A dataset of glacier distribution and glacier changes in the Kangri Karpo Mountains during 1980-2015

Abstract

Located in the south-eastern of the Tibetan Plateau, the Kangri Karpo Mountains extents about 280 km from north-west to south-east, south of Bomê County and near Motuo, Zayü and Basu counties. The spatial extent of study area is 29°00′N ~ 29°30′N、96°20′E ~ 97°00′E. The Kangri Karpo Mountains is one of the most important and concentrated regions of maritime (temperate) glacier development, the area change of glaciers have important influence on local and regional water resources. The 1980-2015 Kangri Karpo glacier datasets was developed by integrating several data sources: the Glacier Inventory Dataset produced in the 1980s by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, the Topographic Maps and aerial photographs in 1980 and Landsat images in 2001, 2002 and 2015. The data processing was completed using ArcGIS and ENVI software to combine bands, do data design and perform manual visual interpretation and band ratio segmentation. Two sub-datasets are provided: ① extent of the study region in shapefile format, and ② glacier outlines in shapefile format. The dataset reflects the glacier’s changing boundaries from 1980-2015, and can be used for research on the glacier changes and climate changes over the south-eastern of the Tibetan Plateau.