A high-resolution global land daily drought index dataset during1979–2022

A global daily drought index dataset named as daily evapotranspiration deficit index (DEDI) is constructed using daily actual evapotranspiration and potential evapotranspiration data provided by European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis v5 (ERA5). The DEDI dataset has a spatial grid resolution of 0.25°×0.25° and covers global land areas for the period 1979 to 2022. The DEDI dataset can be a good index for assessing the dry and wet severity in terms of spatial patterns and temporal evolutions when compared to other available daily drought indices. Moreover, the DEDI dataset is also demonstrated to have advantages in detecting ecological or agricultural droughts. The DEDI dataset also appears reasonable and promising in facilitating drought monitoring and early warning from a daily perspective