Medium resolution vector polygons of the Antarctic coastline

• Main Authors: Gerrish, Laura, Fretwell, Peter, Cooper, Paul
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre 2021
• Subjects: "EARTH SCIENCE","LAND SURFACE","TOPOGRAPHY","CONTOUR MAPS"; "EARTH SCIENCE","LAND SURFACE","TOPOGRAPHY"; Antarctic Digital Database; Antarctica; Coastline; Land cover; Land use; Topographic mapping; Adelaide Island; Antarctic; Gipps Ice Rise; Pine Island Glacier; Ronne Ice Shelf; The Antarctic; Antarc*; British Antarctic Survey; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves; Pine Island; Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5285/e747e63e-9d93-49c2-bafc-cf3d3f8e5afa; https://data.bas.ac.uk/items/747e63e-9d93-49c2-bafc-cf3d3f8e5afa

Coastline for Antarctica created from various mapping and remote sensing sources, provided as polygons with 'land', 'ice shelf', 'ice tongue' or 'rumple' attribute. This dataset has been generalised from the high resolution vector polygons. Covering all land and ice shelves south of 60S. Suitable for topographic mapping and analysis. Data compiled, managed and distributed by the Mapping and Geographic Information Centre and the UK Polar Data Centre, British Antarctic Survey on behalf of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. Major changes in v7.4 include updates to coastline and ice shelves between Gipps Ice Rise and Ronne Ice Shelf, updated ice shelf fronts for Brunt, Stange and West ice shelves, Pine Island Glacier, and an updated coastline for Adelaide Island. : Dataset compiled from a variety of Antarctic map and satellite image sources. The dataset was created using ArcGIS and QGIS GIS software programmes and has been checked for basic topography and geometry checks, but does not contain strict topology. Quality varies across the dataset and certain areas where high resolution source data were available are suitable for large scale maps whereas other areas are only suitable for smaller scales. Each polygon contains a 'surface' attribute with either 'land', 'ice shelf', 'ice tongue' or 'rumple'. Details of when and how each line was created can be found in the attributes of the high or medium resolution polyline coastline dataset. Data sources range in time from 1990s-2020 - individual lines contain exact source dates. This medium resolution version has been generalised from the high resolution version. All polygons inferior to 0.1km² not intersecting anything else were deleted and the 'simplify' tool was used in ArcGIS with the 'point remove' algorithm and a smoothing tolerance of 50 m.