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GLOBAL ICE THICKNESS DATA for RGIv6.0

Author: Matthias Huss, September 2017

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Ice thickness distribution for all glaciers globally has been
calculated according to the methdology described in Huss&Farinotti
(2012). Results have been updated to the RGIv6.0.

The surface elevation models used for the calculations are:
- SRTM: 55 deg S to 60 deg N
- ArcticDEM: for most Arctic regions (data gaps are frequent however)
- DEM3: for glaciers with insufficient coverage with ArcticDEM
- GIMP: Greenland periphery
- RAMP: Antarctic periphery (most glaciers south of -55 deg, otherwise DEM3, or ASTER)
- ASTER: for some remaining glaciers

Data are provided as tables of (1) glacier-specific ice volumes, and
(2) aggregated to elevation bands of 10m, 20m and 50m for the
variables (i) surface area, (ii) ice thickness and (iii) width of the
glacier.

To obtain gridded ice thickness, or for other questions, please
contact me directly (huss@vaw.baug.ethz.ch).

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Data Format / Explanations:

The data are given in ascii-text files.

# overview:
batch-files with area / volume for all RGIv6.0 IDs

# bands: 
- variables (area, thickness, width) for each RGIv6.0 ID .
  specified for mean elevation of the respective bands
- Elevation band steps evaluated are: 10m, 20m and 50m.
- For all RGI regions the evaluated elevation range starts at 0 m a.s.l. 
  and continues to the top elevation of the respective region.
- no data value: -99 (marking elevation bands with no data).
- column 2: continuity of elevation range.
  1: elevation range is CONTINUOUS between min/max elevation band.
  0: elevation range is DISCONTINUOUS between min/max elevation band
     (can happen for small / very steep glaciers with no grid cells 
      located in specific elevation ranges).

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Caveats:

Calculated areas for the indiviual glaciers might slightly deviate
from the ones given in the RGI. This is due to (1) projection issues,
(2) due to the gridding of the polygons required for running the
thickness model, and (3) precision of the numbers. Regional deviations
remain <1% of total area.

Greenland periphery (RGI region 5):
The files for Greenland only contain glaciers with connectivity levels
0 and 1. Connectivity level 2 has been excluded. Some issues for a few
glaciers exist and are corrected (files updated) within the next
weeks.


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Terms of use:

Data are free to use within GlacierMIP, and also for other projects,
when acknowledging M. Huss and citing Huss&Farinotti (2012).

Citation:
Huss, M. and Farinotti, D. (2012). Distributed ice thickness
and volume of all glaciers around the globe. Journal of Geophysical
Research, 117, F04010, doi:10.1029/2012JF002523.

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