World Glacier Monitoring Service

The World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) collects standardized observations on changes in mass, volume, area and length of glaciers with time (glacier fluctuations), as well as statistical information on the distribution of perennial surface ice in space (glacier inventories). Such glacier fluctuation and inventory data are high priority key variables in climate system monitoring; they form a basis for hydrological modelling with respect to possible effects of atmospheric warming, and provide fundamental information in glaciology, glacial geomorphology and quaternary geology. The highest information density is found for the Alps and Scandinavia, where long and uninterrupted records are available. As a contribution to the Global Terrestrial/Climate Observing System (GTOS, GCOS), the Division of Early Warning and Assessment and the Global Environment Outlook of UNEP, and the International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO, the WGMS collects and publishes worldwide standardized glacier data.

世界冰川监测服务（WGMS）搜集关于冰川质量、体积、面积和长度随时间变化的标准观测数据（冰川波动），以及关于空间中永久性地表冰分布的统计信息（冰川清单）。此类冰川波动和清单数据是气候系统监测中的高优先级关键变量；它们构成了关于大气变暖可能影响的流域模型的基础，并为冰川学、冰川地貌学和第四纪地质学提供了基本信息。在拥有长期连续记录的阿尔卑斯山脉和斯堪的纳维亚地区，信息密度最高。作为对全球陆地/气候观测系统（GTOS，GCOS）、联合国环境规划署的早期预警与评估部门及全球环境展望，以及联合国教科文组织国际水文计划的贡献，WGMS收集并发布全球标准化的冰川数据。