A dataset of surge-type glaciers in the High Mountain Asia based on elevation change and satellite imagery

Abstract

The High Mountain Asia, which encompasses the Tibet Plateau and neighboring mountainous regions, is home to the largest number of glaciers outside the Earth’s polar regions. Since the end of the 20th century, global warming has caused dramatical recession of mountain glaciers in the High Mountain Asia, resulting in many glacial related hazards. As one of the glacial related hazards, glacier surges have the features of suddenness, concealment, and are difficult to detect their processes. They have been paid more and more attention by scholars around the world recent years. However, the development and distribution characteristics of surge-type glaciers in the High Mountain Asia are not clearly understood. Related dataset is urgently needed to fill this research gap. We co-registrated and differentiated of two digital elevation model datasets over the High Mountain Asia. Combining analysis of other glacial surface elevation change maps and historical optical satellite images since the 1970s, we identified 457 surge-type glaciers, including 362 glaciers surged within studied period and 95 likely surge-type glaciers. This dataset contains shapefiles describing locations, boundaries, and related attributes of the surge-type glaciers, and tables with surge evidences. This dataset can be taken as basic data for further studies on surge-type glaciers and reference for planning and construction of infrastructure in the High Mountain Asia. It can also provide reliable support for preventing life and property loss of residents caused by glacier surges.