Calving Front Dataset for Marine-Terminating Glaciers in Svalbard 1985-2023

• Main Authors: Li, Tian, Heidler, Konrad, Mou, Lichao, Ignéczi, Ádám, Zhu, Xiao Xiang, Bamber, Jonathan
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2023
• Subjects: Glacier; Calving; Svalbard; Arctic; Deep Learning; glacier; Global warming
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8387051

Svalbard has experienced increased climate variability as a result of global warming, leading to significant mass loss in its marine-terminating glaciers over recent decades. Nevertheless, the mechanisms driving this mass loss remain less understood, primarily due to a limited understanding of calving dynamics. Here we present a new high-resolution calving front dataset of 149 marine-terminating glaciers in Svalbard, comprising 124919 glacier calving front positions during the period of 1985-2023. This dataset was generated using a novel automated deep learning framework and multiple optical and SAR satellite images from Landsat, Terra-ASTER, Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-1 satellite missions. The dataset comprises 149 folders, each representing a distinct glacier. Each glacier folder contains the following five different files: a shapefile recording all the terminus traces of this glacier mapped in our study under the projection EPSG:3995; a shapefile containing the glacier centreline used in measuring the calving front migrations under the projection EPSG:3995; a .CSV file recording the glacier calving front change time series along the centreline in relation to the earliest time stamp; a .PNG file showing the geolocation of this glacier and its calving front traces; a .PNG file showing the calving front change time series along the glacier centreline. Calving Front Trace Shapefile Feature Attribute Table Data Field Description Glacier The Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) version 6 (RGI Consortium, 2017) glacier id. Sensor The satellite platform used in mapping glacier calving front, including “Landsat”, “Terra-ASTER”, “Sentinel2” and “Sentinel1”. ImageId The image id of the satellite image used in mapping the glacier calving front. DateString The datetime string of the satellite image in the format of “YYYYMMDD”. CFL_Change The calving front location (CFL) changes in meters along the glacier centreline in relation to the earliest calving front location in the time series.