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    • World Glacier Inventory, Version 1

    Metadata Updated: April 9, 2026

    Notice: Due to funding limitations, this data set was recently changed to a “Basic” Level of Service. Learn more about what this means for users and how you can share your story here: Level of Service Update for Data Products.

    The World Glacier Inventory (WGI) contains information for over 130,000 glaciers, or about 85% of the total estimated number of glaciers. Inventory parameters include geographic location, area, length, orientation, elevation, and classification. The WGI is based primarily on aerial photographs and maps with most glaciers having one data entry only. Hence, the dataset can be viewed as a snapshot of the glacier distribution in the second half of the 20th century. It is based on the original WGI (WGMS 1989) from the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS).

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: See this page for license information.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date April 9, 2026

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NASA Data.json

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date April 9, 2026
    Publisher NSIDC
    Maintainer
    Identifier 10.7265/N5/NSIDC-WGI-2012-02
    Data Last Modified 2026-04-06
    Category Earth Science
    Category Tag 16E15F51 D96E 4051 9124 75665Abdc6Ff "Arctic","Melting Glaciers, Snow and Ice"
    Public Access Level public
    Bureau Code 026:00
    Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
    Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
    Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
    Harvest Object Id 9eae9305-5c84-4d42-8cd6-6c8c1e61021a
    Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
    Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
    License https://www.usa.gov/government-works
    Old Spatial "CARTESIAN",{"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180.0,"NorthBoundingCoordinate":89.3,"EastBoundingCoordinate":180.0,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-71.66}
    Program Code 026:000
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash b8848cbf9fc604e32b6c7f4c07206e9aac23722edecaa9bc1e5281f6b7f58810
    Source Schema Version 1.1
    Spatial
    Temporal 2003-12-31/2003-12-31

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