GLIMS: Global Land Ice Measurements from Space Monitoring the World's Changing Glaciers

Easy Access to GLIMS Glacier Data

The Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) project at NSIDC has implemented a database of glacier outlines from around the world and other information about glaciers that includes the metadata on how those outlines were derived. This site provides the ability to:

• Explore data on most of the world's glaciers via interactive maps or by using a text-based interface (which enables searches by name, classification, area, etc.).

• View GLIMS glacier data in combination with other data layers, including: World Glacier Inventory, GLIMS Regional Center boundaries, Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) data, RGI boundaries, informative base maps. (For and overview of all GTN-G data sets, see the GTN-G website.)

• Query data layers to see metadata and attributes, such as glacier name, GLIMS ID, and WGMS ID.

• Download outlines and metadata for user-selected glaciers in a choice of formats: KML (for viewing in Google Earth), ESRI shapefiles, GMT (Generic Mapping Tools), MapInfo, or GML (Geography Markup Language).

• Connect an OGC-compliant desktop application or server to our database through the WMS (Web Map Server) and WFS (Web Feature Server) protocols.

The GLIMS database and the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) are converging. The RGI began with GLIMS data and was added to significantly. Now, those additional outline are being combined with their source information and being added back into GLIMS. The end result will be a richer and more complete GLIMS Glacier Database, with different versions of the RGI as snapshots of the world's glaciers at different times.

For further information, see our references page.