Abstract:
Coastline for Antarctica created from various mapping and remote sensing sources, provided as polygons with surface values for 'land', 'ice shelf', 'ice tongue', or 'rumple' attribute. Covering all land and ice shelves south of 60degS. Suitable for topographic mapping and analysis. High resolution versions of ADD data are suitable for scales larger than 1:1,000,000. The largest suitable scale is changeable and dependent on the region.
Changes in v7.11 include updates to the coastline of Adelaide Island and surrounding islands, the grounding line of Alexander Island and the surrounding region, and the ice shelf front of the Brunt Ice Shelf.
Data compiled, managed, and distributed by the Mapping and Geographic Information Centre and the UK Polar Data Centre, British Antarctic Survey, on behalf of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.
Keywords:
Antarctic Digital Database, Antarctica, Coastline, Land cover, Land use, Topographic mapping
Gerrish, L., Ireland, L., Fretwell, P., Cooper, P., & Skachkova, A. (2025). High resolution vector polygons of the Antarctic coastline - VERSION 7.11 (Version 7.11) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/7d6793c2-2513-4752-8f37-11db5b791fb5
| Access Constraints: | None |
|---|---|
| Use Constraints: | This information is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). To view this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Please cite this item as: Gerrish, L., Ireland, L., Fretwell, P., Cooper, P., & Skachkova, A. (2025). High resolution vector polygons of the Antarctic coastline - VERSION 7.11 (Version 7.11) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/7d6793c2-2513-4752-8f37-11db5b791fb5 If using for a graphic or if short on space, please cite as 'data from the SCAR Antarctic Digital Database, 2025' |
| Creation Date: | 2025-11-04 |
|---|---|
| Dataset Progress: | Complete |
| Dataset Language: | English |
| ISO Topic Categories: |
|
| Parameters: |
|
| Personnel: | |
| Name | UK Polar Data Centre |
| Role(s) | Metadata Author |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Ms Laura Gerrish |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Ms Louise Ireland |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Dr Peter T Fretwell |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Paul Cooper |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Aliaksandra C G Skachkova |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Parent Dataset: | N/A |
| Lineage/Methodology: | Dataset compiled from a variety of Antarctic map and satellite image sources. The dataset was created using ArcGIS and QGIS GIS software programmes and has been checked for basic topography and geometry errors, but does not contain strict topology. Quality varies across the dataset, certain areas where high resolution source data were available are suitable for large scale maps, whereas other areas are only suitable for smaller scales. Each polygon contains a surface attribute with either 'land', 'ice shelf', 'ice tongue' or 'rumple'. Details of when and how each line was created can be found in the attributes of the high resolution polyline coastline dataset. Data sources range in time from the 1990s to 2025. | |
|---|---|---|
| Temporal Coverage: | |
|---|---|
| Start Date | 1993-01-01 |
| End Date | 2025-10-29 |
| Spatial Coverage: | |
| Latitude | |
| Southernmost | -90 |
| Northernmost | -60 |
| Longitude | |
| Westernmost | -180 |
| Easternmost | 180 |
| Altitude | |
| Min Altitude | N/A |
| Max Altitude | N/A |
| Depth | |
| Min Depth | N/A |
| Max Depth | N/A |
| Location: | |
| Location | Antarctica |
| Detailed Location | N/A |
| Distribution: | |
|---|---|
| Distribution Media | Online Internet (HTTP) |
| Distribution Size | 192 MB |
| Distribution Format | SHP |
| Fees | N/A |
| Data Storage: | This dataset constains 2 files: - GeoPackage ~136 MB - Shapefile ~55.8 MB |