Alaskan Glacier Mass Change Projections for 185 Glaciers, 1994–2021

1994–2021 surface elevation change data for 185 Alaskan glaciers, representing over half the region's glacier area, used to calibrate a glacier evolution model. The dataset includes model projections for the 21st century under different emissions scenarios, created by Brandon Tober and last updated in March 2026. It contains files for model calibration, hindcast simulations, and future projections of glacier mass loss.

Use Cases

• Calibrating glacier evolution models based on spatially-distributed surface elevation change observations.
• Projecting future glacier mass loss under different emissions scenarios for specific Alaskan national parks.
• Reducing model parameter uncertainty using a Bayesian inference framework.
• Analyzing subregional variability in glacier mass loss projections across Alaska.

Strengths

• Calibrated against a 1994–2021 record of surface elevation changes for 185 glaciers.
• Covers over half of the glacier area in the Alaskan region.
• Model calibration reduced the mean absolute error of hindcast simulations by 0.17 m yr-1.
• Dataset size is 13.6 GB, indicating substantial underlying data.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is specific to 185 glaciers in Alaska, limiting direct geographic generalizability.

Provenance

Source

Brandon Tober via figshare

Collection Method

Calibration of the Python Glacier Evolution Model (PyGEM) against airborne laser altimetry data.

Time Range

1994–2021 for observations; projections extend through the 21st century.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-17 15:19:17

Geography

Alaska, USA, specifically glaciers within national parks including Lake Clark, Denali, Kenai Fjords, Glacier Bay, and Wrangell–St. Elias.