CHAPTER 7

Quality in the GLIMS Glacier Database

Bruce H. Raup, Siri Jodha S. Khalsa, Richard L. Armstrong, William A. Sneed,
Gordon S. Hamilton, Frank Paul, Fiona Cawkwell, Matthew J. Beedle, Brian P. Menounos,
Roger D. Wheate, Helmut Rott, Liu Shiyin, Li Xin, Shangguan Donghui, Cheng Guodong,
Jeffrey S. Kargel, Chris F. Larsen, Bruce F. Molnia, Joni L. Kincaid, Andrew Klein,
and Vladimir Konovalov

ABSTRACT steps that must be passed before data are accepted

Global Land Ice Measurements from Space
(GLIMS) is an international initiative to map the
world’s glaciers and to build a geospatial database
of glacier vector outlines that is usable via the
World Wide Web. The GLIMS initiative includes
glaciologists at 82 institutions, organized into 27
Regional Centers (RCs), who analyze satellite
imagery to map glaciers in their regions of expertise.
The results are collected at the U.S. National Snow
and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and ingested into the
GLIMS Glacier Database. A concern for users of
the database is data quality. The process of classify-
ing multispectral satellite data to extract vector out-
lines of glaciers has been automated to some degree,
but there remain stages requiring human inter-
pretation. To quantify the repeatability and preci-
sion of data provided by different RCs, we designed
a method of comparative image analysis whereby
analysts at the RCs and NSIDC could derive glacier
outlines from the same set of images, chosen to
contain a variety of glacier types. We carried out
four such experiments. The results were compiled,
compared, and analyzed to quantify inter-RC anal-
ysis consistency. These comparisons have improved
RC ability to produce consistent data, and in
addition show that in the lower reaches of a glacier,
precision of glacier outlines is typically 3 to 4 pixels.
Variability in the accumulation area and over parts
of the glacier that are debris covered tends to be
higher. The ingest process includes quality control
into the database. These steps ensure that ingested
data are well georeferenced and internally con-
sistent. The GLACE experiments and ingest time
quality control steps have led to improved quality
and consistency of GLIMS data. This chapter pre-
sents the GLACE experiments and the quality con-
trol steps incorporated in the data ingest process.
More recent similar studies are referenced.
7.1 INTRODUCTION
GLIMS is the first attempt to build a globally
complete, high-resolution map of glacier extents;
currently there are complete regional glacier in-
ventories and incomplete global inventories. The
GLIMS Glacier Database has begun to allow new
scientific questions to be addressed, such as global
statistics of glacier area and area elevation distribu-
tion, global trends in glacier area change and mass
change, and regional variability in rates of change.
The GLIMS Glacier Database contains not just
point locations for glaciers, as in the World Glacier
Inventory (WGI), but also glacier outlines as closed
polygons, which record where the glacier bound-
aries were at a specific time. Also recorded for many
glaciers are extents of supraglacial debris and lakes,
proglacial lakes, snow lines, and approximate cen-
ter flow lines, as well as nonspatial data such as
glacier name, source imagery and maps, and analyst
details.
164 Quality in the GLIMS glacier database
As of early 2014, the number of glacier outlines in
the GLIMS Glacier Database was 122,414, repre-
senting approximately 70% of the estimated total of
Earth’s glaciers. The total area covered in the data-
base is 520,000 km 2 , also about 70% of the esti-
mated total area.
For such a global database to be useful and
trustworthy to users, close attention must be paid
to data quality and consistency. Glacier outlines
need to have good consistency between regions
and over time in order for scientific questions to
be addressed. The design of the database itself
imposes a consistent set of parameters and one data
model on GLIMS analysts, but despite large gains
in the degree of automation of glacier classification
in satellite imagery, automated algorithms must be
tailored to the particular characteristics of glaciers
from region to region, and human judgment and
subjectivity remain necessary ingredients of the
mapping process. The calculation of area changes
introduces additional pitfalls. Factors that affect
the quality of glacier outlines derived from satellite
imagery include image georeferencing; variations of
seasonal snow cover; debris cover on glaciers; work-
ing definition of ‘‘glacier’’ as an entity that may be
connected to other ice bodies; and difficulties in
defining ice flow divides. Differing interpretations
of snowfields in the accumulation area or of debris-
covered ice in the ablation region can greatly affect
the calculated area for a glacier, possibly leading to
erroneous climatic interpretation.
This chapter presents the ways in which the
GLIMS core developers and RCs have addressed
methodological challenges encountered in space-
borne glacier mapping. These steps include the
development of standard methods for mapping
land ice from satellite imagery; the development
of standard tools, such as GLIMSView, for glacier
mapping and packaging of the resulting data;
glacier analysis comparison experiments (GLACE),
in which mapping results from multiple analysts are
compared; the design of the GLIMS Glacier Data-
base; and the quality control steps in the data ingest
process.
7.2 STANDARD METHODS AND TOOLS
Different people have different ideas about how to
represent glacier boundaries digitally. For example,
imagine a glacier with a rock outcrop in the middle
of it (a nunatak). The glacier outline is typically
represented by a polygon (sequence of vertices in
longitude/latitude or projected coordinates), but
the choice for representation of the outcrop is less
obvious. Geographic Information System (GIS)
tools allow polygons to have ‘‘holes’’, and this
method is a frequent choice for representing
nunataks. Holes are integral to the polygon, how-
ever, and must therefore share attributes with that
polygon. Within GLIMS it was decided to allow for
the possibility that nunataks would have a separate
set of attributes, and so they are represented by
separate polygons instead of holes in the glacier
outline polygon.
This one example illustrates the need for standard
ways of representing glacier entities within GLIMS.
The GLIMS Analysis Tutorial (http://glims.org/
MapsAndDocs/guides.html ) documents the GLIMS
approach to modeling glacier entities. Additionally,
it is important to have standard formats for trans-
ferring glacier-mapping data from the analyst to
the GLIMS Glacier Database. The GLIMS Core
Technical Group defined a standard GLIMS data
transfer format, which is documented at http://
glims.org/MapsAndDocs/datatransfer/data_transfer
_specification.html.
A software tool called GLIMSView was created
in order to make it easier for GLIMS RCs to pro-
duce glacier-mapping data in the correct data
model and to package these data in the GLIMS
data transfer format. It supports manual digitiza-
tion of glacier boundaries from satellite imagery,
and exports the outlines and all attributes (e.g.,
name of analyst, Regional Center information,
physical parameters such as glacier area, etc.) in
the GLIMS data transfer format. It can also import
already existing glacier outlines, and therefore can
be used as a packaging tool for glacier outlines to
prepare them for ingest into the GLIMS Glacier
Database. It has been used for both purposes by
a number of RCs.
GLIMSView is free downloadable (open-source)
software that runs on Linux and Windows. Devel-
opment ceased in 2009, and continued development
is contingent on new funding for that purpose.
Similar functionality could be built in the form of
plug-ins for GIS software such as QGIS, GRASS,
or ArcGIS.
7.3 ACCURACY AND PRECISION IN
GLACIER MAPPING
Given the distributed nature of glacier-mapping
efforts in GLIMS, it was recognized early on that

