From Open Data to AI-Powered Digital Twins: The TPDC’s READY Framework for the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

Abstract:

The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, a pivotal regulator of global climate and hydrological cycles, hosts intricate multi-sphere interactions under accelerating global changes. Unlocking its full scientific potential requires not only open data sharing but also intelligent, AI-ready data governance. The National Tibetan Plateau Data Center (TPDC) has established a leading open-data ecosystem, hosting over 8,400 datasets (62% fully open access) totaling 674 TB, and implementing systematic FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles through automated lifecycle management, peer review, DOI assignment, and CC-BY licensing.

To advance from open data to AI-powered digital twins, TPDC has pioneered the READY framework (Richness, Ethics, Accessibility, Diversity, Yield), bridging geoscience data with AI-driven discovery through three transformative systems: (1) AI-Ready Data Governance & Semantic Automation, implementing cross-sphere quality control and ethics reviews, while utilizing NLP and knowledge graphs for automated metadata generation and semantic annotation; (2) AI-Ready Data Engineering, achieving multi-modal spatiotemporal anchoring and cross-scale alignment to build hierarchical Earth system models, notably treating uncertainty as a ‘first-class object’; and (3) AI-Ready Data Service, shifting from auxiliary analysis to a model-oriented continuous data supply, creating a dynamic loop that supports foundation model training and enables integrated prediction-decision making.. These capabilities are strengthened by integrating data from the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP), historical archives, and international collaborations (e.g., NSIDC, ICIMOD, WMO), ensuring global interoperability and scientific robustness.

TPDC’s data governance framework has underpinned over 8,000 SCI publications, enabling critical insights into climate adaptation, cryosphere-related hazards, and sustainable pathways. Ultimately, TPDC is committed to realizing the vision of ‘probing the past, assessing the present, and preparing for the future,’ providing robust, multi-scale predictions to support sustainable development and ecological security.

Keywords: National Tibetan Plateau Data Center (TPDC); Qinghai-Xizang Plateau; AI-Ready Data; READY Framework; Digital Twins; FAIR Principles; Earth System Science

References:

Li, X., Cheng, G., Wang, L., Wang, J., Ran, Y., Che, T., Li, G., He, H., Zhang, Q., Jiang, X., Zou, Z., & Zhao, G. (2021). Boosting geoscience data sharing in China. Nat. Geosci. 14, 541–542. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00808-y

Pan, X., Guo, X., Li, X., Niu, X., Yang, X., Feng, M., Che, T., Jin, R., Ran, Y., Guo, J., Hu, X., & Wu, A. (2021). National Tibetan Plateau Data Center: Promoting Earth System Science on the Third Pole. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 102, E2062–E2078, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0004.1.