Evaluation report of the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers (GTN-G), 2014 Advisory Board: C.R. Denby, L.M. Andreassen, A. Arendt, J.G. Cogley, A. Gardner and V. Ryabinin Preface The Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers (GTN-G) was established in 1998. Since its creation, the GTN-G has been run by the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) in rather informal cooperation with the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space initiative (GLIMS). In 2009, Terms of Reference for the GTN-G Steering Committee were established together with the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS). According to the Terms of Reference the GTN-G Steering Committee consists of: a) an Executive Board that is responsible for (i) the development and implementation of the international observation strategy for glaciers and ice caps, (ii) providing standards for the monitoring of glacier fluctuations (e.g., front variations, mass balance) and for the compilation of glacier inventories, and (iii) the compilation and distribution of such information in a standardized form, and b) an Advisory Board that is responsible to (i) support, (ii) consult, and (iii) periodically evaluate the work of the Executive Board and its three operational bodies concerning the monitoring of glaciers and ice caps. The first Advisory Board was established in 2011 under the lead of Prof. Julian Dowdeswell, and four members were appointed. All these four members are in the current board. In 2012 C.R Denby was appointed head of the Glacier and Ice Sheet division of IACS and subsequently leader of the Advisory Board. In July 2014 the Advisory Board was also extended with one new member as a second representative from the data users. 2014 Advisory Board: Division Head for Glaciers and Ice Sheets of IACS C.R. Denby 2012– 1 Representative of data producers (field observations) L. Andreassen 2011–2015 1 Representative of data producers (remote sensing) A. Arendt 2011–2015 1-2 Representatives of data users (glaciological community) J.G. Cogley 2011–2015 A.S. Gardner 2014– 1 Representative of an international umbrella organization V. Ryabinin 2011–2015 The evaluation of the Executive Board and its three operational bodies is conducted periodically, now every eight years. The previous evaluation was in 2006 under the lead of Prof. Jon Ove Hagen. At that time only the World Glaciological Monitoring Service (WGMS) was evaluated. ii Executive summary This evaluation report is based on a self-evaluation report by the three operational bodies of GTN-G, WGMS, NSIDC and GLIMS, and a site visit in June 2014 by the Advisory Board at NSIDC in Boulder, where representatives of all bodies were present. Recommendations to GTN-G A vision of what is needed of glaciological data from the standpoint of actual and potential users should be developed. The Advisory Board therefore suggests the following vision for the GTN-G activities: •Products of value within and beyond glaciology •A community that is willing to contribute data •Secured long-term funding for stewardship, access, and accommodation of future needs •A rich, highly visible and user-friendly one-stop portal Seeking increased and more stable funding for GTN-G database enhancements should be a continuing priority for each of WGMS, NSIDC and GLIMS. We suggest that the GTN-G Executive Board take the lead in jointly exploring funding prospects and coordinating proposals. As a practical measure, the GTN-G web portal should be an early focus for improvements in publication of, and access to, services that are already provided. Prospects for new funding will be improved by demonstrating that every effort has been made to optimize the service within current constraints. Another practical measure would be for the Executive Board to offer suggestions to major funding agencies for the encouragement of wider sharing of glaciological data. The Advisory Board also encourages all the three bodies WGMS, NSIDC and GLIMS to continue with their excellent outreach and educational activities, including summer schools, generation of scientific papers, and collaborations. Recommendations to WGMS The WGMS staff does an admirable job with data compilation, outreach, training activities as well as scientific production. Their first priority should be to adjust the evolving balance between continuing to do what they do best – providing current data products of high quality and with increased richness – and investing effort in extension and modernization. The Advisory Board recognizes the challenges in distributing and archiving low level mass balance data derived from air and space borne sensors that are the raw materials for mass balance calculations. While we do not see the WGMS as a primary portal for these data sets, we do see strong potential for WGMS to act as a distributor of high level data derived from remote sensing products, for example glacier-wide mass balances determined from laser altimetry. The publishing of the biennial Glacier Mass Balance Bulletin and the pentadal Fluctuations of Glaciers takes up much of the service’s capacity. The Advisory Board supports the idea of merging the two products as a biennial Fluctuations of Glaciers, which will free resources and offer the public a more timely product. iii Recommendations to NSIDC The Advisory Board commends the NSIDC for its comprehensive website providing access to a wide range of cryospheric data. The Advisory Board considers that the World Glacier Inventory and the Glacier Photograph Collection are valuable and important resources that it is essential to curate and preserve. Prospects for expansion and greater scientific use of the Glacier Photograph Collection should be explored and exploited when possible. Recommendations to GLIMS The Advisory Board recognizes the high quality and broad scope of the GLIMS data model. However much of its potential appears to be underutilized, and we recommend that efforts should be made to increase awareness among current and potential users, and to improve data ingestion capabilities. One suggestion is to utilize the GLIMS interface for online (cloud-based) editing of outlines by the broader community, as a fast and simple method to improve the global inventory. The website should be updated with respect to some of the metadata and team membership. In the web map server we encourage a more graphically-rich environment that includes, for example, geographic features to aid in finding specific glaciers. Recommendations to the IACS Bureau The Advisory Board found the site visit at NSIDC very valuable for progress in and support for glacier monitoring, and therefore recommends that the IACS Bureau consider increasing the frequency of site visits from about once every eight years to about once every four years. The Advisory Board suggests that staggered 4-year terms for its members would be a useful innovation to maintain institutional memory. The Advisory Board suggests that the Bureau and the President of IACS send formal letters of thanks to the supporting agencies of WGMS, GLIMS and NSIDC. This letter could also outline the importance of these organizations for the world. When describing the occasion for the letter, i.e. the site visit, the Bureau could emphasize and reinforce the leading point to emerge from the Advisory Board’s assessment, namely that present funding is not adequate. iv Table of contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Evaluation of World Glacier Monitoring Service ..................................................................................... 2 Institutional framework ....................................................................................................................... 2 Outline of how activities are funded ................................................................................................... 2 Data products ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Website and data access ..................................................................................................................... 3 International relationships .................................................................................................................. 3 Outreach activities .............................................................................................................................. 3 Accomplishments and challenges ....................................................................................................... 4 Evaluation of National Snow and Ice Data Center .................................................................................. 5 Institutional framework ....................................................................................................................... 5 Outline of how activities are funded ................................................................................................... 5 Data products ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Website and data access ..................................................................................................................... 6 International relationships .................................................................................................................