Figure 7.1. Five manual digitization trials described in Sneed (2007), performed separately from the GLACE
experiments. Five independent digitizations of a glacier boundary are plotted over the source image.
the differences in mapping results (from different
algorithms and analysts) needed to be quantified.
Several experiments have been done, conducted
either by individual Regional Centers or set up by
the Core GLIMS Team, to compare results under
controlled conditions.
These experiments have focused on analytical
variations and all sources of error arising from
applying different image classification algorithms,
manual image interpretation, and the complete
end-to-end effect of the mapping effort. To evaluate
repeatability of manual digitization, the GLIMS
participants in Sweden investigated the effects of
human interpretation on manual digitization results
by having nine operators outline distinct lake
shorelines in a high-resolution aerial photograph,
and found that relative uncertainty in the resulting
outlines was 2.5 pixels, though this could be
improved by applying binary-encoded transects
perpendicular to the lake boundaries (Sannel and
Brown 2010). Similarly, Sneed (2007) describes a
test whereby the terminus of a glacier in Svalbard
Accuracy and precision in glacier mapping 165
was digitized five times independently, and the
results were compared. They found that in the
case of a glacier of area 1.242 km 2 , variations in
digitization of the terminal boundary would result
in area uncertainty of approximately 1.7%. A part
of the set of outlines is shown in Fig. 7.1. Paul
(2007) tested the repeatability of manual digitiza-
tion by one person, and also by two people, and
found that relative error in resulting glacier area
exceeds 10% when the glacier area is 0.1 km 2 or
smaller. For larger glaciers, relative error was 5%
or less.
Suites of automated methods used for the initial
mapping of glacier outlines have been analyzed in
several previous studies (Albert 2002, Paul et al.
2002, Paul and Kääb 2005, Racoviteanu et al.
2009) and generally show only marginal differences
among the applied methods. Many common image
classification algorithms perform well for clean
glaciers (glaciers lacking rock-debris cover), and
most of them perform poorly when glaciers are
debris covered.
166 Quality in the GLIMS glacier database

Some additional characterizations and assess-
ments of error are given in many chapters in this
book. We draw special attention to the treatments
provided by Ramachandran et al. (Section 6.3 on
sensor calibration and ASTER image geometric
corrections and errors, and Section 6.4.2.3 on detec-
tion versus full resolvability of features); Demuth et
al. (Online Supplement 16.3 on error of digitized
glacier boundaries); and Krumwiede et al. (Section
22.4.6 on error of digitized glacier boundaries and
areas). Certainly as GLIMS and other glacier anal-
ysis initiatives move toward change assessments
and other derivatives, the origination and propaga-
tion of all significant errors must be tracked with
ever greater care.
7.4 GLACIER ANALYSIS COMPARISON
EXPERIMENTS (GLACE)
The GLIMS Core Team decided to implement a
series of glacier analysis comparison experiments
(GLACE, pronounced the same as ‘‘glass’’) to
quantify uncertainty in glacier mapping from satel-
lite imagery.
Four GLACE experiments have been carried out
to date: GLACE 1, GLACE 2, GLACE 2A, and
GLACE 3A. GLACE 1 and GLACE 2 focused on
automated methods for glacier mapping from
imagery, and participants were allowed to use the
software tools and algorithms of their choice.
GLACE 2A and GLACE 3A evaluated only
manual digitization of the glacier boundaries.
7.4.1 GLACE 1 and GLACE 2
GLACE 1 and GLACE 2 allowed the participants
to use the tools and algorithms they plan to use
operationally in GLIMS. The goal was to assess
the precision and repeatability (variability) in the
resulting data under realistic conditions. These
experiments were not intended to assess the abso-
lute accuracy of mapping results. Hence, mapping
results were compared with each other, but not with
any independent and validated source of glacier
boundary information.
In both GLACE 1 and GLACE 2, images were
chosen to contain a variety of glacier types, and
various types of boundaries: ice–rock, ice–vegeta-
tion, and ice–ice (Table 7.1). A digital elevation
model (DEM) was made available as ancillary data,
to be used to aid interpretation of optical imagery.
However, because we knew that some participants
had the facility to orthorectify and terrain-correct
imagery and others did not, we chose to prohibit
orthorectification for the purposes of these experi-
ments, so that the results would all be comparable.
The participants used a variety of methods, ranging
from manual digitization to fully automated tech-
niques (Table 7.2). In GLACE 1, participants were
requested to digitize the boundary of one small
glacier manually.
GLACE 1 was conducted in 2004 and results
were reported at the August 2004 GLIMS Work-
shop in Oslo, Norway, the Fall 2004 Meeting of the
American Geophysical Union (Raup et al. 2004),
and the December 2004 GLIMS Mini-workshop in
San Francisco. GLACE 2 was carried out in the
autumn of 2005, and results were reported at the
GLIMS Meeting in New Zealand in February 2006
and at the Arctic Workshop in Boulder, Colorado
in March 2006. GLACE 2 included a change
detection component using multitemporal optical
imagery. The analysis methods used in GLACE 1
and GLACE 2 are summarized in Table 7.2. Many
of the automated methods applied a threshold to
the ratio of two sensor channels (Paul and Kääb
2005). The normalized difference snow index was
also used, which for ASTER can be defined as
ðB1  B4Þ=ðB1 þ B4Þ (where B1 ¼ Band 1 and
B4 ¼ Band 4) (Hall et al. 1995, Paul 2007). When
B1 is saturated, B2 is sometimes used. Individual

Table 7.1. Satellite images used in the GLACE experiments.

