Firn extents of Hansbreen and Werenskoildbreen delivered from unsupervised classifications of single, dual and fully-polarimetric SAR data (ALOS-2 PALSAR, RADARSAT-2, Sentinel-1, ERS-2 SAR) between 2011 and 2017. Methods of classification: unsupervised ISO classification, H-a Wishart Classification. Results validated with terrestrial measurements (shallow ice cores drilling, Ground Penetrating Radar measurements). Research supported by the European Space Agency, Third Party Missions grant and Svalbard Science Forum, Arctic Field Grant 2018. For more details, please e-mail to this adress: bbarzycka@us.edu.pl.

Ice condition directly at the Hansbreen front is obtained from visual interpretation of oblique pictures taken at 3 h intervals by Canon EOS 1000D time-lapse photography (Figure 1) for the period 2010–2015 (https://ppdb.us.edu.pl/geonetwork/srv/pol/catalog.search;jsessionid=muhaqbum8pz21xknjo0crhodn?node=srv#/metadata/cf6a17fd-ec3a-4ff6-8232-67a0dc5957d4) The database is the supplement to the paper: Małgorzata Błaszczyk, Jacek A. Jania, Michał Ciepły, Mariusz Grabiec, Dariusz Ignatiuk, Leszek Kolondra, Aleksandra Kruss, Bartłomiej Luks, Mateusz Moskalik, Tadeusz Pastusiak, Agnieszka Strzelewicz, Waldemar Walczowski, Tomasz Wawrzyniak. “Factors controlling terminus position of Hansbreen, a tidewater glacier in Svalbard”, Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF005763.

Inventory of tidewater glaciers delineated from archival satellite images (Aster, Landsat) acquired in the period 1999-2006. Shapefiles have basic information in the attribute table (name, ID, area, length, front type of tidewater glaciers). When a tidewater glacier has a compound basin, only that part of it feeding the calving front was taken into consideration and presented here as the tidewater glacier. This implies that tributary glaciers clearly separated from the main basin by moraines are not included in the database. Similarly, marginal sections of tidewater glaciers that terminate on land are not included in the Inventory. Detailed description of the source data and accuracy can be found in: Błaszczyk M., Jania J., Hagen J.O. 2009: Tidewater glaciers of Svalbard: Recent changes and estimates of calving fluxes. Polish Polar Research, 30(2): 85-142. http://www.polish.polar.pan.pl/ppr30/PPR30-085.pdf

Dataset contains results of GPR survey performed with 800 MHz antennas for snow depth calculation. Fieldwork has been done during peak of accumulation, along repeated profiles on several glaciers in the region of Hornsund, Svalbard: Amundsenisen (2013) Werenskioldbreen (2013, 2014, 2015) Nannbreen (2013) Ariebreen (2014) Flatbreen (2018) Storbreen (2018) Acknowledgements: Research Council of Norway, Arctic Field Grant 2013: Spatial distribution of snow cover and drainage systems on the glaciers on Wedel Jarlsberg Land (RiS ID: 6158); the National Science Centre PRELUDIUM 4: Role of meltwater from snow cover for supplying drainage systems of the Spitsbergen glaciers (2012/07/N/ST10/03784); References: LASKA M.,GRABIEC M.,IGNATIUK D.,BUDZIK T.,2017. Snow deposition patterns on southern Spitsbergen glaciers, Svalbard, in relation to recent meteorological conditions and local topography. Geografiska Annaler, Series A: Physical Geography, 99(3): 262–287. doi:10.1080/04353676.2017.1327321

Snow depth data series contain records obtained by high frequency GPR on selected glaciers of Hornsund area (S Svalbard) since 2008. Currently the largest collection regards Hansbreen. Data for other glaciers are successively appended. The GPR survey on Hansbreen is regularly carried out approximately along the same tracks. Due to dynamically changing glacier surface topography influencing different survey abilities the some parts of profiles are modified in consecutive seasons. The total distance of Hansbreen profiles are as follows (Fig.1): 63.9 km (2008), 117,5 km (2011), 105,1 km (2013), 103,9 km (2014), 98,5 km (2015), 91,1 km (2016), 101,0 km (2017) and 108,4 km (2018).

DEMs from WorldView-2 and Pléaides were extracted using the Rational Function Model (RFM). To improve images orientation, one ground control points (GCPs) was used for each stereo pair. Data format: grid (2m), UTM 33X / EGM 2008. DEMs were developed in OrthoEngine module of PCI Geomatica 2016 with the low level of detail and mountainous type of relief.

In the years 2009-2019, 49 samplings (shallow drilling or snowpits) were made on the glacier during the spring measurement campaigns in order to determine the bulk snow density and SWE. The average density of snow cover ranges from 386 to 447 kg/m3. The dataset includes part of the results from the project “Hindcasting and projections of hydro-climatic conditions of Southern 350 Spitsbergen” (grant no. 2017/27/B/ST10/01269) financed by the Polish National Science Centre, “Arctic climate system study of ocean, sea ice, and glaciers interactions in Svalbard area”—AWAKE2 (Pol-Nor/198675/ 17/2013), supported by the National Centre for Research and Development within the Polish–Norwegian Research Cooperation Programme and the SvalGlac—Sensitivity of Svalbard glaciers to climate change, the ESF Project, the project Integrated Arctic 355 Observing System (INTAROS)- Horizon 2020, the ice2sea 7th FP projects. The studies were carried out as part of the scientific activity of the Centre for Polar Studies (University of Silesia in Katowice) with the use of research and logistic equipment of the Polar Laboratory of the University of Silesia in Katowice.

Bathymetry at the front of tidewater glaciers derived from different sources. Bathymetry data in Hansbukta and Burgerbukta have been collected by the Norwegian Hydrographic Service using a multi-beam survey during 2007–2008. Later measurements in Hansbukta were collected with single beam profiling at the Hansbreen front in 2015. Data format: grid (6m), UTM 33X. Single echo-sounding data collected during summer 2011, by the University of Silesia.

1. One UAV movie taken of Paierlbreen in spring 2017 with Phantom 3 Advanced usage. The movie is focused on the front of the glacier and the area around.

Glaciers facies (ice, superimposed ice, firn) extents of Hansbreen, Storbreen and Flatbreen delivered from unsupervised classifications of single, dual and fully-polarimetric SAR data (ALOS-2 PALSAR, RADARSAT-2, Sentinel-1, ERS-2 SAR) between 2008 and 2018. Methods of classification: unsupervised ISO classification, H-a Wishart Classification. Results validated with terrestrial measurements (shallow ice cores drilling, Ground Penetrating Radar measurements). Research supported by the European Space Agency, Third Party Missions grant and Svalbard Science Forum, Arctic Field Grant 2018. For more details, please e-mail to bbarzycka@us.edu.pl.