The collection covers four areas : land cover, hydro-meteorology, radiation, and soils, spanning the 24 month period 1987-1988. The irregular data were taken and mapped to a common spatial resolution and grid (1 degree x 1 degree) except for one. Temporal resolution for most datasets is monthly; however, a few are at a finer resolution (e.g., 6-hourly). The data within the four areas are organized into five groups within this collection: vegetation, Hydrology and Soils, Snow, Ice and Oceans, Radiation and Clouds, and Near-Surface Meteorology.