Image ID Acquisition date Sensor GLACE No.

SC:AST_L1A.003:2004103566 September 6, 2001 ASTER 1

P050R24_5T910921 September 21, 1991 Landsat TM 2

SC:AST_L1A.003:2010881449 September 21, 2000 ASTER 2, 2A

SC:AST_L1A.003:2035265399 July 20, 2006 ASTER 3A

 Glacier analysis comparison experiments (GLACE) 167

Table 7.2. Tools and techniques used in GLACE 1 and GLACE 2. The group (participant) numbers below have
been assigned randomly (separately for GLACE 1 and GLACE 2).

GLACE 1

Group Tools Techniques

1 Matlab, GLIMSView
2 ERDAS Imagine, Arc/Info
3 Arc/Info, GLIMSView
4 ENVI, PCI, Arc/Info
5 Arc/Info
6 Matlab, GLIMSView, topo maps
7 PCI Works
Band ratio 3/4, 3/6, 3/8 ! RGB; manual, maps
Band ratio 3/4, threshold 2.0, visual interpretation
Unsupervised classification with manual editing
Multistep ratio thresholding algorithm
Ratio 3/4, threshold 2.4; manual in shadows; >0.2 km 2
Ratio 3/4, threshold 2.5
PCA on 1–4, NDSI

GLACE 2

1 PCI Band ratio enhancement; manual delineation of outlines

2 Matlab, ERDAS, GLIMSView Three different band ratios as RGB; manual interpretation
3 GLIMSView Manual delineation of outlines
4 PCI, ESRI Band ratio, threshold
5 ENVI 4.2, Google Earth Manual delineation of outlines
6 ENVI 4.1, ESRI Manual delineation of outlines
7 PCI, ESRI Bands 3–5 supervised classification for accumulation, ablation
8 GLIMSView, ESRI, ENVI, ERDAS Unsupervised classification based on NDSI and ASTER 2/5 ratio;
manual cleanup of automatically generated vectors

Abbreviations: RGB ¼ red, green, blue; PCA ¼ principal components analysis; NDSI ¼ normalized difference snow index. GLACE 2A
and GLACE 3A employed only manual digitization.

algorithm choices were based on participants’ pre-
vious experience applying them to glaciers in their
regions. Comparisons of automated glacier-
mapping algorithms are given by Albert (2002),
Paul et al. (2002), and Paul (2007).
While GLACE 1 revealed systematic problems
with image preprocessing and interpretation, the
goal of GLACE 2 was to derive a quantitative
estimate of confidence in GLIMS analysis results,
with an additional focus on change detection. We
selected two images covering the same area, the
Klinaklini Glacier and surrounding glacier system
in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia,
Canada (Fig. 7.2): an ASTER scene, acquired
September 21, 2000 and a Landsat 5 TM scene,
acquired September 21, 1991 (precisely nine years
earlier; see Table 7.1). This allowed participants to
evaluate the ability to detect surface changes based
on images acquired from different instruments with
different characteristics, such as spatial and radio-
metric resolution. The region features a glacier sys-
tem containing many tributaries, a variety of sizes
of mountain glaciers, clearly visible transient snow
lines, ice flow divides, various glacier boundary
types, and debris-covered as well as clean glaciers.
While not all RCs have glaciers with morainal
material in their normal GLIMS domains, the ice
masses in these images provided a region of clean
ice that we predicted would work well with algo-
rithms tuned for high-latitude types of glaciers (with
minimal debris cover).
7.4.2 GLACE 2A and GLACE 3A (manual
digitization)
GLACE 2A and GLACE 3A were performed as
part of dedicated GLIMS workshops, and partici-
pants interpreted the imagery and manually created
outlines while sitting together in a computer lab at
the workshop venues. The goal of these experiments
was to remove from consideration the differences
arising from the application of different algorithms
and tools, and use only manual methods in order to
evaluate variability in human interpretation of the
imagery.
GLACE 2A was conducted as part of a GLIMS
workshop held in Tucson, Arizona in September
2005. Approximately 10 participants used the
GLIMSView software package (http://glims.org/
glimsview/) to manually digitize the boundaries of
a small glacier in British Columbia from the
ASTER image used in GLACE 2 (Table 7.1).
168 Quality in the GLIMS glacier database
GLACE 1
Figure 7.2. Images used in GLACE 1 and GLACE 2. (Left) False-color composite ASTER image acquired
September 6, 2001; (right) false-color composite Landsat TM image acquired September 21, 1991. Details on
the images used in all the GLACE experiments are listed in Table 7.1. Figure can also be viewed as Online
Supplement 7.1.
ASTER bands 1, 2, and 3 were displayed as blue,
green, and red, respectively, to create a visible near-
infrared (VNIR) false-color composite image.
After a short learning period to get familiar with
GLIMSView, each participant visually interpreted
the image and produced a vector outline of the
glacier extent by tracing its perimeter with the
mouse, basing their interpretation on their glacio-
logical expertise and previous experience viewing
satellite imagery of glaciers. They also produced
vector lines to denote the location of snow lines
and center flow lines. The glacier’s boundaries
included a flow boundary (ice–ice contact), as well
as ice–rock boundaries.
After producing a glacier outline using only the
ASTER image, the participants viewed the glacier
using Google Earth, which at that time included a
moderate-resolution multispectral image (probably
from Landsat’s TM instrument) and a DEM. The
combination of the multispectral imagery and ele-
vation data is viewable as a pseudo-3D scene from
an arbitrary angle. The analysts used this new
source of information with the ASTER image and
created a new set of outlines.
The GLACE 3A experiment was similar to
GLACE 2A, and was held in conjunction with
the August 2006 GLIMS Workshop, held in Cam-
GLACE 2
bridge, England. Participants manually digitized
the boundary of the terminus of the Klinaklini
Glacier, British Columbia, Canada.
Participants for all four experiments are listed in
Table 7.5 (p. 182).
7.5 GLACE RESULTS
7.5.1 GLACE 1 and GLACE 2
The quality of the results in GLACE 1 was variable
and the experiments revealed problems such as
(1) georeferencing errors (Fig. 7.3, left panel),
(2) interpretation errors in manual digitization,
(3) interpretation differences in manual digitization
(Fig. 7.4), and (4) algorithmic deficiencies in auto-
mated methods (Fig. 7.3, right panel). An example
of an interpretation error is the inclusion of non-
glacier material, such as a rock slope or proglacial
lake, within the glacier boundary. Interpretation
differences result from varying definitions of what
to include as a ‘‘glacier’’ (e.g., should the laterally
adjacent snow slope be part of the glacier? Where
should the boundary between a debris-covered
glacier and a partly ice-cored moraine that is sep-
arate from the glacier be drawn?). Algorithmic defi-
 GLACE results 169

