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GLIMS (Global Land Ice Measurements from Space) is an initiative designed to monitor the world's glaciers primarily using data from optical satellite instruments. Read about the main features of the GLIMS Glacier Database.

Overview slides of GLIMS and statistics (PDF)

The Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) is a global inventory of glacier outlines. It is supplemental to the GLIMS database, and is a map of glaciers for one time and a collection of useful attributes.

Over 60 institutions across the globe are involved in GLIMS. General coordination, technical development, and data management are done at NSIDC in Boulder, Colorado, USA.

"Glim" is an archaic Scottish term that means "a passing look; a glimpse; as much as is seen at a glance." In a future historical perspective, we may well look back on GLIMS and other early-21^st Century remote-sensing of Earth's glaciers as a glim of a passing or changing phenomenon.