version of readme:        24-April-2018
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The EXCEL of SoilPhysicalPropertiesDataMeasuredIn2016OverTP contains four sheets
- Max_min_Basic_soil_properties:      contains the minimum, mean and maximum values of basic soil property (e.g. soil texture, bulk density, etc.) profiles over the three climate zones.
- Mean_Soil_thermal_properties:    contains the mean profile of soil thermal conductivity(W m-1 K-1) and heat capacity(MJ m-1 K-1) with varying soil water content (cm^3 cm^-3) over the three climate zones
- Mean_Soil_hydraulic_properties:  contains the mean profile of plate pressure (kPa) with volumetric moisture content(cm^3 cm^-3) over the three climate zones
- Porosity_GGF_Ks:            contains porosity, gravel content and saturared hydraulic conductivity data of each sites over the three climate zones. The geogrphic locations of these sites are also included. 


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The EXCEL of SoilPhysicalPropertiesDataMeasuredIn2016OverTP_RawData contains five sheets
- Site_location:              contains the location of sites where soil samplings were taken. 
- Soil_basic_properties:      contains the dataset of fine soil texture fraction, soil texture type based on USDA soil classification, gravimetric fine fraction, gravimetric gravel content, soil organic carbon matter content, bulk density, porosity, field saturated hydraulic conductivities
- Soil_water_retention_curve: contains plate pressure (kPa) with volume soil moisture (cm^3 cm^-3)
- Soil_thermal_conductivity:  contains thermal conductivity(W m-1 K-1) with volume soil content (cm^3 cm^-3)
- Soil_heat_capacity:         contains soil heat capacity(MJ m-1 K-1) with volume soil content (cm^3 cm^-3)



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Soil sampling and saturated hydraulic conductivity measurement
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Specification Soil rings and augers 
Name: Eijkelkamp Soil & Water Company 
Link: https://en.eijkelkamp.com

Specification the Aardvark permeameter 
Name: Eijkelkamp Soil & Water Company 
Link: https://www.eijkelkamp.com/download.php?file=b2762661

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Laboratory experiments
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Malvern Mastersizer 2000 particle size analyzer
Name: Malvern
Link:http://www.malvern.com

Total Organic Content analytical instrument of Multi N/C 3100
Name:analytik-jena
Link:http://www.analytik-jena.de/

The KD2Pro thermal property analyzer connected to SH-1 sensor 
Name: Decagon Devices
Link: https://www.decagon.com/en/thermal/instruments/kd2-pro/

DIK-3404 WIDE RANGE pF METER
Name: Daiki soil & moisture company
Link: https://www.daiki.co.jp/en/3404E.html

15 BAR CERAMIC PLATE EXTRACTOR 
Name: Soilmoisture Equipment Corp
Link: http://www.soilmoisture.com/15-BAR-CERAMIC-PLATE-EXTRACTOR-ONLY-4-CELL-CAPACITY-PLATES-NOT-INCLUDED/ 

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The descripiton of field campagin and lab expriments is detailed in Zhao et al.(2018). 
https://www.earth-syst-sci-data-discuss.net/essd-2017-122/
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The linkage of existing soil dataset: downloaded existing datasets can be evaluated by in situ measurements of soil physical dataset
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1. FAO-UNESCO dataset. FAO-UNESCO Digital Soil Map of the World, 2007
http://icdc.cen.uni-hamburg.de/1/daten/land/soilmap.html

2. Harmonized World Soil Database. FAO/IIASA/ISRIC/ISSCAS/JRC, 2012. Harmonized World Soil Database (version 1.2). FAO, Rome, Italy and IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria.
http://www.fao.org/soils-portal/soil-survey/soil-maps-and-databases/harmonized-world-soil-database-v12/en/

3. A Chinese data set of soil properties released by Beijing Normal University (hereafter as BNU)
http://globalchange.bnu.edu.cn/research/soil2

4. SoilGrid1km
ftp://ftp.soilgrids.org/data/aggregated/1km/

5. SoilGrid250m
https://www.soilgrids.org/#!/?layer=TAXNWRB_250m&vector=1

6. A global data set of soil hydraulic properties and sub-grid variability of soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves.
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.870605

7. WoSIS: Serving standardised soil profile data for the world
http://dx.doi.org\10.17027\isric-wdcsoils.20160003