DeepExtremeCubes: Integrating Earth system spatio-temporal data for impact assessment of climate extremes

TL;DR

DeepExtremeCubes is a new dataset designed to analyze the impacts of climate extremes like heatwaves and droughts on ecosystems, combining satellite imagery, climate data, and land information to improve impact prediction models.

Contribution

The paper introduces the DeepExtremeCubes database, a comprehensive, structured dataset specifically tailored for studying compound climate extremes and their effects on natural vegetation.

Findings

Over 40,000 spatially sampled minicubes globally

Includes Sentinel-2 images, ERA5-Land variables, and land cover maps

Aims to improve impact assessment and scientific reproducibility

Abstract

With climate extremes' rising frequency and intensity, robust analytical tools are crucial to predict their impacts on terrestrial ecosystems. Machine learning techniques show promise but require well-structured, high-quality, and curated analysis-ready datasets. Earth observation datasets comprehensively monitor ecosystem dynamics and responses to climatic extremes, yet the data complexity can challenge the effectiveness of machine learning models. Despite recent progress in deep learning to ecosystem monitoring, there is a need for datasets specifically designed to analyse compound heatwave and drought extreme impact. Here, we introduce the DeepExtremeCubes database, tailored to map around these extremes, focusing on persistent natural vegetation. It comprises over 40,000 spatially sampled small data cubes (i.e. minicubes) globally, with a spatial coverage of 2.5 by 2.5 km. Each minicube includes (i) Sentinel-2 L2A images, (ii) ERA5-Land variables and generated extreme event cube covering 2016 to 2022, and (iii) ancillary land cover and topography maps. The paper aims to (1) streamline data accessibility, structuring, pre-processing, and enhance scientific reproducibility, and (2) facilitate biosphere dynamics forecasting in response to compound extremes.