Supraglacial Debris Thickness on Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal, from 2016 GPR Surveys

Lindsey Nicholson from Universität Innsbruck provides ground-penetrating radar (GPR) measurements of supraglacial debris thickness from two sites on the Ngozumpa Glacier in Nepal. The primary GPR data was collected between March 31 and April 20, 2016, across 36 individual radar transects. The repository also includes supplementary debris thickness measurements from other glacier sites in Nepal, Italy, and Switzerland.

Use Cases

• Modeling sub-debris ice ablation rates based on measured debris thickness.
• Analyzing the relationship between debris thickness and surface terrain types (sloping vs. level) and material (coarse vs. fine).
• Calibrating remote sensing or photogrammetric methods for estimating debris cover using ground-truth GPR data.
• Comparing supraglacial debris properties across different glacier sites and measurement methods mentioned in the supplementary data.

Strengths

• Data collection is documented with specific technical details, including GPR system specifications (200/600MHz IDS RIS One), acquisition parameters (100 ms time window), and wave speed calibration methods.
• Measurements cover varied terrain conditions, including sloping and level terrain with coarse and fine surface material.
• Includes supplementary data from multiple glacier sites (Ngozumpa, Lirung, Suldenferner, Arolla) and measurement methods (GPR, theodolite survey, photogrammetry, excavation), enabling comparative analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Lindsey Nicholson, Universität Innsbruck

Collection Method

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, supplemented by theodolite surveys, photogrammetry, and excavation from cited publications.

Time Range

Primary GPR data from March 31 to April 20, 2016; supplementary data from various years (2012, 2016, 2017).

Geography

Ngozumpa Glacier, Nepal (27°57′N, 85°42′E); supplementary sites include Lirung Glacier (Nepal), Suldenferner (Italy), and Arolla glacier (Switzerland).