Hi all,
I think there might be a mistake in the descriptions of "ice_sheet"
and/or "land_ice" in the "area type" table at
http://cfconventions.org/Data/area-type-table/current/build/area-type-table.html
.
I find there the following definitions:
ice_sheet: An area type of "ice sheet" indicates where ice sheets are
present. It includes both grounded ice sheets resting over bedrock and
ice shelves flowing over the ocean, but excludes ice-caps and glaciers
(in contrast to land_ice, which includes all components).
land_ice: "Land ice" means glaciers, ice-caps, grounded ice sheets
resting on bedrock and floating ice-shelves.
ice_on_land: The area type "ice_on_land" means ice in glaciers, ice
caps, grounded ice sheets (grounded and floating shelves), river and
lake ice, and any other ice on a land surface, such as frozen flood
water. This is distinct from the area type 'land ice' which has a
narrower definition.
Are "ice-caps" and "glaciers" really excluded from "ice_sheet".? I would
have thought that "ice-cap" would be an ice_sheet located over a pole
(or something to that effect).? And i thought ice_sheets were just big
glaciers.
ice_on_land is pretty clearly any frozen water, except sea ice,
icebergs, and ice particles in clouds, that is exposed to the atmosphere.
So, I guess I'm trying to understand the difference between ice_sheet
and land_ice, and why do we need both of these?
thanks and best regards,
Karl
Received on Thu Oct 04 2018 - 11:29:13 BST
