Update documentation

02_regions_definition.html

@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ <h1>RGI glacier regions<a class="headerlink" href="#rgi-glacier-regions" title="
 </div>
 <p>First-order regions <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">10</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">19</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">20</span></code> straddle the 180th meridian, and so do the second-order regions <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">19-15</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">20-01</span></code>. For convenience of analysis in a cylindrical-equidistant coordinate system centered on longitude 0°, as in <a class="reference internal" href="#global-fig"><span class="std std-ref">Figure 1</span></a>, the region outlines of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">10</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">19-15</span></code> appear in the accompanying shapefiles as two polygons, eastern and western.</p>
 <p><strong>GTN-G regions</strong></p>
-<p>The region outlines have changed slightly between RGI versions, for example to avoid the splitting of glaciers between two regions, to make further analyses more convenient, or because previously not included glaciers were located outside existing region boundaries. For the sake of consistency between global glacier datasets a joint set of regions was recommended by the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers (GTN-G) Advisory Board, the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space initiative (GLIMS), the RGI Working Group of the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS), and the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS). These glacier regions were implemented first in RGI version 6.0 and are available <a class="reference external" href="https://www.gtn-g.ch/data_catalogue_glacreg">on the GTN-G website</a>. These region boundaries were slightly modified in RGI version 7.0 and changes also integrated in the GTN-G dataset <span id="id1">[<a class="reference internal" href="07_references.html#id12" title="GTN-G. GTN-G Glacier Regions. 2023. doi:10.5904/gtng-glacreg-2023-07.">GTN-G, 2023</a>]</span>.</p>
+<p>The region outlines have changed slightly between RGI versions, for example to avoid the splitting of glaciers between two regions, to make further analyses more convenient, or because previously not included glaciers were located outside existing region boundaries. For the sake of consistency between global glacier datasets a joint set of regions was recommended by the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers (GTN-G) Advisory Board, the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space initiative (GLIMS), the RGI Working Group of the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS), and the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS). These glacier regions were implemented first in RGI version 6.0 and are available <a class="reference external" href="https://www.gtn-g.ch/data_catalogue_glacreg">on the GTN-G website</a>. These region boundaries were slightly modified in RGI version 7.0 and changes also integrated in the GTN-G dataset <span id="id1">[<a class="reference internal" href="07_references.html#id7" title="GTN-G. GTN-G Glacier Regions. 2023. doi:10.5904/gtng-glacreg-2023-07.">GTN-G, 2023</a>]</span>.</p>
 <section id="changes-from-rgi-6-0-to-7-0">
 <h2>Changes from RGI 6.0 to 7.0<a class="headerlink" href="#changes-from-rgi-6-0-to-7-0" title="Permalink to this headline">#</a></h2>
 <p><strong>Region boundary and name changes</strong></p>

