The dataset of ground truth measurements for snow was obtained, synchronizing with airborne microwave radiometers (K&Ka bands) mission in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 29, 2008. Those provide reliable ground data for retrieval of snow properties and parameters, especially snow depth and snow water equivalent study. Observation items include (1) snow density, snow complex permittivity, snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture by the snowfork in BG-A; (2) snow parameters in BG-A (18 points), BG-B (20 points), BG-EF (20 points) and BG-I (20 points): snow depth by the ruler, the snow temperature (mean of two measurements) by the probe thermometer, snow grain size by the handheld microscope, snow density by the cutting ring for each snow layer, and the snow surface temperature and the snow-soil interface temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer. For each snow pit, the snowpack was divided into several layers with 10-cm intervals of snow depth. Two files including raw data and pre-processed data were archived.
BAI Yanfen, BAI Yunjie, CAO Yongpan, GE Chunmei, GU Juan, HAN Xujun, HAO Xiaohua, LI Hongyi, LI Zhe, LIANG Ji, MA Mingguo, SHU Lele, WANG Xufeng, XU Zhen, ZHU Shijie, CHANG Cun, DOU Yan, MA Zhongguo, JIANG Tenglong, LIU Yan, ZHANG Pu
The dataset of ground truth measurements for snow synchronizing with EO-1 Hyperion and Landsat TM was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 17, 2008. Observation items included: (1) Snow parameters as snow depth by the ruler, the snow layer temperature by the probe thermometer, the snow grain size by the handheld microscope, the snow surface temperature and the snow-soil interface temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer simultaneous with the satellite in BG-A, BG-E, BG-F and BG-H. (2) Snow density, snow complex permittivity, snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture by the Snowfork in BG-A, BG-E and BG-H. Besides, 25-hour fixed-point continuous observation was carried out at the Binggou cold region hydrometerological station. (3) The snow spectrum by ASD (Xinjiang Meteorological Administration) (4) Snow albedo by the total radiometer Two files including raw data and preprocessed data were archived.
BAI Yanfen, BAI Yunjie, GE Chunmei, HAO Xiaohua, LIANG Ji, SHU Lele, WANG Xufeng, XU Zhen, ZHU Shijie, MA Mingguo, CHANG Cun, DOU Yan, MA Zhongguo, JIANG Tenglong, XIAO Pengfeng , LIU Yan, ZHANG Pu
The dataset of ground truth measurements for snow synchronizing with Envisat ASAR was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 15, 2008. The Envisat ASAR data were acquired in AP mode and VV/VH polarization combinations, and the overpass time was approximately at 11:34 BJT. Observation items included: (1) Snow density, snow complex permittivity, snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture by the snowfork in BG-B, BG-D, BG-E and BG-F; (2) Snow parameters including the snow surface temperature and the snow-soil interface temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer, the snow layer temperature by the probe thermometer, the snow grain size by the handheld microscope, snow density by the aluminum case, snow depth by the ruler, and the snow surface temperature synchronizing with ASAR in BG-H, BG-D, BG-E and BG-F; (3) The snow spectrum by the portable ASD (Xinjiang Meteorological Administration) synchronizing with ASAR in BG-H15; the major and minor axis and shape of the snow layer grain through the self-made snow sieve. Two files including raw data and the preprocessed data were archived.
BAI Yanfen, BAI Yunjie, GE Chunmei, HAO Xiaohua, LI Hongyi, LIANG Ji, SHU Lele, WANG Xufeng, XU Zhen, MA Mingguo, QU Wei, REN Jie, CHANG Cun, DOU Yan, MA Zhongguo, LIU Yan, ZHANG Pu
The dataset of ground truth measurements for snow synchronizing with the airborne PHI mission was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 24, 2008. Observation items included: (1) Snow density, snow complex permittivity, snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture by the Snowfork in BG-A. (2) Snow parameters as the snow surface temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer, the snow layer temperature by the probe thermometer, the snow grain size by the handheld microscope, and snow density by the aluminum case in BG-A1, BG-A2, BG-B, BG-D, BG-E and BG-F5 (three sampling units each) from 11:11-12:35 (BJT) with the airplane overpass. 64 points were selected by four groups. (3) Snow albedo by the total radiometer in BG-A. (4) The snow spectrum by ASD (Xinjiang Meteorological Administration) in BG-A11 Two files including raw data and preprocessed data were archived.