Figure 7.3. (Left) All GLACE 1 glacier boundaries overlaid on the ASTER image that was analyzed in the
experiment. Gross georeferencing errors, due to some initial difficulty in handling ASTER imagery, are apparent.
(Right) Some GLACE 1 glacier boundaries for Spencer Glacier overlaid on the ASTER image. Classification errors
include inclusion of the proglacial lake as part of the glacier (group 3, orange), and exclusion of lightly debris-
covered ice near the glacier terminus (group 6, yellow). Blue ¼ group 2; green ¼ group 1. Figure can also be viewed
as Online Supplements 7.2a and 7.2b.

Figure 7.4. (Left) GLACE 1 boundaries for Skookum Glacier overlaid on the ASTER image that was analyzed in
the experiment. A portion of the glacier is debris covered, making it dark in color. Some analysts mistakenly excluded
this from their glacier polygons. Analysts also differed in their interpretation of the snowfield on the glacier’s
northern side (north is up in image). (Right) Two GLACE 2 glacier outlines overlaid on the September 9, 2000
ASTER image from that experiment. Some analysts included the small tributary glacier (indicated by arrow) as part
of the Klinaklini Glacier, while others did not. Figure can also be viewed as Online Supplements 7.3a and 7.3b.
170 Quality in the GLIMS glacier database
Table 7.3. Quantitative comparison between different versions of manually digitized outlines for a specific glacier
(an unnamed glacier on the east side of Boggs Peak, 12 km east of Portage, Alaska; 60.835 N, 148.742 W, GLIMS
ID G211257E60835N, visible in Fig. 7.3 in upper central part of left image), produced by the participants in GLACE
1. Group numbers have been assigned randomly.
Group number 1 3 4 5
Area (km2 ) 1.79 2.81 3.68
ciencies led to underestimation of glacier area in
several cases. For example, parts of the tongues
of some glaciers were lightly debris covered, leading
some algorithms to misclassify those regions as rock
(nonglacier).
GLACE 1 was the first of this kind of test, and
was therefore a learning experience at various
levels. Notably, many in the GLIMS community
were new to ASTER imagery, which poses unique
challenges (Abrams et al. 2002) for georeferencing
in some software. Additionally, at the time of this
experiment, the GLIMS community had not yet
formulated a single definition of ‘‘glacier’’ for the
purposes of GLIMS glacier delineation. These
problems were starting to be addressed by the time
of the GLACE 2 experiment.
Given the different data models in which some of
the automatically generated data were delivered,
meaningful quantitative comparisons among them
were impossible without modifying some of the
data first. In light of this and the large qualitative
differences, qualitative comparisons were deemed
sufficient for most of the outlines submitted in this
round of GLACE experiments. By contrast, the
manually digitized glacier outlines of GLACE 1
were all similar to each other. Table 7.3 shows
the calculated areas and their summary statistics.
Not all groups produced a manually digitized out-
line for this glacier.
All the outlines produced in the GLACE 2
experiment are shown in Fig. 7.5. The georeferenc-
ing problems encountered in GLACE 1 were largely
mitigated in GLACE 2. However, interpretation
differences remained. Fig. 7.4 (right panel), for
example, shows that different analysts treated
smaller tributary glaciers differently. In this case,
one analyst included the small tributary as part of
the main glacier, while another excluded it. This
sort of problem led to an extensive discussion at
the 2006 New Zealand GLIMS Meeting, and sub-
sequently on the GLIMS electronic mailing list,
about how to specify a strict practical definition
6 7 Mean Std. Dev.
3.91 4.01 5.65 3.642 1.293
of the term glacier for use within the GLIMS
project. This resulted in a formal definition being
included in the GLIMS Analysis Tutorial, as
discussed below.
In order to quantify the differences between out-
lines produced from the same image, for a given
pair of outlines (from two different analysts), we
calculated the straight line (shortest) Euclidean
distance between each vertex of one outline and
the other outline. This was done by generating a
‘‘distance grid’’ for each polygonal outline where
the value at each grid cell is the normal distance
from the cell center to that outline. Each grid was
then sampled at the locations of the vertices of all
the other outlines. These distances are similar to the
Hausdorff distance (Alt et al. 1995) used in other
disciplines (polygonal feature matching in medical
imaging, for example). However, instead of retain-
ing the maximum of these distances (the Hausdorff
distance), we examined the statistics for all of them.
The result is two sets of distances for every possible
outline pair, each set consisting of distances
between each vertex of one outline and the other.
(There are two sets because calculation of the dis-
tances from one set of vertices and the other outline
is not a symmetric operation.) Each set of distances
represents a measure of the difference between two
outlines, and these have been plotted as box-and-
whisker plots in Fig. 7.6. The extent of the boxes is
the interquartile range, the whiskers extend from
the 5th to 95th percentiles, and outliers are shown
as circles. The thick horizonal line is the median. In
terminus areas, the polygons generally had hun-
dreds of vertices. Distances are calculated between
the vertex of one polygon and the interpolated
straight line (within the UTM Zone 9 projection)
connection to the other. Because vertex density is
high, there is no effect from varying numbers of
vertices in the polygons. Fig. 7.7 shows the distribu-
tion of distances from the 581 vertices in polygon 1
to polygon 3, two of the better and more consistent
polygons. Standard deviation is 71 m, or approxi-
 GLACE results 171

