Description: With full-waveform (FWF) lidar systems becoming increasingly available from different commercial manufacturers, the possibility for extracting physical parameters of the scanned surfaces in an area-wide sense, as addendum to their geometric representation, has risen as well. The mentioned FWF systems digitize the temporal profiles of the transmitted laser pulse and of its backscattered echoes, allowing for a reliable determination of the target distance to the instrument and of physical target quantities by means of radiometric calibration, one of such quantities being the diffuse Lambertian reflectance. The delineation of glaciers is a time-consuming task, commonly performed manually by experts and involving field trips as well as image interpretation of orthophotos, digital terrain models and shaded reliefs. In this study, the diffuse Lambertian reflectance was compared to the glacier outlines mapped by experts. We start the presentation with the workflow for analysis of FWF data, their direct georeferencing and the calculation of the diffuse Lambertian reflectance by radiometric calibration; this workflow is illustrated for a large FWF lidar campaign in the Ötztal Alps (Tyrol, Austria), operated with an Optech ALTM 3100 system. The geometric performance of the presented procedure was evaluated by means of a relative and an absolute accuracy assessment using strip differences and orthophotos, resp. The diffuse Lambertian reflectance was evaluated at two rock glaciers within the mentioned lidar campaign. This feature showed good performance for the delineation of the rock glacier boundaries, especially at their lower parts.

Description: A comprehensive hydrometeorological and glaciological data set is presented, originating from a multitude of recordings at several intensively operated research sites in the Rofental (1891 - 3772 m a.s.l., Ötztal Alps, Austria). The data sets are spanning a period of 150 years and hence represent a unique, worldwide unprecedented pool of high mountain observations. Their collection has originally been initiated to support the scientific investigation of the glaciers Hintereis-, Kesselwand- and Vernagtferner. Later, additional measurements of meteorological and hydrological variables have been undertaken; data now comprise records of temperature, relative humidity, short- and longwave radiation, wind speed and direction, air pressure, precipitation and water levels. For the glaciers, annual mass balance, glacier front variation and flow velocities as well as photographic images of the glacier status have been recorded. Since 2001, a series of distributed (airborne and terrestrial) laserscans has been processed. Most recently, a permanent terrestrial laser scanner installed on 'Im hintern Eis' (3244 m a.s.l.) enables to continuously observe almost the entire area of Hintereisferner. The data and research undertaken at the sites of investigation enable combined research of atmospheric, cryospheric and hydrological processes in complex terrain, and support the development of several state-of-the art hydroclimatological and glacier mass balance models. The institutions taking part in the Rofental research framework have joined to a cooperation consortium and promote their site in several international research initiatives. In the framework of INARCH, all original research data sets are now provided to the scientific community according to the Creative Commons Attribution License by means of the PANGAEA repository.