03_data_decription.html

@@ -410,6 +410,7 @@ <h2> Contents </h2>
 <li class="toc-h2 nav-item toc-entry"><a class="reference internal nav-link" href="#file-naming-convention">File naming convention</a></li>
 <li class="toc-h2 nav-item toc-entry"><a class="reference internal nav-link" href="#entity-identifiers">Entity identifiers</a></li>
 <li class="toc-h2 nav-item toc-entry"><a class="reference internal nav-link" href="#detailed-product-description">Detailed product description</a></li>
+<li class="toc-h2 nav-item toc-entry"><a class="reference internal nav-link" href="#gridded-products">Gridded products</a></li>
 </ul>
             </nav>
         </div>
@@ -474,6 +475,10 @@ <h2>Detailed product description<a class="headerlink" href="#detailed-product-de
 <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="products/centerlines_product.html"><span class="doc std std-doc">Glacier centerlines product</span></a></p></li>
 </ul>
 </section>
+<section id="gridded-products">
+<h2>Gridded products<a class="headerlink" href="#gridded-products" title="Permalink to this headline">#</a></h2>
+<p>Unlike RGI 6.0, RGI 7.0 does not provide gridded data files. These files were useful only in rare circumstances, and lacked flexibility. It is however fairly straightforward to produce equivalent files using a few lines of code. See <span id="id1">Li <em>et al.</em> [<a class="reference internal" href="07_references.html#id2" title="Yaojun Li, Fei Li, Donghui Shangguan, and Yongjian Ding. A new global gridded glacier dataset based on the Randolph Glacier Inventory version 6.0. Journal of Glaciology, 67(264):773–776, aug 2021. doi:10.1017/jog.2021.28.">2021</a>]</span> for details and links to a python implementation.</p>
+</section>
 <div class="toctree-wrapper compound">
 </div>
 </section>
@@ -548,6 +553,7 @@ <h2>Detailed product description<a class="headerlink" href="#detailed-product-de
 <li class="toc-h2 nav-item toc-entry"><a class="reference internal nav-link" href="#file-naming-convention">File naming convention</a></li>
 <li class="toc-h2 nav-item toc-entry"><a class="reference internal nav-link" href="#entity-identifiers">Entity identifiers</a></li>
 <li class="toc-h2 nav-item toc-entry"><a class="reference internal nav-link" href="#detailed-product-description">Detailed product description</a></li>
+<li class="toc-h2 nav-item toc-entry"><a class="reference internal nav-link" href="#gridded-products">Gridded products</a></li>
 </ul>
   </nav></div>
 