Figure 7.5. All outlines from GLACE 2, Landsat image. The outlines generally match well in the terminus area,
whereas there is high variability in the accumulation area. The analyst who produced the red outline applied a
different (non-GLIMS) data model, and digitized the contribution of each tributary to the terminus trunk separately.
The yellow outline excluded morainal material in the terminus area which should have been included in the glacier
outline. Figure can also be viewed as Online Supplement 7.4.

mately 4.7 pixels. Therefore, total positional uncer-
tainty due to all sources for the best analysts was
about 4.7 pixels.
An additional feature of the GLACE 2 experi-
ment was analysis of two images, separated by nine
years, of the same glacier system. Participating RCs
produced a set of glacier outlines from each image
and provided an estimate of area change for the
glacier. Some analyses showed a slight increase in
area, while others showed a slight decrease. On
aggregate, the overall results showed area change
that was not statistically different from zero. How-
ever, the results from the most internally consistent
analysis indicated that the Klinaklini Glacier lost
approximately 1% of its area from 1992 to 2000
(Table 7.4). Note that the standard deviation of
the measured area changes is greater than the mean
(or median) change. The anomalously high area
from group 5 is due to inclusion of rock outcrops
internal to the glacier in the area computation. This,
and the areas for group 2, were identified as outliers
and were excluded from the summary statistics in
Table 7.4. Similarly, the change in area from group
6 was omitted from the summary statistics of area
change due to its obvious underestimate of area.
Overall, the area of the Klinaklini Glacier does
not appear to have changed significantly during
the nine years between image acquisitions. Mass
loss can only be inferred, but there is evidence in
the images, such as elevated vegetation trim lines, of
glacier thinning.
7.5.2 GLACE 2A and GLACE 3A
In the manual analysis of the small glacier near
Klinaklini Glacier (GLACE 2A), the analysts each
produced either one or two outlines. Some pro-
duced one, then after viewing the glacier in Google
Earth, produced another using the additional infor-
mation. Others had not produced an outline by the
time they viewed the glacier in Google Earth, and
produced only the second outline. A few of the
172 Quality in the GLIMS glacier database

Figure 7.6. The distances between all the vertices of one glacier outline and the other outlines were determined.
This matrix of box plots summarizes interpolygon distances in GLACE 2. Distance between each polygon is shown
on the diagonal for comparison. One polygon (from group 6), was created from automated methods that led to a
narrower outline than the others; hence the distances between that outline and the others (bottom row, rightmost
column) are larger than the other pairs. The distances on the vertical axes are in meters. The width of the box plots
has no meaning. The calculation of distances from the vertices of one polygon to another polygon is not a symmetric
operation, though the values are generally similar.

participants were satisfied enough with their first
outline that seeing Google Earth made no differ-
ence, and they produced no second outline.
The results were highly variable, particularly in
the interpretation of ice–ice flow boundaries (ice
divides) in the upper snow-covered reaches of the
glacier, as well as the terminus region (Fig. 7.8).
Viewing the upper part of the glacier using only
the nadir image, analysts found it difficult to con-
sistently identify where the change in slope was
between the glacier of interest and its neighbor.
In the terminus region, a rocky or debris-covered
area adjacent to the glacier was interpreted to be a
valley wall by some analysts, and a debris-covered

Figure 7.7. Histogram of the distances between outlines 1 and 3 in GLACE 2. These two outlines are visually
consistent with each other.
glacier by others. Fig. 7.8 shows the outlines super-
imposed over the imagery provided by Google
Earth, where it is clear from the topographic infor-
mation that the rocky area is a valley wall. The red
lines were produced before viewing the glacier in
Google Earth, and the blue lines were produced
after. There is less variability in the blue outlines
compared with the red.
Fig. 7.9 shows variability in the resulting areas
calculated from the outlines before viewing the
three-dimensional data of Google Earth (left panel)
and after (right panel). In this case, the use of the
3D information led to less variability as well as a
smaller final outline for the glacier. In general, how-
ever, we do not expect the use of 3D information to
lead to smaller estimates of glacier size, but only to
reduce variability of the estimates. The addition of
topographic information enabled the analysts to
interpret the scene with higher confidence, and
the resulting outlines were in much better agree-
GLACE results 173
ment with each other. This exercise emphasized
the fact that topographic information is crucial
for proper boundary delineation where there are
ice flow divides and supraglacial debris.
The outlines produced in GLACE 3A are shown
in Fig. 7.10. The lateral boundaries are well identi-
fied by all participants, but there are a few slight
differences in the terminus region.
7.5.3 Discussion
As discussed above, errors can be categorized as
georeferencing errors, interpretation errors, inter-
pretation differences, or algorithmic deficiencies.
The automated glacier-mapping methods used in
the GLACE tests were based only on multispectral
data (not topography), and thus were best suited
for delineation of glaciers without optically thick
(opaque) and extensive debris cover or ice divides.
Some of the larger errors were due to debris cover
174 Quality in the GLIMS glacier database

Table 7.4. Changes in area of the Klinaklini Glacier as determined by the

different groups participating in GLACE 2. Group numbers have been
assigned randomly, and differently from GLACE 1. In both area and area
change measurements, data that were clearly outliers, marked in the table by
asterisks, were removed before calculating the summary statistics at the bottom
of the table. Acquisition dates for the ASTER and Landsat scenes were
September 21, 2000 and September 21, 1991, respectively.