GE Chunmei, GU Juan, HAO Xiaohua, LI Hongyi, LI Zhe, LIANG Ji, MA Mingguo, SHU Lele, WANG Jianhua, WANG Xufeng, WU Yueru, XU Zhen, ZHU Shijie, LIANG Xingtao, LIU Zhigang, QU Wei, REN Jie, FANG Li, LI Hua, CHANG Cun, DOU Yan, MA Zhongguo, JIANG Tenglong, XIAO Pengfeng , LIU Yan, ZHANG Pu
The dataset of ground truth measurements for snow synchronizing with MODIS was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 14, 2008. Those provide reliable data for snow-cover extent mapping and the retrieval of the snow surface temperature from MODIS remote sensing approaches. Observation items included: (1) Snow parameters including the snow surface temperature, the snow-soil interface temperature, the land surface (ground surface) temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer, the snow layer temperature by the probe thermometer, snow depth by the ruler, snow density by the snow shovel, the snow grain size by the handheld microscope and the snow surface temperature synchronizing with MODIS. (2) Snow albedo by the total radiometer in BG-A from 11:10-13:24 on Mar. 14, 2008. (3) The snow spectrum by the portable ASD (Xinjiang Meteorological Administration) synchronizing with MODIS in BG-A and BG-I. Two files including raw data and the preprocessed data were archived.
BAI Yanfen, BAI Yunjie, GE Chunmei, GU Juan, HAO Xiaohua, LI Hongyi, LIANG Ji, SHU Lele, WANG Xufeng, XU Zhen, MA Mingguo, CHANG Cun, DOU Yan, MA Zhongguo, LIU Yan, ZHANG Pu
The dataset of snow properties measured by the Snowfork was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area from Mar. 10 to 30, 2008, in cooperation with simultaneous airborne, satellite-borne and ground-based remote sensing experiments and other control experiments. Observation items included (1) physical quantities by direct observations: resonant frequency, the rate of attenuation and 3db bandwidth; (2) physical quantities by indirect observations: snow density, snow complex permittivity (the real part and the imaginary part), snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture. 13 files are archived, and the user guide of the sampling plot and observation background is included too.
HAO Xiaohua, LIANG Ji, LI Zhe
The dataset of ground truth measurements for snow synchronizing with the airborne microwave radiometers (K&Ka bands) mission was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 30, 2008. Those provide reliable data for retrieval of snow parameters and properties, especially for dry and wet snow identification. Observation items included: (1) Snow density, snow complex permittivity, snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture by the snowfork in BG-A; (2) Snow parameters including snow depth, the snow surface temperature synchronizing with the airborne microwave radiometers (K&Ka bands), the snow layer temperature, the snow grain size and snow density in BG-A (10 points), BG-B (6 points), BG-F (12 points), BG-H (21 points) and BG-I (20 points); For each snow pit, the snowpack was divided into several layers with 10-cm intervals of snow depth. The layer depth (by the ruler), the snow grain size (by the handheld microscope), snow density (by the cutting ring) and the snow temperature (by the probe thermometer) were obtained at each snow pit. Two files including raw data and the preprocessed data were archived.
