The Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI) is a global data base of glacier outlines. It is intended for estimates of ice volume and glacier mass at regional and global scales. The data are organized into 19 large regions, with a shapefile provided for each region. The RGI is produced as part of the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) initiative, a project to compile glacier information using remote sensing, primarily from optical instruments such as ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and reflection Radiometer).
Version 1.0 was released in February, 2012. Version 2 was released in June, 2012.
From the GLIMS Website - excerpted June, 2012:
"The Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI 2.0) is a global inventory of glacier outlines. It is supplemental to the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space initiative (GLIMS). Production of the RGI was motivated by the forthcoming Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5) and is being released initially with little documentation in view of the IPCC's tight deadlines during 2012. Updates beyond the IPCC 2012 deadlines will take the form of additions to the GLIMS Glacier Database. As resources allow, all these data will be incorporated into the GLIMS Glacier Database."
A technical report, linked above, is available through the GLIMS website.
National Center for Atmospheric Research Staff (Eds). Last modified 20 Aug 2013. "The Climate Data Guide: Randolph Glacier Inventory data base of global glacier outlines." Retrieved from https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/randolph-glacier-inventory-data-base-global-glacier-outlines.
Funding: NSF | National Science Foundation
Based at: NCAR | National Center for Atmospheric Research
A Project of: Climate Analysis Section in Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory
Created by: Climate Data Guide PIs and Staff