Group number ASTER area TM area Area change Area change

(km 2 ) (km 2 ) (km 2 ) (%)

1 450.7 441.3 9.4 2.13

2 304.7  316.8  12.1 3.82

3 409.5 408.6 0.9 0.22

4 454.4 453.4 1 0.22

5 677.7  n/a n/a n/a

6 459.8 503.9 44.1  8.75 

7 402.1 413.7 11.6 2.8

8 474.4 479.9 5.5 1.15

Min 402.1 408.6 12.1 3.82

Max 474.4 503.9 9.4 2.13

Median 452.55 447.4 2.3 0.465

Mean 441.82 450.1 2.98 0.867

Std Dev 29.13 37.20 8.34 2.18

(6.6%) (8.3%)

or tributaries being excluded from the glacier area,
varying interpretation of ice flow divides, and an
iceberg-filled lake being included in the glacier
area. The participants who edited the results from
their automated algorithms to compensate for these
effects achieved improved results. It is clear that
topographic information can be crucial for accurate
delineation of glacier boundaries, especially in accu-
mulation zones and where there is supraglacial
debris cover. While manual digitization is well
suited to final editing, automated algorithms are
recommended as the first step to produce a glacier
map for an entire scene. Manual editing can then be
used to fix errors due to debris cover and cast
shadow. Algorithms that use both multispectral
imagery and topography to map debris-covered
glaciers automatically are being used increasingly,
and are valuable sources of a first map of glaciers
in regions where debris-covered glaciers are numer-
ous. Automated algorithms remove human subjec-
tivity from the process and can map an entire
satellite scene hundreds of times faster than purely
manual digitization (Bishop et al. 2001, Paul et al.
2004, Raup et al. 2007a, Racoviteanu et al. 2009).
The GLACE tests have helped the GLIMS com-
munity converge on appropriate algorithms for
different glacier types (Paul et al. 2009).
For interpretation errors and differences, the
GLACE experiments have been instrumental in
identifying and reducing errors and variability
among glacier outlines produced from satellite
imagery by different GLIMS collaborators. One
of the chief outcomes is a standard definition of
‘‘glacier’’ for the purposes of GLIMS. The
definition was agreed upon through discussions at
several conferences since the first GLACE experi-
ment, and has been included in a document called
the GLIMS Analysis Tutorial (Raup and Khalsa

Figure 7.8. GLACE 2A outlines viewed over the default imagery in Google Earth. The red lines were produced
before viewing the glacier in Google Earth, and the blue lines were produced after.
2007). The definition is crafted to be specifically
applicable to satellite remote sensing of glaciers.
The definition reads
A glacier or perennial snow mass, identified by
a single GLIMS glacier ID, consists of a body
of ice and snow that is observed at the end of
the melt season, or, in the case of tropical
glaciers, after transient snow melts. This
includes, at a minimum, all tributaries and con-
nected feeders that contribute ice to the main
glacier, plus all debris-covered parts of it.
Excluded is all exposed ground, including nuna-
taks. An ice shelf shall be considered as a sep-
arate glacier.
The ramifications of this definition, such as how to
treat steep rock walls that are the source of snow
that avalanches onto the glacier, are discussed in the
GLIMS Analysis Tutorial. The tutorial also docu-
ments recommended practices for the creation of
GLIMS data within the context of an appropriate
data model.
GLACE results 175
Another consequence of these experiments is the
continued development of a series of standard anal-
ysis modules and algorithm descriptions that RCs
can use to produce uniform glacier data for
GLIMS. These standard methods can be implemen-
ted in GLIMSView, though this software is cur-
rently primarily used for manual digitization of
glacier outlines, surface facies, and glacier center
lines. GLIMSView provides a framework for con-
sistent production and formatting of outline data,
and is extensible for future inclusion of additional
processing algorithms (Raup et al. 2007b). Various
processing protocols have been discussed in the
GLIMS community, and have been documented
in some Regional Center work flow guides. All
these documents, and the GLIMS Analysis Tutorial,
are available at http://glims.org/
As additional tools are implemented and guide-
lines are developed, we anticipate conducting
further comparative image analysis experiments to
validate the protocols and analysis modules as they
evolve. Within the context of a recent European
glacier-mapping project, the Glaciers Climate
176 Quality in the GLIMS glacier database
Figure 7.9. Box plots showing the variability of the
glacier area calculated from the glacier outlines pro-
duced before (left) viewing the glacier in Google
Earth and after (right). The extent of the box in the
interquartile range, the whiskers extend to the 5th
and 95th percentiles, and outliers are shown as circles.
The thick horizontal line is the median.
Change Initiative (Glaciers_CCI), other compara-
tive image analysis experiments have been carried
out and have reached similar conclusions to the
GLACE results (Paul et al. 2012).
GLIMSView remains a useful tool for ensuring
adherence to standardization protocols by guiding
the analyst through predetermined processing steps
in the protocol, or through its use as a ‘‘filter’’
program, which ensures that certain processing
steps have been taken before exporting the data into
the data transfer format. We recognize, however,
that different researchers within the GLIMS project
have their own preferred software tools, and have
tailored algorithms to the characteristics specific to
glaciers in their own regions. Several processing
protocols have therefore been recommended, each
tailored to a specific set of problems associated with
a particular type of glacier system. Development of
appropriate tools is an ongoing effort. GLIMS held
a workshop in Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. in June
of 2008 to address these specific topics. The primary
outcome was a more detailed set of guidelines
tailored to different glacier types and software
packages. More information about this workshop
can be found in Racoviteanu et al. (2009).
7.6 GLIMS GLACIER DATABASE AND
THE DATA INGEST PROCESS
Glacier outlines, attributes, and related metadata
are stored at NSIDC in a relational database. The
database software, PostgreSQL with PostGIS
add-ons, is open source, and contains data types
and functions well suited to storing geospatial
and related nongeospatial data. Glacier outlines
are stored as polygons whose vertices are in the
longitude/latitude (geographic) coordinate system
on the WGS-84 datum.
7.6.1 Ingest quality control steps
When a Regional Center has produced a set of
GLIMS glacier data, it submits the data to NSIDC
via a Web interface that captures metadata on the
processing steps used. These metadata include
information on tools used, how geocoding of the
source imagery was done, radiometric calibration,
topographic correction, and the algorithms used for
classification and interpretation of the imagery.
Several quality control (QC) steps are applied at
NSIDC before final ingest into the database. These
include automated checking for data completeness
and integrity (e.g., existence of necessary IDs and
other attributes, proper segment order and correct
circulation direction (handedness) of polygons,
proper numeric range, polygon closure), and visual-
izing the data on a map and within Google Earth.
When problems are found, the RC is contacted with
a request to fix the problems. Finally, after the data
have been inserted into the database and become
publicly viewable via the web interface, the sub-
mitter is notified and requested to view the dataset
via the GLIMS web map browser and do a final
check for accuracy.
 ASTER data for GLIMS: STARS, DARs, gain settings, and image seasons 177

Figure 7.10. Results of manual glacier delineation performed in GLACE 3A. Lateral boundaries are well identified
by all participants, but there was some disagreement about the details of the terminus, due primarily to differing
interpretations of broken ice.