BAI Yanfen, BAI Yunjie, GE Chunmei, GU Juan, HAO Xiaohua, LI Hongyi, LI Zhe, LIANG Ji, MA Mingguo, SHU Lele, WANG Jianhua, WANG Xufeng, WU Yueru, XU Zhen, ZHU Shijie, LI Hua, CHANG Cun, MA Zhongguo, JIANG Tenglong, XIAO Pengfeng , LIU Yan, ZHANG Pu, CHE Tao
The dataset of ground-based RPG-8CH-DP microwave radiometers (6.925H/V, 18.7H/V and 36.5H/V) and ground truth observations for snow was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 24 (time-continuous from 11:42 to 17:28 BJT) and Mar. 25, 2008 (short-time multi-angle observations). A gentle slope of 10° was chosen as the observation site, where there was firn snow and the snow layer and the ice layer appeared alternately. The radiometer beam was set from -20° to -55°, with the steplength 5°. Observation items included: (1) The brightness temperature by the microwave radiometer in .BRT and .txt (the ASCII format). Each row in .txt was listed by year, month, date, hour, minute, second, 6.925GHz (h), 6.925GHz (v), 10.65GHz (h), 10.65GHz (v) , 18.7GHz (h), 18.7GHz (v), 36.5GHz (h), 36.5GHz (v), the elevation angle, and the azimuth angle. Values for 6.925GHz and 10.65GHz were zero due to the absence of these two radiometers. (2) Snow parameters including the snow profile temperature by the probe thermometer and the handheld infrared thermometer, the snow grain size by the handheld microscope, snow moisture, snow density, and snow permittivity by the snow fork. Five subfolders are archived, including the brightness temperature and the profiles of liquid water content, the snow grain size, snow density and the snow temperature.
CHANG Sheng, PENG Danqing, ZHANG Yongpan, ZHANG Zhiyu, ZHAO Shaojie, ZHENG Yue, ZHANG Zhiyu
The dataset of ground truth measurements for snow synchronizing with MODIS was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 19, 2008. Those provide reliable data for retrieval and verification of the snow temperature through airborne and satellite-borne remote sensing approaches. Observation items included: (1) Snow parameters, such as snow depth by the ruler (five measurements at random each point), the snow surface temperature by the infrared thermometer (several measurements at random), the snow layer temperature by the probe thermometer (10cm as an interval and two times each point), the snow grain size by the handheld microscope (10cm as an interval and three times each point) in BG-B from 12:40-13:00 (BJT) with the satellite overpass on Mar. 19, 2008. 64 points were selected by four groups. (2) Snow density, snow complex permittivity, snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture by the Snowfork in BG-A,automatically in coordination with ASD. (3) The snow spectrum by the portable ASD. (4) Snow albedo by the portable radiometer in BG-A. Two files including raw data and preprocessed data were archived.
BAI Yanfen, BAI Yunjie, GE Chunmei, HAO Xiaohua, LIANG Ji, MA Mingguo, SHU Lele, WANG Xufeng, XU Zhen, ZHU Shijie, DOU Yan, LIU Yan, ZHANG Pu
The dataset of ground-based microwave scatterometer and snow parameter observations was obtained in the Binggou watershed experimental area on Mar. 16, 2008. Observation items included: (1) Snow backscattering coefficient by the scatterometer (2) Snow parameters as the snow surface temperature by the probe thermometer, snow grain size by the handheld microscope, snow density by the snow shovel, the snow surface temperature and the snow-soil interface temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer in BG-I. (3) The snow spectrum by the portable ASD (Xinjiang Meteorological Administration) at the Dadongshu mountain pass; the major and minor axis and shape of the snow layer grain through the snow sieve. (4) Snow albedo by the total radiometer from 10:29 to 15:00 (5) Snow density, snow complex permittivity, snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture by the Snowfork at the Dadongshu mountain pass Two subfolders including raw data and preprocessed data were archived.
LIU Zengcan, LIU Zengcan, QIN Wei, SHU Lele, WANG Xufeng, XU Zhen, ZHU Shijie, MA Mingguo, CHANG Cun, DOU Yan, MA Zhongguo, ZHANG Pu, JIANG Tenglong
The dataset of ground truth measurements for snow synchronizing with EO-1 Hyperion was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Mar. 22, 2008. Those provide reliable data for retrieval of snow parameters from remote sensing approaches. Observation items included: (1) snow surface emissivity by the portable emissivity determinator near the Binggou cold region hydrometerological station; (2) snow density, snow complex permittivity, snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture by the snowfork in BG-A from 11:20-13:53 (BJT) on Mar. 2, 2008; (3) snow parameters in BG-A, BG-B, BG-C, BG-D, BG-E and BG-F, and variables including the snow layer temperature by the probe thermometer, the snow grain size by the handheld microscope, snow density by the aluminum case and the snow surface temperature and the snow-soil interface temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer simultaneous with the satellite; (4) the land surface infrared temperature in BG-D, BG-E, BG-B and BG-F during the airborne mission; (5) fresh snow albedo by the total radiometer east to A2; (6) snow spectrum by the portable ASD from Xinjiang Meteorological Administration and Nanjing University, GPS recordings enclosed. Two files including raw data and preprocessed data were archived.
