Data from Soil Analysis of Ningbo Watershed, China – Field, Laboratory and Modelling

The data in the following data sets were all collected as part of the Joint NERC – NSFC funded research programme UK- China Critical Zone Observatory Programme (www.czo.ac.cn). The project name within this programme was called “Using Critical Zone Science to Enhance Soil Fertility and Improve Ecosystem Services for Peri-Urban Agriculture in China”. This research project focused on sustainable intensification of agriculture in highly productive Peri-urban farming areas in China. The field study site has been developed as a Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) located in the Zhangxi catchment (29°44′–29°51′ N, 121°13′–121°20′ E) within Ningbo city, a pilot city of rapid urbanization in the Yangtze delta. The CZO methodology investigated soil and water process and catchment dynamics using high-density, high-frequency multiple observing systems co-located at experimental mesocosm (m-scale) plots nested within larger areas instrumented for field (ha-scale) and whole catchment mass and flux balances. Field studies were run between April 2016 and January 2017. The field studies were augmented by detailed studies of soil processes in laboratory microcosms and by mathematical modelling of soil processes at plot scale.