Multitemporal glacier inventory of the French Alps from the late 1960s to the late 2000s

The most recent and complete French glacier inventory was previously the Vivian database, dating from the end of the 1960s but incorporated in the World Glacier Inventory database at the end of the 1990s. Because of the important changes in glacier extent over recent decades an update of the inventory of glaciers of the French Alps was made in a digital vector format (with the associated database) for several dates covering the last 40years. Such a multitemporal glacier inventory matches a key demand of the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers and the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space initiative (GLIMS). Topographical maps, aerial photographs and satellite images were used to map the extent of glaciers using both manual and automatic methods; and the database was generated considering the design of the GLIMS database. Glaciers in the French Alps covered 369km2 in 1967/71, 340km2 in 1985/86, 300km2 in 2003, and 275km2 in 2006/09. This represents a decrease in surface area of about 25% over the entire study period. Acceleration in glacier shrinkage during the study period was revealed, probably linked to the increase in average air temperature in the 20th century, which has been particularly pronounced since the 1970s. The behaviour of glaciers of the French Alps is in agreement with that of glaciers observed by other studies across the European Alps. We also report the distribution of the morpho-topographic variables (aspect, elevation, etc.) of glaciers of the French Alps for the period 2006/09, and analyse changes of these variables in the last four decades. •We realize the first multitemporal inventory of the glaciers in the French Alps.•We show that glacier extent decrease by 25% between 1967–71 and 2006–09.•Glacier shrinkage greatly increases during the period 1985–86 to 2006–09.•Shrinkage of the French Alpine glaciers is in agreement with other Alpine glaciers.•Shrinkage of the French Alpine glaciers is linked with air temperature increase.