BAI Yanfen, BAI Yunjie, CAO Yongpan, GE Chunmei, GU Juan, HAN Xujun, HAO Xiaohua, HUANG Chunlin, LIANG Ji, SHU Lele, WANG Xufeng, WU Lizong, XU Zhen, ZHU Shijie, MA Mingguo, FANG Li, LI Hua, CHANG Cun, DOU Yan, MA Zhongguo, JIANG Tenglong, XIAO Pengfeng , LIU Yan, ZHANG Pu, MA Hongwei, SUN Jicheng
The dataset of chlorophyll content observations was obtained in the Yingke oasis and Linze grassland foci experimental areas. Observation items included: (1) Chlorophyll content synchronizing with TM in Yingke oasis No. 1, 4 and 5 maize plots on May 20, 2008. (2) Chlorophyll content synchronizing with ASTER and MODIS in Linze grassland foci experimental areas on May 24, 2008. (3) Chlorophyll content synchronizing with ASTER and MODIS in Yingke oasis maize field on May 28, 2008. (4) Chlorophyll content synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in Yingke oasis maize field on May 30, 2008. (5) Chlorophyll content synchronizing with OMIS-II in Yingke oasis maize field on Jun. 16, 2008. (6) Chlorophyll content synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in Yingke oasis maize field on Jun. 29, 2008. (7) Chlorophyll content synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) and TM in Yingke oasis maize field on Jul. 7, 2008. (8) Chlorophyll content synchronizing with WiDAS (Wide-angle Infrared Dual-mode line/area Array Scanner) in Yingke oasis maize field on Jul. 11, 2008.
LI Li, XIN Xiaozhou, ZHANG Yang, ZHOU Mengwei
The dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with Envisat ASAR was obtained in No. 1 and 2 quadrates of the Biandukou foci experimental area on Oct. 17, 2007 during the pre-observation period. The ASAR data were in AP mode and VV/VH polarization combinations, and the overpass time was approximately at 23:04 BJT. Both the quadrates were divided into 3×3 subsites, with each one spanning a 30×30 m2 plot. 25 sampling points were chosen, including centers and corners. Simultaneous with the satellite overpass, numerous ground data were collected: the soil temperature , volumetric soil moisture (cm^3/cm^3), soil salinity (s/m), soil conductivity (s/m) by the Hydra probe, the surface radiative temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer, gravimetric soil moisture, volumetric soil moisture, and soil bulk density by drying soil samples from the cutting ring (100cm^3). Meanwhile, vegetation parameters as height, coverage and water content were also observed. Those provide reliable ground data for the development and validation of soil moisture, soil freeze/thaw algorithms and the forward model from active remote sensing approaches.
BAI Yunjie, CAO Yongpan, LI Xin, Wang Weizhen, WANG Xufeng
The dataset of ground truth measurements synchronizing with Terra MISR and MODIS was obtained in sampling plot BG-A of the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Dec. 10 and Dec. 11, 2007 during the pre-observation period. Observation items included: (1) Snow parameters including the snow surface temperature, the snow-soil interface temperature, the land surface temperature by the handheld infrared thermometer, the snow layer temperature by the probe thermometer, snow depth by the ruler and the snow grain size by the handheld microscope. (2) Snow density in "WATER: Dataset of snow density measurements in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area on Dec. 6 and Dec. 10, 2007 during the pre-observation period" (3) Snow properties in "WATER: Dataset of snow properties measured by the Snowfork in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area during the pre-observation period" Raw data and pre-processed data including snow parameters synchronizing with Terra MISR and MODIS and the temperature synchronizing with MODIS were archived herein.
