A map of high-altitude wetlands in the world’s major mountain regions
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We present a first global high-resolution map (30 m x 30 m) of high-altitudinal wetlands in the world’s major mountain regions, i.e. the Andes, Rocky Mountains, Alps and High Mountain Asia. To map these wetlands, we employed a supervised classification approach using a random forest machine learning model and a selected set of predictors including vegetation, topographic, and surface moisture features. The predictors were derived from freely available radar and optical satellite imagery (Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2), SRTM elevation data, and the global ecoregion map RESOLVE. We identify a total area of >30,500 km2 of high-mountain wetlands. With this map we aim to enhance the understanding of wetland distribution in remote and often inaccessible mountain regions and enable a more reliable understanding of their role in the ecosystem functioning and water cycles of high mountain areas.
Date Issued
2026-04-27
Date Acceptance
2026-03-03
Citation
Scientific Data, 2026, 13
ISSN
2052-4463
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Data
Volume
13
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 656
Date Publish Online
2026-03-11