Articles | Volume 17, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-4213-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-4213-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description paper
| 
29 Aug 2025
Data description paper |
| 29 Aug 2025
| 29 Aug 2025
DebDaB: a database of supraglacial debris thickness and physical properties
Adrià Fontrodona-Bach
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Science and Technology Austria ISTA, Earth Science Faculty, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Lars Groeneveld
Remote Sensing Laboratories, Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Evan Miles
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Mountain Hydrology and Mass Movements Unit, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Glaciology and Geomorphodynamics Group, Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
Michael McCarthy
Institute of Science and Technology Austria ISTA, Earth Science Faculty, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Mountain Hydrology and Mass Movements Unit, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Thomas Shaw
Institute of Science and Technology Austria ISTA, Earth Science Faculty, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Vicente Melo Velasco
Institute of Science and Technology Austria ISTA, Earth Science Faculty, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Francesca Pellicciotti
Institute of Science and Technology Austria ISTA, Earth Science Faculty, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Mountain Hydrology and Mass Movements Unit, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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Short summary
Glaciers with a layer of rocky debris on their surfaces are distinct from clean-ice glaciers, with debris mostly insulating the glacier ice. However, debris data are scarce. We present the Debris Database (DebDaB), a database of debris thickness and physical properties of debris, with data from 84 glaciers in 13 global glacier regions compiled from 172 sources and including previously unpublished data. DebDaB serves as an open central repository for the scientific community to do research on debris-covered glaciers.
Glaciers with a layer of rocky debris on their surfaces are distinct from clean-ice glaciers,...
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