Wagner, Thomas; Ribis, Markus; Kellerer-Pirklbauer, Andreas; Krainer, Karl; Winkler, Gerfried (2020): The Austrian rock glacier inventory RGI_1 and the related rock glacier catchment inventory RGCI_1 in ArcGis (shapefile) format [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.921629

Abstract: A first consistent and homogenized polygon-based inventory of rock glaciers of the Austrian Alps is presented. Compiling previous inventories and updating them by using digital elevation models (1 m grid resolution) derived from airborne laser scanning yield a dataset of 5769 rock glaciers in a ca. 48400 km² large area. A consistent methodological approach for assigning attributes, stored in a detailed attribute table, was developed and applied here to improve comparability and reproducibility. The majority (60 %) of the studied landforms is considered to be relict (no permafrost); the remaining 40 % may still contain permafrost ice and are thus classified as intact. Rock glaciers range in elevation from 476 to 3312 m a.s.l. and cover a total area of 303 km². The distribution of rock glaciers is mainly related to the topography of the Austrian Alps and related effects such as past glaciation history. In addition, a comprehensive analysis of the hydrological catchment areas of all individual rock glaciers was carried out. A hydrological catchment analysis in rock glacier areas is of great interest for sustainable water management issues in alpine catchments as these landforms represent shallow aquifer systems with a relatively high storage and thus buffer capability, especially in crystalline bedrock areas. A total area of almost 1280 km² is drained through rock glaciers. The presented rock glacier and rock glacier catchment inventories provide an important basis for further research, particularly for a better understanding of the hydrogeology and geomorphology of alpine catchments and their potential alteration in the light of climate change, but also in terms of paleoglaciation and deglaciation in the Alpine Lateglacial to Holocene period. As such, the inventories are seen as an important base to stimulate further research.

All Austrian rock glacier extents were mapped using airborne laser scanning (ALS) data with 1 m horizontal resolution and the projection of the individual ALS data sets provided by the federal states; boundaries were manually mapped by one expert and crosschecked by another peer. However, different opinions about rock glaciers and their extents are possible. Data sets of rock glacier and rock glacier catchment inventories are compiled using a single projection valid for Austria as a whole (MGI Austria Lambert); nevertheless, parameters were assigned based on primary projections.