INTERACTIVE MAPPING AND DATA ASSIMILATION FOR THE ALASKA PALEOGLACIER ATLAS PROVIDED THROUGH THE ICE-D DATABASE PROJECT

The community of geoscientists that constrain rates and dates of Earth’s surface processes and landforms using cosmogenic-nuclide exposure dating have generated over 16,000 measurements in the last 30 years. The ICE-D (Informal Cosmogenic-nuclide Exposure-age Database) project is a “transparent-middle-layer” data management and computation infrastructure that connects a continuously updated database of cosmogenic-nuclide measurements to analysis and visualization applications. An important aim of the project is to apply a users-as-developers model that focuses on training Earth scientists, in particular early-career researchers, in data management and software skills needed to improve and maintain the database, extract and use data for synoptic analyses, and develop their own analysis and visualization applications. We illustrate these ideas with an example by reporting on the progress of embedding data from ICE-D into a web-based visualization of the glacial history of Alaska, the Alaska PaleoGlacier Atlas. The Alaska PaleoGlacier Atlas provides a comprehensive overview of past glaciation across the state and is intended to remain up to date as more data is continually published. We created a leaflet-based map interface on the Alaska PaleoGlacier Atlas website that incorporates high-resolution basemaps, digitized layers of mapped glacial extents across Alaska, and a live and continually updated coverage of all cosmogenic-nuclide measurements across Alaska – provided by ICE-D – that help constrain the ages of mapped glacial deposits. The goal of this presentation is to 1) highlight the users-as-developers model of the ICE-D project by demonstrating to the community a meaningful application of the ICE-D project, and 2) start a dialogue on possible future directions for the project.