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IceVolumeCalculations.xlsx - README (data dictionary)
Ice volume and mass of cryospheric landforms in the Copiapo watershed
(Atacama Region, northern Chile)
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1. PURPOSE OF THIS FILE
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This README describes the contents, fields and units of the spreadsheet
IceVolumeCalculations.xlsx. It is a data dictionary only. For the methodology,
models, uncertainty propagation and interpretation, please refer to the
associated article:

  Ulloa, C., Garcia, A. & Beniest, A.
  "Introducing a new normalized cryospheric index (NCI) to categorize
   sub-watersheds on arid environments."
  Manuscript egusphere-2025-1198 (EGUsphere / Copernicus).
  [Insert final journal reference and article DOI here upon publication]

Column names in this file have been standardized so that the same quantity uses
the same name (and the same unit suffix) across all worksheets.

The workbook stores, for each mapped cryospheric landform, its geometry,
kinematics (where applicable) and the estimated ice volume and ice mass. It has
five worksheets, one per landform type:

  FDG  - Debris-free glaciers		         77 records
  DCG  - Debris-covered glaciers                 16 records
  RG   - Rock glaciers                          184 records
  GT   - Gelifluction taluses                   369 records
  PL   - Protalus lobes                         731 records

Each row is one mapped landform polygon.

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2. NAMING AND UNIT CONVENTIONS
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Column names follow the pattern QUANTITY[_STD]_UNIT:
  - The unit is embedded as a suffix (_km2, _km, _m, _deg, _m_yr, _kPa, _km3, _Gt).
  - A "_STD" segment marks the 1-sigma (standard-deviation) uncertainty of the
    corresponding quantity, expressed in the same unit
    (e.g. AREA_km2 -> AREA_STD_km2; ICE_MASS_Gt -> ICE_MASS_STD_Gt).

Units and definitions:
  - LON_deg / LAT_deg : longitude / latitude in decimal degrees, datum WGS84
                        (west and south are negative).
  - AREA_km2          : area in square kilometres.
  - PERIMETER_km      : polygon perimeter in kilometres.
  - ELEV_MIN_m / ELEV_MAX_m / ELEV_MEAN_m : elevations in metres above sea level.
  - SLOPE_deg         : mean surface slope in degrees.
  - ASPECT_deg        : surface aspect / orientation in degrees azimuth (0-360).
  - LENGTH_MAX_m      : maximum landform length in metres.
  - VELOCITY_m_yr     : mean slope-parallel surface velocity in metres per year
                        (from Sentinel-1 DInSAR).
  - TAU_kPa           : basal shear stress in kilopascals.
  - THICKNESS_m       : mean ice / ice-rich layer thickness in metres
                        (THICKNESS_km = same quantity in kilometres, DCG only).
  - ICE_VOL_km3       : ice volume in cubic kilometres.
  - ICE_MASS_Gt       : ice mass in gigatonnes (1 Gt = 1,000 million metric tonnes).
  - FID               : feature identifier (unique per row within a worksheet).
  - CLASS             : landform class (text).
  - RGI_ID / GLIMS_ID : glacier identifiers (RGI v6.0 / GLIMS), FDG only.
  - SSUBC_COD         : sub-sub-catchment code (Chilean DGA/BNA hydrological
                        coding of the Copiapo basin).

Reference temperature: For rock glaciers (RG), gelifluction taluses (GT) and
protalus lobes (PL), the columns TAU_kPa and THICKNESS_m are the values obtained
at a reference ice temperature of T = -3 C (see the article). Empty cells
indicate a value not available / not applicable for that landform.

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3. COLUMN LIST BY WORKSHEET
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Columns are listed below in the exact order they appear in each worksheet.

3.1  Sheet FDG - Debris-free glaciers (77 records)
     Ice thickness from the Farinotti et al. (2019) global consensus product,
     integrated over RGI v6.0 polygons.

     FID, CLASS, RGI_ID, GLIMS_ID, SSUBC_COD, LON_deg, LAT_deg, AREA_km2,
     ELEV_MIN_m, ELEV_MAX_m, ELEV_MEAN_m, SLOPE_deg, ASPECT_deg, LENGTH_MAX_m,
     ICE_VOL_km3, ICE_MASS_Gt, ICE_MASS_STD_Gt

3.2  Sheet DCG - Debris-covered glaciers (16 records)
     Mean thickness assigned from the adjacent clean-ice front; ice volume =
     THICKNESS_km x AREA_km2.

     FID, CLASS, SSUBC_COD, LON_deg, LAT_deg, PERIMETER_km, AREA_km2,
     ELEV_MAX_m, ELEV_MIN_m, ELEV_MEAN_m, ASPECT_deg, SLOPE_deg,
     THICKNESS_m, THICKNESS_km, ICE_VOL_km3, ICE_MASS_Gt, ICE_MASS_STD_Gt

3.3  Sheet RG - Rock glaciers (184 records)
     Thickness from viscoplastic creep inversion constrained by DInSAR velocity.

     FID, CLASS, SSUBC_COD, LON_deg, LAT_deg, PERIMETER_km, AREA_km2, AREA_STD_km2,
     SLOPE_deg, SLOPE_STD_deg, VELOCITY_m_yr, VELOCITY_STD_m_yr,
     TAU_kPa, TAU_STD_kPa, THICKNESS_m, THICKNESS_STD_m,
     ICE_VOL_km3, ICE_VOL_STD_km3, ICE_MASS_Gt, ICE_MASS_STD_Gt

3.4  Sheet GT - Gelifluction taluses (369 records)
     Same viscoplastic framework as RG (adapted for frozen-debris slopes).

     FID, CLASS, SSUBC_COD, LON_deg, LAT_deg, PERIMETER_km, AREA_km2, AREA_STD_km2,
     SLOPE_deg, SLOPE_STD_deg, VELOCITY_m_yr, VELOCITY_STD_m_yr,
     THICKNESS_m, THICKNESS_STD_m, TAU_kPa, TAU_STD_kPa,
     ICE_VOL_km3, ICE_VOL_STD_km3, ICE_MASS_Gt, ICE_MASS_STD_Gt

3.5  Sheet PL - Protalus lobes (731 records)
     Same viscoplastic framework as GT.

     FID, CLASS, SSUBC_COD, LON_deg, LAT_deg, AREA_km2, AREA_STD_km2,
     SLOPE_deg, SLOPE_STD_deg, VELOCITY_m_yr, VELOCITY_STD_m_yr,
     TAU_kPa, TAU_STD_kPa, THICKNESS_m, THICKNESS_STD_m,
     ICE_VOL_km3, ICE_VOL_STD_km3, ICE_MASS_Gt, ICE_MASS_STD_Gt

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4. CITATION
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Dataset:
  Ulloa, C., Garcia, A. & Beniest, A. (2026). Ice volume and mass of cryospheric
  landforms in the Copiapo watershed (Atacama, Chile) [Data set]. Zenodo.
  https://doi.org/[insert Zenodo DOI here]

Article:
  Ulloa, C., Garcia, A. & Beniest, A. Introducing a new normalized cryospheric
  index (NCI) to categorize sub-watersheds on arid environments.
  [insert final journal, year and article DOI here]

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5. LICENSE
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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6. CONTACT
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Corresponding author (article): Christopher Ulloa - christopher.ulloa@uda.cl
University of Atacama, Geology Department, Avenida Copayapu #485, Copiapo, Chile.

Dataset file: IceVolumeCalculations.xlsx
README last updated: 2026-07-27
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