Greenland 5 km DEM, Ice Thickness, and Bedrock Elevation Grids

Data Contributors

BAMBER, JONATHAN

Parameters

GLACIER ELEVATION/ICE SHEET ELEVATION
GLACIER THICKNESS/ICE SHEET THICKNESS
GLACIER TOPOGRAPHY/ICE SHEET TOPOGRAPHY
ICE DEPTH/THICKNESS
ICE SHEETS
LANDFORMS
TOPOGRAPHIC EFFECTS
TOPOGRAPHICAL RELIEF

Instruments

ALTIMETERS
ATM : AIRBORNE TOPOGRAPHIC MAPPER
ECHO SOUNDERS
RA : ERS RADAR ALTIMETER
RADAR ALTIMETERS
RADAR ECHO SOUNDERS

A Digital Elevation Model (DEM), ice thickness grid, and bedrock elevation grid of Greenland acquired as part of the PARCA program are available in ASCII text format at a 5 km grid spacing in a polar stereographic projection. DEM data are a combination of ERS-1 and Geosat satellite radar altimetry data, Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) data, and photogrammetric digital height data. Ice thickness data are based on approximately 700,000 data points collected in the 1990s from a University of Kansas airborne ice penetrating radar (IPR). Nearly 30,000 data points were collected in the 1970s from a Technical University of Denmark (TUD) airborne echo sounder. Bamber subtracted the ice thickness grid from the DEM to produce a grid of bedrock elevation values. Applications include studies of gravitational driving stress and ice volume (mass balance) of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Each of the three grids is approximately 1.5 MB. Data are available via FTP. Data access is unrestricted, but we recommend that users register with us. Registered users automatically receive e-mail notification of product updates and changes to processing.

Data Citation

If these data are used in a publication, they should be cited using the following references:

Bamber, J.L., R.L. Layberry, S.P. Gogenini. 2001. A new ice thickness and bed data set for the Greenland ice sheet 1: Measurement, data reduction, and errors. Journal of Geophysical Research 106 (D24): 33773-33780.

Bamber, J.L., R.L. Layberry, S.P. Gogenini. 2001. A new ice thickness and bed data set for the Greenland ice sheet 2: Relationship between dynamics and basal topography. Journal of Geophysical Research 106 (D24): 33781-33788.

Also, to help us serve the scientific and cryospheric research communities, please acknowledge NSIDC:

Data provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center DAAC, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.