The first QC steps are performed automatically
by software in the data submission system. Before
any person sees the submission, uploaded data files
are checked for proper formatting, presence and
integrity of required attributes, proper coordinate
system for spatial data (latitude and longitude on
the WGS-84 datum), proper formatting and
existence of GLIMS glacier identifiers, and proper
closure and data model for glacier boundary
polygons.
The quality control steps implemented in the
ingest process, in the form of software and proce-
dures, have been effective in ensuring that bad data
do not get ingested into the database. Fig. 7.11
shows the glacier inventory for British Columbia
displayed in Google Earth before ingest. This
visualization method allows for easy identification
of errors in the dataset. Fig. 7.12 shows an example
where an error in one of the glacier IDs broke the
link between the outline and its metadata, and sub-
sequently the outline for that glacier was dropped
by the ingest software. The ingest software issued a
warning about this, and the visual clue in Google
Earth is unmistakable. Fig. 7.13 shows an example
from a different region where there was an offset
between submitted glacier outlines and imagery in
178 Quality in the GLIMS glacier database

Figure 7.11. The 17,585 GLIMS glacier outlines for British Columbia displayed in Google Earth for quality
checking before ingest into the GLIMS Glacier Database.

Figure 7.12. A missing outline for a glacier in British Columbia becomes obvious when displayed in Google Earth.
This error was corrected before ingest. Red lines represent glacier boundaries; green polygons surround rock
outcrops that are internal to the glacier.
 GLIMS Glacier Database and the data ingest process 179
Figure 7.13. GLIMS glacier outlines showing a geographic offset in Google Earth. This prompted checking with
the Regional Center. Red lines represent glacier boundaries; green polygons surround rock outcrops that are internal
to the glacier.
Google Earth. In some cases it may be possible that
the georeferencing of the imagery in Google Earth
is incorrect, but in practice this is rare, and any
offset of the glacier outlines in Google Earth war-
rants further investigation of the submitted data.
The ingest software checks many other items for
basic data integrity, with the result that the data in
the GLIMS Glacier Database are consistent in
metadata and ID links. Some metadata fields are
optional, and population of these fields varies, but
the QC steps in the ingest process strive to ensure
high-quality data in all mandatory fields and also
those optional ones that are populated.
As a result of these QC steps, the data that are
ingested into the GLIMS Glacier Database typic-
ally have only the types of errors and uncertainties
typified by the best of the outlines in the GLACE
experiments. Uncertainty is generally three or four
pixels (1) in the terminus region, and can be con-
siderably higher (hundreds of meters) in the accu-
mulation areas at ice–ice boundaries. It is expected
that improvements in the georeferencing of source
imagery and mapping of ice divides will be achieved
as more accurate DEMs become available.
7.6.2 Representation of
measurement error
For each segment of each glacier outline, the
GLIMS Glacier Database contains fields that store
positional uncertainty. There are four different
fields for each polygon segment: ‘‘local’’ and
‘‘global’’ uncertainty in the x and y directions, both
expressed in meters. Local uncertainty is an esti-
mate of the location precision of each vertex in
the polygon, and is usually directly related to image
resolution, though it can be affected by interpreta-
tion difficulty, such as at ice flow divides or debris-
covered ice at the terminus. Global uncertainty is an
estimate of the accuracy of the entire segment’s
position, generally related to georeferencing accu-
racy of the image. These fields are mandatory; they
cannot be left blank. At the time of ingest, these
numbers are compared with the positions of the
polygons viewed over imagery as supplied by the
analyst and in Google Earth. Polygons are some-
times also overlaid on Shuttle Radar Topography
Mission (SRTM) DEM visualizations as an addi-
tional check.
180 Quality in the GLIMS glacier database
These uncertainty values are determined by the
analyst, taking into account image resolution, qual-
ity (e.g., extent of cloudiness), snow conditions,
amount of debris cover on the glacier, and ease of
determining flow divides, if present, which in turn
depends on the quality of ancillary data such as
DEMs, ground-based photographs, or field-based
data such as velocity measurements. These consid-
erations are generally documented in the processing
description, also stored within the database.
7.6.3 Derived parameters in the database
As part of the ingest process, it is possible to derive
additional parameters from glacier outlines and
store these as additional information in the data-
base. Currently, the primary derived parameter is
glacier area. While many Regional Centers provide
the area of each glacier, at ingest time the area of
each glacier is calculated and stored within the
database. This ensures that (1) every glacier has
an associated area stored, and (2) all such areas
are calculated in a consistent manner.
For each glacier, PostGIS SQL functions are
used to project the coordinates to cylindrical equal
area (projected meters); calculate the area of the
polygon(s) tagged with glac_bound—that is,
the glacier boundary polygon(s); calculate the area
of the polygon(s) tagged with intrnl_rock—that
is, the internal rock (nunatak) boundary poly-
gon(s); subtract the internal rock area from the area
within the glacier boundary polygon(s) to get the
final area for the glacier.
The area calculations are done using the usual
formula for calculating the area of planar polygons,
thus an equal area projection must be used.
This Perl code constructs the correct SQL query,
depending on whether there are internal rock
polygons:
if (count_of_internal_rocks($id) > 0) {
$update_statement = ’UPDATE glacier_dynamic SET
db_calculated_area =’
. ’ ((select
sum(st_area(st_transform(glacier_polys,32767)))’
. ’ FROM glacier_polygons, glacier_dynamic’
. " WHERE line_type=’glac_bound’"
. " AND glacier_polygons.analysis_id=$id"
. " AND glacier_dynamic.analysis_id=$id"
. " AND glacier_dynamic.record_status=’okay’)"
. ’ - (select
sum(st_area(st_transform(glacier_polys,32767)))’
. ’ FROM glacier_polygons, glacier_dynamic’
. " WHERE line_type=’intrnl_rock’"
. " AND glacier_polygons.analysis_id=$id"
. " AND glacier_dynamic.analysis_id=$id"
. " AND glacier_dynamic.record_status=’okay’))/1000000"
. " WHERE analysis_id = $id";
}
else {
$update_statement = ’UPDATE glacier_dynamic SET
db_calculated_area =’
. ’ (select
sum(st_area(st_transform(glacier_polys,32767)))’
. ’ FROM glacier_polygons, glacier_dynamic’
. " WHERE line_type=’glac_bound’"
. " AND glacier_polygons.analysis_id=$id"
. " AND glacier_dynamic.analysis_id=$id"
. " AND glacier_dynamic.record_status=’okay’)/1000000"
. " WHERE analysis_id = $id";
}
The PostGIS function st_transform performs
the projection, and 32767 is an identifier for the
cylindrical equal area projection.
7.7 CONCLUSION
The GLIMS community has taken steps to ensure
the high quality of data in the GLIMS Glacier
Database. GLIMS analysis comparison experi-
ments have revealed specific potential problems in
deriving glacier outlines from satellite imagery that
can lead to inconsistent results when building a
database of such outlines from multiple sources.
The problems are more related to methodological
questions during postprocessing than to technical
issues of initial image classification. The central
question of what constitutes a ‘‘glacier’’ touches
most of the problems encountered: treatment of
tributaries and rock outcrops, location of ice
divides, interpretation of debris-covered glacier
parts and lakes with icebergs, and snowfields that
may hide parts of the glacier perimeter or obscure a
small ice patch completely. The experiments have
led to the development, adoption, and documenta-
tion of definitions, processing protocols, tools, and
quality-control steps that have improved the con-
sistency and quality of glacier data going into the
database. After the documents were distributed to
the GLIMS community, the analysis quality was
observed at the data ingest stage to have improved.
We estimate that glacier outline digitization repeat-
ability (1) is of the order of 3 to 4 pixels (45 to 60 m
for ASTER) in regions where interpretation is
straightforward, but uncertainties can remain much
higher for individual glaciers where interpretation
is difficult (e.g., ice flow divides in regions without
proper DEMs). Incorporation of topographic