LI Xin, WANG Jian, MA Mingguo, Wang Weizhen, CHE Tao, HAO Xiaohua, LI Hongyi, LIANG Ji, BAI Yunjie, WANG Xufeng, WU Yueru, WANG Yang, LUO Lihui, ZHANG Pu, LIU Yan
Under the funding of the first project (Development of Multi-scale Observation and Data Products of Key Cryosphere Parameters) of the National Key Research and Development Program of China-"The Observation and Inversion of Key Parameters of Cryosphere and Polar Environmental Changes", the research group of Zhang, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed the snow depth downscaling product in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The snow depth downscaling data set for the Tibetan Plateau is derived from the fusion of snow cover probability dataset and Long-term snow depth dataset in China. The sub-pixel spatio-temporal downscaling algorithm is developed to downscale the original 0.25° snow depth dataset, and the 0.05° daily snow depth product is obtained. By comparing the accuracy evaluation of the snow depth product before and after downscaling, it is found that the root mean square error of the snow depth downscaling product is 0.61 cm less than the original product. The details of the product information of the Downscaling of Snow Depth Dataset for the Tibetan Plateau (2000-2018) are as follows. The projection is longitude and latitude, the spatial resolution is 0.05° (about 5km), and the time is from September 1, 2000 to September 1, 2018. It is a TIF format file. The naming rule is SD_yyyyddd.tif, where yyyy represents year and DDD represents Julian day (001-365). Snow depth (SD), unit: centimeter (cm). The spatial resolution is 0.05°. The time resolution is day by day.
YAN Dajiang, MA Ning, MA Ning, ZHANG Yinsheng
The dataset of snow properties measured by the Snowfork was obtained in the Binggou watershed foci experimental area from Dec. 5-16 2007, during the pre-observation period. The aims of the measurements were to verify applicability of the instruments and to acquire snow parameters for simultaneous airborne, satellite-borne and ground-based remote sensing experiments and other control experiments. Observation items included: (1) physical quantities by direct observations: resonant frequency, the rate of attenuation and 3db bandwidth (2) physical quantities by indirect observations: snow density, snow complex permittivity (the real part and the imaginary part), snow volumetric moisture and snow gravimetric moisture. Five files including raw data and processed data are kept, data by the Snowfork on Dec 5, data by BG-A MODIS on Dec 6 and 7, data in BG-B, BG-C, BG-D and BG-E on Dec 10, and data in BG-D with the microwave radiometer on Dec 14 and 16.
HAO Xiaohua, LIANG Ji
The Tibetan Plateau Glacier Data –TPG2017 is a glacial coverage data on the Tibetan Plateau from selected 210 scenes of Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images with 30-m spatial resolution from 2013 to 2018, among of which 90% was in 2017 and 85% in winter. Therefore, 2017 was defined as the reference year for the mosaic image. Glacier outlines were digitized on-screen manually from the 2017 image mosaic, relying on false-colour image composites (RGB by bands 654), which allowed us to distinguish ice/snow from cloud. Debris-free ice was distinguished from the debris and debris-covered ice by its higher reflectance. Debris-covered ice was not delineated in this data. The delineated glacier outlines were compared with band-ratio (e.g. TM3/TM5) results, and validated by overlapping them onto Google Earth imagery, SRTM DEM, topographic maps and corresponding satellite images. For areas with mountain shadows and snow cover, they were verified by different methods using data from different seasons. For glaciers in deep shadow, Google EarthTM imagery from different dates was used as the reference for manual delineation. Steep slopes or headwalls were also excluded in the TPG2017. Areas that appeared in any of these sources to have the characteristics of exposed ground/basement/bed rock were manually delineated as non-glacier, and were also cross-checked with CGI-1 and CGI-2. Steep hanging glaciers were included in TPG2017 if they were identifiable on images in all other three epochs (i.e. TPG1976, TPG2001, and TPG2013). The accuracy of manual digitization was controlled within one half-pixel. All glacier areas were calculated on the WGS84 spheroid in an Albers equal-area map projection centred at (95°E, 30°N) with standard parallels at 15°N and 65°N. Our results showed that the relative deviation of manual interpretation was less than 3.9%.
YE Qinghua
The permafrost stability map was created based on the classification system proposed by Guodong Cheng (1984), which mainly depended on the inter-annual variation of deep soil temperature. By using the geographical weighted regression method, many auxiliary data was fusion in the map, such as average soil temperature, snow cover days, GLASS LAI, soil texture and organic from SoilGrids250, soil moisture products from CLDAS of CMA, and FY2/EMSIP precipitation products. The permafrost stability data spatial resolution is 1km and represents the status around 2010. The following table is the permafrost stability classification system. The data format is Arcgis Raster.
