Randolph Glacier Inventory: Global Glacier Outlines

Glacier outlines provide a global snapshot of individual glacier extents, produced in coordination with the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) initiative. The inventory is compiled from contributions by the glaciological community and managed by the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS). Data is packaged globally and by region, with annual updates.

Use Cases

• Estimating regional glacier volumes and ice mass using hypsometric data (CSV files).
• Analyzing cryospheric responses to climatic forcing at global and regional scales using gridded auxiliary data (GeoTIFFs).
• Providing a baseline for glacier extent studies using the vector outlines (Shapefiles).
• Supporting the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers through regionally packaged data.

Strengths

• Provides a single, consistent outline for each glacier globally, enabling standardized analysis.
• Data is contributed by the glaciological community and curated by an authoritative IACS working group.
• Includes multiple data types: vector outlines (Shapefiles), hypsometric data (CSV), and gridded data (GeoTIFF).
• Updated approximately annually, indicating ongoing maintenance.

Limitations

• Explicit row/glacier count and total size are not provided in the available metadata.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: one platform lists 2026-03-12, while another lists 2010-12-31.
• Not suitable for measuring glacier-by-glacier rates of area change, as it is a snapshot inventory.

Provenance

Source

Working Group on the Randolph Glacier Inventory and Infrastructure for Glacier Monitoring, International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS).

Collection Method

Glacier mapping data contributed from the glaciological community to both GLIMS and the RGI.

Time Range

Snapshot inventory; temporal coverage not specified.

Freshness

2026-03-12 22:26:50.960445

Geography

Global, packaged by regions based on the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers.