GEO Mountains General Inventory

Introduction

Discovering potentially useful mountain datasets and other resources is often a time-consuming and frustrating task that requires speculative web searches or trawling through the vast array of data portals. Alternatively, researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers may need to rely on institutional or legacy knowledge. These challenges distract  from their core tasks and can result in the inconsistent use of  the most suitable and/or latest datasets for a given application.

In this context, the GEO Mountains General Inventory seeks to provide comprehensive metadata related to open datasets and data portals that may be useful in the context of mountainous applications, as well as the corresponding web links. The Inventory is primarily focused on remotely sensed and modelled datasets spanning multiple disciplines, but also includes contains a variety of open-source software, model codes, and tools that may be useful. It includes both regional and global resources.

Methodology

The GEO Mountains community compiled metadata corresponding to gridded datasets, data portals, and tools / software. Datasets that extend beyond mountainous areas can be clipped using the layers available from the Global Mountain Explorer. The inventory can be visualised via an interactive digital map.

Key messages

Many gridded datasets and other resources converging mountain regions exist, and new datasets are continuously being generated. However, at present, a relatively small proportion of resources in the inventory correspond exclusively to mountain regions (but are rather broader-scale products which also cover mountain regions). Care is required to ensure that any datasets used, but especially those with broader spatial coverage, are suitable for the intended mountain application.

Further resources

Suggested citation: GEO Mountains (2022). GEO Mountains General Inventory v1.4. DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.19322573.v5