A dataset of glacier boundary in the Tanggula Mountains in 1991 and 2015

Abstract

The Tanggula Mountains are located in the central part of the Tibetan Plateau (31°15′~34°45′ N, 90°23′~95°52′ E), are bordered by the Zulkkora Mountains to the west and by the Bujiagangri region to the east, and stretch ~500 km from NW to SE. They form the boundary between Qinghai province and the Tibet Autonomous Region and serve as the watershed of the Nujiang and Yangtze-Lantsang Rivers. The average elevation of the Tanggula Mountains is ~5500 m, and the terrain is high in the west and low in the east. The glaciers located in the eastern section of the mountains are temperate-glaciers and in the western section are cold-glaciers. The Yangtze River, Nu River and Lantsang River all originate from the Tanggula Mountains. Therefore, glacier changes in the region play a crucial role in the water resources of the above rivers. The dataset delineated the glacier vector data of Tanggula Mountains in 1991 and 2015 based on the First Chinese Glacier Inventory and Second Chinese Glacier Inventory, Landsat TM images from 1989 to 1995, Landsat OLI images from 2013 to 2017 and the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM data. Additionally, the glacier coding, name and basin et al. were labeled in the attribute table. The dataset presents the glacier conditions in 1991 (between the two Chinese glacier inventories) and 2015, which can be used as the basic data for research on glacier change and climate change in this region.