04_revisions.html

@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ <h2>Data processing workflow<a class="headerlink" href="#data-processing-workflo
 <li><p><strong>GLIMS database processing</strong>: The complete GLIMS database was downloaded and processed on the RGI 7.0 production server. This processing involves converting GLIMS outlines to the RGI format (a different data model), cropping the GLIMS files to RGI regions, and performing preliminary data quality checks.</p></li>
 <li><p><strong>Outline selection and data integrity checks (alpha version)</strong>: A Python script was generated for each RGI region based on the decisions made by the RGI consortium regarding which outline submissions to include in the RGI. This selection process is documented in the section <a class="reference internal" href="#inventory-selection"><span class="std std-ref">Inventory selection process</span></a> below. Technical data integrity checks were then conducted for the outlines to be integrated into the RGI 7.0 (see <a class="reference internal" href="#data-integrity"><span class="std std-ref">Quality control and data integrity</span></a>). The output at this stage is referred to as the “alpha version”. The alpha version is a subset of GLIMS, and it does not yet have RGI attributes or follow RGI naming conventions (except for the organization in first order regions).<br><strong>Alpha version review process</strong>: The alpha version was shared with the RGI consortium for review and comments, and the community was invited to provide feedback via email or GitHub. This process sometimes led to changes or updates in the inventories themselves. For example in Region 19 (Subantarctic and Antarctic Islands) the review process revealed several problems that were addressed by remapping several outlines. Once an inventory was amended or replaced, it was uploaded to GLIMS as a new submission and needed to be downloaded again for the RGI. Thus, the RGI alpha review process was an iterative process spanning over the course of roughly one year.</p></li>
 <li><p><strong>Attributes generation (beta version)</strong>: Following the completion of the alpha phase, the regional files were automatically processed into their “beta version,” which is the pre-final dataset. Beta files adhere to all RGI requirements, including attributes, names, identifiers, etc. A significant part of the processing workflow involved computing automated attributes such as glacier topography or generating additional products (e.g., the “intersects” or “glacier complex” products). To ensure consistency, the same processing script was applied to all regions.<br><strong>Beta version review process</strong>: Similar to the alpha phase, the beta version was shared with the RGI consortium for review and discussion with feedback requested within 15 days. After addressing the review comments, no further changes to the outlines were permitted, except for cases where major flaws in the outlines were discovered subsequently.</p></li>
-<li><p><strong>Generation of RGI 7.0</strong>: The RGI steering committee approved the RGI 7.0 dataset during a meeting on TODO XX MONTH 2023. The glacier outlines are extracted from the GLIMS database downloaded from the NSIDC-DAAC servers on May 24th, 2023. The final RGI 7.0 dataset was created by renaming the beta files and storing them in a permanent repository on TODO XX MONTH 2023.</p></li>
+<li><p><strong>Generation of RGI 7.0</strong>: The RGI steering committee approved the RGI 7.0 dataset on August 23rd, 2023. The glacier outlines are extracted from the GLIMS database downloaded from the NSIDC-DAAC servers on May 24th, 2023. The final RGI 7.0 dataset was created by renaming the beta files and storing them in a permanent repository on September 20th, 2023.</p></li>
 </ol>
 </section>
 <section id="inventory-selection-process">
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ <h2>Data and file format<a class="headerlink" href="#data-and-file-format" title
 <span id="data-integrity"></span><h2>Quality control and data integrity<a class="headerlink" href="#quality-control-and-data-integrity" title="Permalink to this headline">#</a></h2>
 <p>Since the RGI is a subset of GLIMS, all characteristics of GLIMS are inherited by the RGI, including any problems or inaccuracies present in the outlines. However, the RGI workflow incorporates several data integrity checks on the GLIMS data:</p>
 <ol class="arabic simple">
-<li><p><strong>Comparison with original datasets</strong>: Whenever possible, such as when access to the original inventories is available (e.g., GAMDAMv2, <span id="id1">Sakai [<a class="reference internal" href="07_references.html#id15" title="Akiko Sakai. Brief communication: Updated GAMDAM glacier inventory over high-mountain Asia. The Cryosphere, 13(7):2043–2049, jul 2019. doi:10.5194/tc-13-2043-2019.">2019</a>]</span>), the RGI dataset (and thus the associated GLIMS data) could be verified against the original dataset. This process helped to identify a few errors in the GLIMS data ingestion workflow. It served as a rough data integrity check.</p></li>
+<li><p><strong>Comparison with original datasets</strong>: Whenever possible, such as when access to the original inventories is available (e.g., GAMDAMv2, <span id="id1">Sakai [<a class="reference internal" href="07_references.html#id77" title="Akiko Sakai. Brief communication: Updated GAMDAM glacier inventory over high-mountain Asia. The Cryosphere, 13(7):2043–2049, jul 2019. doi:10.5194/tc-13-2043-2019.">2019</a>]</span>), the RGI dataset (and thus the associated GLIMS data) could be verified against the original dataset. This process helped to identify a few errors in the GLIMS data ingestion workflow. It served as a rough data integrity check.</p></li>
 <li><p><strong>Detection of duplicated outlines</strong>: The RGI workflow identifies duplicated outlines by ensuring that no representative point of one outline overlaps with another outline. This filtering process removed a small number of duplicate outlines that exist in GLIMS.</p></li>
 <li><p><strong>Polygon validity</strong>: The RGI workflow checks the validity of <a class="reference external" href="https://developers.arcgis.com/documentation/common-data-types/geometry-objects.htm">polygon geometries</a>. Approximately 2% of the geometries extracted from GLIMS for RGI 7.0 were considered “invalid” based on the Open Geospatial Consortium Implementation Standard. To rectify this, the RGI workflow employs Shapely’s <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">make_valid</span></code> function, which eliminates erroneous self-intersections or sliver polygons. The correction process ensures that each glacier’s area is preserved within a tolerance of 0.1 km² or 0.1 %. In rare cases where this could not be achieved, one GLIMS entry was split into two geometries, effectively adding two glaciers to the RGI instead of just one.</p></li>
 <li><p><strong>Overlapping area correction</strong>: The RGI workflow checks for and resolves overlapping areas by intersecting geometries with a common boundary and removing overlaps where necessary. However, such cases were rare.</p></li>