Digital polygon data of Glaciers of Hindu Kush Himalaya Region. This dataset is acquired from ESRI Map & Data Center in 2001.

Digital polygon data of Glaciers, Glacial Lakes and Potential Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) locations of Nepal. This dataset is created using satellite images (Landsat, TM, ETM+ imageries) of of different years. The glacier and glacier lake outlines was derived semi-automatically using object-based image classification (OBIC). The dataset is created under Inventory of Glaciers, Glacial Lakes and the Identification of Potential Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) mapping in collaboration with United Nations Environment Programme /Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (UNEP/RRC-AP).

The data on glacial lakes in 2015 were derived through a semi-automatic method using Landsat imagery from 2015 to 2016. The Normalized Difference Water Index threshold value was used for classification. Further, the lake boundary was revised or manually updated by incorporating those lakes that were missed because of atmospheric and physical processes such as being frozen, covered under snow, or obstructed by shadows and clouds. The mapped glacial lakes were validated and modified where necessary by overlaying the Landsat imagery over previous inventory datasets. They were also cross-checked with high-resolution Google Earth imagery. The attributes of glacial lakes were derived from SRTM DEM, and the data were projected in the WGS UTM projection system. This dataset was prepared to support the Green Climate Fund project proposal formulated by UNDP Nepal.

The potentially dangerous glacial lakes were identified on the basis of the glacial lake inventory dataset using Landsat imagery from 2015. The following criteria were used for classifying the lakes: i) lake characteristics, ii) dam characteristics, iii) source/associate glacier characteristics, and iv) physical conditions of surroundings. Various parameters required for classifying such lakes were generated by using 5 m ALOS DEM for Nepal and 12.5 m ALOS DEM for China and India. Data include detailed analyses of land features and conditions using high-resolution images with 3D visualization on Google Earth. The dataset provides the size, type, and altitudinal distribution of such lakes, including the hazard rank of each lake. This dataset was prepared to support the Green Climate Fund project proposal formulated by UNDP Nepal.

The comprehensive baseline information on the glacial lakes of the Hindu Kush Himalaya was generated semi-automatically using more than 200 Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+ images of 2005 ± 2 years with minimum cloud and snow coverage. The glacial lakes were mapped by using band ratio threshold condition method and some manual intervention. The attribute data were assigned using 90m resolution SRTM DEM.