Construction and Application of the Tea-Horse Road Area Flood Resilience Dataset (THR-FRD)

The Tea-Horse Road area (茶马古道地区) spans the Hengduan Mountains and the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, an area characterized by complex geography and frequent human activity. Over the past two millennia, the region has repeatedly faced floods of varying scales but has demonstrated significant flood resilience. As climate change intensifies, learning from past flood management strategies is crucial to enhancing current resilience. However, due to fragmented literature, discontinuous records, and limited regional attention, no long-term dataset has been available for flood resilience analysis. To fill this gap, this study developed a framework for quantifying long-term flood resilience and constructed the “Tea-Horse Road Flood Resilience Dataset (THR-FRD)”, compiling flood records from AD 0 to 2025. The dataset has a temporal resolution of 50 years, with spatial resolution based on county-level administrative divisions from historical periods. Data sources include local chronicles, archival documents, ethnographic surveys, archaeological evidence, and observational data. The dataset is structured into three core sub-databases: Exposure, Vulnerability, and Risk, to quantitatively assess flood resilience. The Exposure sub-dataset records the frequency, intensity, and affected areas of floods; the Vulnerability sub-dataset analyzes social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities; and the Risk sub-dataset evaluates the actual damage caused by floods, including casualties, property loss, and infrastructure damage. Flood resilience is assessed through a comprehensive evaluation of exposure, vulnerability, and risk, and can be calculated using a weighted model and normalization method. To maximize the utility of this dataset, the THR-FRD will be open-source and scalable, available in both Chinese and English, and retain original records. It will serve scholars from fields such as history and geography, providing decision support and facilitating interdisciplinary research.