[GLIMS] Randolph Glacier Inventory: release of version 3.2

[gcogley1 at cogeco.ca]

Dear colleagues – We are happy to be able to announce the release of
version 3.2 of the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI). It features improved
accuracy of glacier outlines in many places, notably Alaska (more recent
source imagery) and South America (source imagery with less seasonal snow),
filling of some gaps (for example in the tropics and in Burma), and
correction of errors in a number of places.

The RGI is downloadable from http://glims.org/RGI/, where there is also a
Technical Report describing the main features of the inventory. Certain
restrictions still apply to use of the RGI, but these restrictions will be
relaxed upon publication of AR5, the Fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the report for which the RGI was
originally compiled).

Planning is under way for the assimilation of new material from the RGI
into GLIMS (Global Land Ice Measurements from Space), so that GLIMS as well
as the RGI will be globally complete. There is, however, no schedule yet
for completion of this non-trivial project.

Two examples of the potential of the RGI for advancing global-scale
glaciology are Gardner et al., 2013, A reconciled estimate of glacier
contributions to sea level rise: 2003 to 2009, Science, 340, 852-857; and
Radiæ et al., 2013, Regional and global projections of 21st century glacier
mass changes in response to climate scenarios from global climate models,
Climate Dynamics, doi:10.1007/s00382-013-1719-7. A number of other
publications that rely on earlier versions of the RGI have also appeared
recently.

With regards,
Tad Pfeffer, Anthony Arendt, Andy Bliss, Tobias Bolch, Graham Cogley
(correspondence to gcogley at trentu.ca please), Alex Gardner, Jon Ove Hagen,
Regine Hock, Georg Kaser, Christian Kienholz, Evan Miles, Geir Moholdt,
Nico Mölg, Frank Paul, Valentina Radiæ, Philipp Rastner, Bruce Raup, Justin
Rich, Martin Sharp.



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