<br>5. Arctic_Landsat_YearMonth_Statistics_1984-2023Type: .txt (GEE script)Description:Computes Landsat scene availability, mean cloud cover, and satellite IDs for each year-month combination across the Arctic.Outputs CSV files summarizing image count and metadata.<br>6. Arctic_Maximum_FVC_Processing_1984-2023Type: .txt (GEE script)Description:Processes Landsat imagery to compute annual maximum Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC) using:<br>Cloud masking<br>NDVI calculation<br>Vegetation–soil binary modelExports annual Arctic-wide maximum FVC rasters at 5 km resolution.<br>7. FVC_Distribution_By_Coverage_Class_1984-2023Type: .csvDescription:Annual percentage of Arctic land area within ten FVC intervals (0.0–0.1 … 0.9–1.0), 1984–2023. This file provides the same coverage-class breakdown as file #2 but may be organized or formatted differently for analysis.<br>Data SourcesLandsat TM, ETM+, OLI (USGS/NASA) – Surface reflectance products from GEE collections:<br>LANDSAT/LT05/C02/T1_L2<br>LANDSAT/LE07/C02/T1_L2<br>LANDSAT/LC08/C02/T1_L2<br>ERA5-Land Monthly Data (ECMWF) – ECMWF/ERA5_LAND/MONTHLY<br>Coordinate Reference SystemAll datasets are processed and exported in EPSG:3413 (WGS 84 / NSIDC Sea Ice Polar Stereographic North) to minimize high-latitude distortion.<br>How to UseOpen .txt files in the Google Earth Engine Code Editor.<br>Paste and run the scripts to reproduce datasets or to generate updated versions.<br>Adjust export parameters (folder names, scale) if necessary.<br>Use .csv files directly for statistical analysis and visualization.<br>CitationWhen using these scripts or datasets, please cite the associated manuscript and acknowledge the data sources (USGS Landsat, ECMWF ERA5-Land).