Collection of datasets from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Antarctic Ice Sheets Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project. This is producing long term and reliable climate data records from satellite data for a number of Essential Climate Variables (ECV's) for Antarctica. Current data products relate to Ice Velocities, Gravimetric Mass Balance, Grounding Line Locations and Surface Elevation Changes.

The Greenland Ice Sheet CCI project aims to maximize the impact of ESA satellite data on climate research, by analysing data from ESA Earth Observation missions such as ERS, Envisat, CryoSat, GRACE and the new Sentinel series of satellites. Over the last decade, the Greenland Ice Sheet has shown rapid change, characterized by rapid thinning along the margins, accelerating outlet glaciers, and overall increasing mass loss. The state of the Greenland Ice Sheet is of global importance, and has consequently been included in the ESA CCI Programme as a monitored Essential Climate Variable (ECV). The project is producing data products of the following five parameters, which are important in characterizing the Greenland Ice Sheet as an Essential Climate Variable: Surface Elevation Change (SEC) gridded data from radar altimetry; Ice Velocity (IV) gridded data from synthetic aperture radar interferometry and feature tracking; Calving Front Location (CFL) time series of marine-terminating glaciers; Grounding Line Location (GLL) time series of marine-terminating glaciers; Gravimetry Mass Balance (GMB) maps and time series.

This dataset contains a time series of ice velocities for the Upernavik glacier in Greenland between 1992 and 2010. This dataset has been produced by the ESA Greenland Ice Sheet Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project. This dataset consists of a time series of Ice velocity maps which have been generated from SAR data from the ERS-1 and ERS-2, ENVISAT and the ALOS satellites. The data are supplied on a 500m polar stereographic grid. The ice velocity product contain the horizontal components, vN and vE, of the total velocity vector, which is derived from radar measurements assuming surface parallel flow. The used digital elevation model of the surface is also supplied. The North and East velocities at any grid points are given in a local geographic north-east coordinates system (and not in the used grid map projection system).

This dataset contains grounding lines for 5 North Greenland glaciers, derived from SAR Interferometery data from the ERS-1 and -2 satellites. Data was produced as part of the ESA Greenland Ice Sheets Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project by ENVEO, Austria. The grounding line separates the floating part of a glacier from the grounded part. Processes at the grounding lines of floating marine termini of glaciers and ice streams are important for understanding the response of the ice masses to changing boundary conditions and for establishing realistic scenarios for the response to climate change. The grounding line location product is derived from InSAR data by mapping the tidal flexure and is generated for a selection of the few glaciers in Greenland, which have a floating tongue. In general, the true location of the grounding line is unknown, and therefore validation is difficult for this product. Remote sensing observations do not provide direct measurement on the transition from floating to grounding ice (the grounding line). The satellite data deliver observations on ice surface features (e.g. tidal deformation by InSAR, spatial changes in texture and shading in optical images) that are indirect indicators for estimating the position of the grounding line. Due to the plasticity of ice these indicators spread out over a zone upstream and downstream of the grounding line, the tidal flexure zone (also called grounding zone).

This dataset contains grounding lines for 5 North Greenland glaciers, derived from generated from ERS -1/-2 SAR Tandem and 3 days data sets. This addition includes the grounding line for the Petermann glacier from Sentinel-1A. Data was produced as part of the ESA Greenland Ice Sheets Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project by ENVEO, Austria. The grounding line is the separation point between the floating and grounded parts of the glacier. Processes at the grounding lines of floating marine termini of glaciers and ice streams are important for understanding the response of the ice masses to changing boundary conditions and for establishing realistic scenarios for the response to climate change. The grounding line location product is derived from InSAR data by mapping the tidal flexure and is generated for a selection of the few glaciers in Greenland, which have a floating tongue. In general, the true location of the grounding line is unknown, and therefore validation is difficult for this product. Remote sensing observations do not provide direct measurement on the transition from floating to grounding ice (the grounding line). The satellite data deliver observations on ice surface features (e.g. tidal deformation by InSAR, spatial changes in texture and shading in optical images) that are indirect indicators for estimating the position of the grounding line. Due to the plasticity of ice these indicators spread out over a zone upstream and downstream of the grounding line, the tidal flexure zone (also called grounding zone).

This dataset contains grounding lines for 5 North Greenland glaciers, derived from generated from ERS -1/-2 and Sentinel-1 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) interferometry. This version of the dataset (v1.3) has been extended with grounding lines for 2017. Data was produced as part of the ESA Greenland Ice Sheets Climate Change Initiative (CCI) project by ENVEO, Austria. The grounding line is the separation point between the floating and grounded parts of the glacier. Processes at the grounding lines of floating marine termini of glaciers and ice streams are important for understanding the response of the ice masses to changing boundary conditions and for establishing realistic scenarios for the response to climate change. The grounding line location product is derived from InSAR data by mapping the tidal flexure and is generated for a selection of the few glaciers in Greenland, which have a floating tongue. In general, the true location of the grounding line is unknown, and therefore validation is difficult for this product. Remote sensing observations do not provide direct measurement on the transition from floating to grounding ice (the grounding line). The satellite data deliver observations on ice surface features (e.g. tidal deformation by InSAR, spatial changes in texture and shading in optical images) that are indirect indicators for estimating the position of the grounding line. Due to the plasticity of ice these indicators spread out over a zone upstream and downstream of the grounding line, the tidal flexure zone (also called grounding zone).