Discovery Metadata System

High resolution vector polygons of the Antarctic coastline - VERSION 7.12


GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/02187

Page Links

Jump To:


Related Links

Summary

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 v7.12 include updates to the ice shelves around Alexander Island, such as Wilkins, George VI and Bach Ice Shelves; the coastline around Thwaites and Pine Island Glaciers, Bryan Coast and Abbot Ice Shelf, and changes to the coast at Vaughan Inlet. Offshore islands to the north of Alexander Island were also added to the data.

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

Top

Citation

Gerrish, L., Ireland, L., Fretwell, P., Cooper, P., & Skachkova, A. (2026). High resolution vector polygons of the Antarctic coastline - VERSION 7.12 (Version 7.12) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/13c4d2f1-8903-4d7f-8977-592121975554

Top

Access Data

GET DATA

RELATED DATA SET METADATA

Top

Constraints

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. (2026). High resolution vector polygons of the Antarctic coastline 2 (Version 7.12) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/13c4d2f1-8903-4d7f-8977-592121975554

If using for a graphic or if short on space, please cite as 'data from the SCAR Antarctic Digital Database, 2026'

Top

Basic Information

Creation Date: 2026-04-23
Dataset Progress: Complete
Dataset Language: English
ISO Topic Categories:  
  • Environment
  • Geoscientific Information
  • Imagery/Base Maps/Earth Cover
Parameters:
  • Land Surface > Topography
  • Land Surface > Topography > Contours
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

Top

Additional Information

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 2026.

Top

Locality

Temporal Coverage:
Start Date 1993-01-01
End Date 2026-04-10
   
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

Top

Storage

Distribution:
Distribution Media Online Internet (HTTP)
Distribution Size 207 MB
Distribution Format  SHP
Fees N/A
   
Data Storage: This dataset constains 2 files:
- GeoPackage ~137 MB
- Shapefile ~70 MB

Top