information into the work flow is thus crucial to
reduce this uncertainty. As tools, protocols, and
data availability evolve, more GLACE tests will
likely be carried out.
7.8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The GLIMS initiative at the NSIDC was begun
with the support of NASA awards NNG04GF51A
and NNG04GM09G. We would like to thank the
late Mark Dyurgerov, Paul Geissler, Christian
Georges, Chris Helm, Ella Lee, and Claudia Riedl
for their involvement in the GLACE experiments.
ASTER data courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/
Japan Space Systems, the U.S./Japan ASTER
Science Team, and the GLIMS project.
7.9 REFERENCES
Abrams, M., Hook, S., Ramachandran, B. (2002) Aster
User Handbook, Version 2. NASA Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
Albert, T.H. (2002) Evaluation of remote sensing tech-
niques for ice-area classification applied to the tropical
Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru. Polar Geography, 26(3), 210–
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Alt, H., Behrends, B., and Blömer, J. (1995) Approximate
matching of polygonal shapes. Annals of Mathematics
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Bishop, M.P., Bonk, R., Kamp, U., and Shroder, J.
(2001) Terrain analysis and data modeling for alpine
glacier mapping. Polar Geography, 25(3), 182–201.
Hall, D.K., Riggs, G., and Salomonson, V. (1995) Devel-
opment of methods for mapping global snow cover
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Paul, F. (2007) The New Swiss Glacier Inventory 2000:
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dynamik No. 52). Universität Zürich, 210 pp.
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Haeberli, W. (2002) The new remote-sensing-derived
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tion of a glacier inventory from multispectral satellite
data in the Canadian Arctic: Cumberland Peninsula,
Baffin Island. Annals of Glaciology, 42, 59–66.
Paul, F., Barry, R., Cogley, J., Frey, H., Haeberli, W.,
Ohmura, A., Ommanney, C., Raup, B., Rivera, A.,
and Zemp, M. (2009) Recommendations for the com-
pilation of glacier inventory data from digital sources.
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Frey, H., Joshi, S., Konovalov, V., Bris, R.L., Moelg,
N. et al. (2012) On the accuracy of glacier outlines
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Racoviteanu, A.E., Paul, F., Raup, B., Khalsa, S.J.S.,
and Armstrong, R. (2009) Challenges and recommen-
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guides.html
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182 Quality in the GLIMS glacier database

Table 7.5. Participants in GLACE 1, GLACE 2, GLACE 2A, and GLACE 3A, and their affiliations at the time of the
experiments.

Regional Center Number Institution, participants Experiments

(Steward nmber)

3 University of Alberta, Canada; Fiona CAWKWELL 1, 2, 3A

3 (536) University of Northern British Columbia, Canada; Roger WHEATE

and Brian MENOUNOS 1, 2

6 University of Maine, U.S.A.; Gordon HAMILTON and Bill SNEED 1, 2, 2A

—a Cambridge University; Narelle BAKER 3A

8 CAREERI, Lanzhou, China; Guodong CHENG, Shiyin LIU,

Xin LI, Donghui SHANGGUAN 1

5 Portland State University, U.S.A.; Matthew HOFFMAN 3A

11 University of Innsbruck, Austria; Claudia RIEDL, Helmut ROTT 1, 2

11 (507) University of Zurich, Switzerland; Frank PAUL 1, 2

13 University of Innsbruck, Austria; Christian GEORGES 1

602 University of Colorado, U.S.A.; Matthew BEEDLE 2

17 Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia; Vladimir KONOVALOV 2

—a Texas A&M University, U.S.A.; Andrew KLEIN, Joni KINCAID 2

604 U.S. Geological Survey (Flagstaff, AZ), U.S.A.; Ella LEE,

Paul GEISSLER 2A

606 University of Arizona, U.S.A.; Jeff KARGEL 2A

—a University of Alaska, U.S.A.; Christopher LARSEN 2A

602 University of Colorado, U.S.A.; Bruce RAUP 2A, 3A

602 University of Colorado, U.S.A.; Christopher HELM 2A

—a U.S. Geological Survey (Reston, VA), U.S.A.; Bruce MOLNIA 2A

—a University of Colorado, U.S.A.; Mark DYURGEROV 2A

—a University of Otago, New Zealand, Shelley MACDONELL 3A

a
Dashes indicate no assignment yet to a Regional Center.