RAN Youhua
This dataset is blended by two other sets of data, snow cover dataset based on optical instrument remote sensing with 1km spatial resolution on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (1989-2018) produced by National Satellite Meteorological Center, and near-real-time SSM/I-SSMIS 25km EASE-grid daily global ice concentration and snow extent (NISE, 1995-2018) provided by National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC, U.S.A). It covers the time from 1995 to 2018 (two periods, from January to April and from October to December) and the region of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (17°N-41°N, 65°E-106°E) with daily product, which takes equal latitude and longitude projection with 0.01°×0.01° spatial resolution, and characterizes whether the ground is covered by snow. The input data sources include daily snow cover products generated by NOAA/AVHRR, MetOp/AVHRR, and alternative to AVHRR taken from TERRA/MODIS corresponding observation, and snow extent information of NISE derived from observation by SSM/I or SSMIS of DMSP satellites. The processing method of data collection is as following: first, taking 1km snow cover product from optical instruments as initial value, and fully trusting its snow and clear sky without snow information; then, under the aid of sea-land template with relatively high resolution, replacing the pixels or grids where is cloud coverage, no decision, or lack of satellite observation, by NISE's effective terrestrial identification results. For some water and land boundaries, there still may be a small amount of cloud coverage or no observation data area that can’t be replaced due to the low spatial resolution of NISE product. Blended daily snow cover product achieves about 91% average coincidence rate of snow and non-snow identification compared to ground-based snow depth observation in years. The dataset is stored in the standard HDF4 files each having two SDSs of snow cover and quality code with the dimensions of 4100-column and 2400-line. Complete attribute descriptions is written in them.
ZHENG Zhaojun, CAO Guangzhen
The Tibetan Plateau Glacial Data -TPG1976 is a glacial coverage data on the Tibetan Plateau in the 1970s. It was generated by manual interpretation from Landsat MSS multispectral image data. The temporal coverage was mainly from 1972 to 1979 by 60 m spatial resolution. It involved 205 scenes of Landsat MSS/TM. There were 189 scenes（92% coverage on TP）in 1972-79，including 116 scenes in 1976/77 (61% of all the collected satellite data).As high quality of MSS data is not accessible due to cloud and snow effects in the South-east Tibetan Plateau, earlier Landsat TM data was collected for usage, including 14 scenes of 1980s（1981,1986-89,which covers 6.5% of TP） and 2 scenes in 1994（by 1.5% coverage on TP）.Among all satellite data，77% was collected in winter with the minimum effects of cloud and seasonal snow. The most frequent year in this period was defined as the reference year for the mosaic image: i.e. 1976. Glacier outlines were digitized on-screen manually from the 1976 image mosaic, relying on false-colour image composites (MSS: red, green and blue (RGB) represented by bands 321; TM: RGB by bands 543), which allowed us to distinguish ice/snow from cloud. Debris-free ice was distinguished from the debris and debris-covered ice by its higher reflectance. Debris-covered ice was not delineated in this data. The delineated glacier outlines were compared with band-ratio results, and validated by overlapping them onto Google Earth imagery, SRTM DEM, topographic maps and corresponding satellite images. For areas with mountain shadows and snow cover, they were verified by different methods using data from different seasons. For glaciers in deep shadow, Google EarthTM imagery from different dates was used as the reference for manual delineation. Steep slopes or headwalls were also excluded in the TPG1976. Areas that appeared in any of these sources to have the characteristics of exposed ground/basement/bed rock were manually delineated as non-glacier, and were also cross-checked with CGI-1 and CGI-2. Steep hanging glaciers were included in TPG1976 if they were identifiable on images in all three epochs (i.e. TPG1976, TPG2001, and TPG2013). The accuracy of manual digitization was controlled within one half-pixel. All glacier areas were calculated on the WGS84 spheroid in an Albers equal-area map projection centred at (95°E, 30°N) with standard parallels at 15°N and 65°N. Our results showed that the relative deviation of manual interpretation was less than 6.4% due to the 60 m spatial resolution images.
YE Qinghua, WU Yuwei
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