World Glacier Inventory, Version 1

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).

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated June 8, 2026, 23:41 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 20:03 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 1c4ed618-6456-4ab9-95da-c2c8550f4c2b
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.7265/N5/NSIDC-WGI-2012-02
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-06-03T16:52:51Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher NSIDC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash f7acb858175158a29f6596eb1c626a737065ad9fe72736a56b5956390cc9c20c
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN", [{"WestBoundingCoordinate": -180.0, "NorthBoundingCoordinate": 89.3, "EastBoundingCoordinate": 180.0, "SouthBoundingCoordinate": -71.66}]]
temporal 1900-01-01/2003-12-31
theme {"Earth Science"}