BGS Hosted Metadata
Supraglacial lake and channel depth on the Greenland ice sheet generated using the SHEDv1.0 model
This dataset contains spatially and temporally resolved outputs describing supraglacial hydrology on the southwest Greenland Ice Sheet for the period 2015-2019. The data include gridded fields of surface meltwater routing, supraglacial lake extent and volume, lake drainage events (rapid and slow), and associated surface water fluxes at 100 m spatial resolution and daily temporal resolution. Outputs are derived from physically based simulations driven by climate model forcing, surface elevation data, and stress fields. The dataset has been evaluated against satellite-derived supraglacial lake observations and in situ proglacial discharge measurements, showing good agreement in lake distribution, seasonal evolution, and discharge magnitude. These data support analyses of surface meltwater storage and transfer across the ice surface and provide inputs for studies of ice-sheet hydrology and dynamics.
Simple
- Date (Creation)
- 2026-01-07
- Date (Revision)
- 2026-01-07
- Date (Publication)
- 2026-01-07
- Date (released)
- 2026-01-07
- Edition
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1
- Unique resource identifier
- 3cf1915a-70b2-4675-b3e3-6b7c38307283
- Codespace
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uuid
- Unique resource identifier
- GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/02132
- Codespace
- Other citation details
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Please cite this item as: None
- Credit
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No credit.
- Status
- Completed
- Point of contact
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Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role Lancaster University
Leeson, Amber
Author Lancaster University
Gantayat, Prateek
Author NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre Point of contact
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
- Maintenance note
- Completed
- Theme
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Greenland
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hydrology
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supraglacial
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- Place
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Russell Glacier, Southwest Greenland Arctic
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GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
- Access constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
- no limitations to public access
- Access constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
- no limitations
- Use constraints
- License
- Other constraints
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
- Use constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
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The model code and forcing data needed to generate the model output are hosted on gitlab and zenodo (see 'Data Storage' for links).
- Spatial representation type
- Text, table
- Language
- English
- Character set
- UTF8
- Topic category
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- Environment
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- Begin date
- 2015-01-01
- End date
- 2019-12-31
- Supplemental Information
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It is recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of any data, and that the author be contacted with any questions regarding appropriate use. If you find any errors or omissions, please report them to polardatacentre@bas.ac.uk.
- Title
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European Petroleum Survey Group (EPSG) Geodetic Parameter Registry
- Date (Publication)
- 2008-11-12
- Cited responsible party
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Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role European Petroleum Survey Group
Publisher
- Unique resource identifier
- urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::3031
- Version
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6.18.3
Distributor
- Distributor contact
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Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre Distributor
- Units of distribution
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bytes
- Transfer size
- 1
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Statement
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Methodology:
This data can be produced using a high-resolution (100 m, daily timestep) physically based hydrology model comprising four modules: supraglacial routing and lake-filling, hydrofracture, slow lake drainage (overtopping), and lake refreezing. Meltwater routing is simulated using a DEM-based flow-path algorithm; hydrofracture using linear elastic fracture mechanics; slow drainage via channel incision parameterization; and refreezing with an energy-balance approach. We provide the data to run the model over three distinct catchments in southwest Greenland (regions 1-3) from 2015 to 2019. The model parameters (e.g., critical stress threshold, channel width) have been calibrated by comparing model output to satellite-observed lake areas and in situ discharge.
Data collection:
Key inputs include:
- ArcticDEM (100 m surface elevation) - for hydrological routing and lake formation.
- MAR v3.11 regional climate model output - daily surface runoff, snow depth/density, meteorological forcing (air temperature, humidity, wind, shortwave radiation) at approximately 6 km resolution.
- Surface von Mises stress fields - for crevasse/hydrofracture initiation.
- SHED v1.0 model code (Fortran-77).
- Ancillary scripts and setup files for running SHED modules and post-processing.
Data quality:
The SHED v1.0 model has been evaluated against multiple independent observational datasets. Modelled supraglacial lake locations and temporal evolution were compared with lake extents derived from MODIS satellite imagery, showing that approximately 80 % of observed lake locations were reproduced and that seasonal lake area dynamics were captured with reasonable accuracy. In addition, simulated meltwater discharge routed from the supraglacial system was compared with in situ proglacial discharge measurements from southwest Greenland catchments, demonstrating good agreement in magnitude and seasonal timing, subject to expected delays due to the absence of an explicit subglacial hydrology component. Key model parameters were calibrated using one study region and subsequently applied to other regions to assess transferability. Uncertainties related to input data (e.g. DEM accuracy, climate model runoff) and simplified process representations remain, but overall validation results indicate the model is robust for simulating supraglacial hydrology and drainage at regional scales.
Metadata
- File identifier
- 3cf1915a-70b2-4675-b3e3-6b7c38307283 XML
- Metadata language
- English
- Character set
- UTF8
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Hierarchy level name
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dataset
- Date stamp
- 2026-01-07
- Metadata standard name
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ISO 19115 Geographic Information - Metadata
- Metadata standard version
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ISO 19115:2003(E)
- Metadata author
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Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre Point of contact
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