Sponsor
This research has been supported by the US Forest Service (grant no. 20-CS-11132400-229).
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-15-2023
Subjects
Glaciers -- United States -- Measurement, Glaciers -- Inventories --United States, Geological mapping--United States
Abstract
This report summarizes an updated inventory of glaciers and perennial snowfields of the conterminous United States. The inventory is based on interpretation of mostly aerial imagery provided by the National Agricultural Imagery Program, US Department of Agriculture, with some satellite imagery in places where aerial imagery was not suitable. The inventory includes all perennial snow and ice features ≥ 0.01 km2. Due to aerial survey schedules and seasonal snow cover, imageries acquired over a number of years were required. The earliest date is 2013 and the latest is 2020, but more than 73 % of the outlines were acquired from 2015 imagery. The inventory is compiled as shapefiles within a geographic information system that includes feature classification, area, and location. The inventory identified 1331 (366.52 ± 14.34 km2) glaciers, 1176 (31.01 ± 9.30 km2) perennial snowfields, and 35 (3.57 km2 ± no uncertainty) buried-ice features.
Rights
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.5194/essd-15-4077-2023
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/40809
Citation Details
Fountain, A. G., Glenn, B., & Mcneil, C. (2023). Inventory of glaciers and perennial snowfields of the coterminous USA. Earth System Science Data Discussions, 2023, 1-41.
Description
The data including both the shapefiles and tabulated results are publicly available at https://doi.org/10.15760/geology-data.03