Elevation of the ice-covered southern peak, Sydtoppen, of the Kebnekaise mountains, northern Sweden
Tarfala Research Station staff
This dataset provides annual elevation values for the ice-covered southern peak of the Kebnekaise massif from 1951 until 2025.
Kebnekaise is the highest mountain in Sweden. The Kebnekaise massif has two peaks; a northern ice-free peak with exposed bedrock at an elevation of 2096.8 meters above sea level and a southern ice-covered peak known as Sydtoppen (which means the southern peak in Swedish). Because of its ice-cover, Sydtoppen has a variable elevation — higher in winter as a consequence of snowfall, and lower in summer because of snow melt.
Reoccurring measurements of the elevation of Sydtoppen have been part of the measuring programme at the nearby Tarfala Research Station since the late 1940s. The elevation is measured at the end of every summer, aiming to capture the peak’s lowest elevation each year. Until 2018, Sydtoppen remained higher than the northern peak, but continued ice melt driven by climate warming has resulted in that Sydtoppen is now at lower elevation than the northern peak.
In the two last decades, the elevation of Sydtoppen has on average decreased by 0.72 m/year (between 2006 and 2015) and by 0.87 m/year (between 2016 and 2025). Note that annual variations occur: the largest individual annual decrease during the last two decades has been observed in 2024 (rendering a 3.3 m lower elevation compared to 2023), while the largest annual gain during the same period was recorded in 2012 (implying a 2.1 m higher elevation as compared to 2011). The remaining ice thickness at the southern peak is currently amounting to about 30 m.
TerrestrialGlaciersTarfalaKebnekaiseWeatherClimateArcticAlpineGlacier
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Citation
References
Holmlund P, Holmlund ES (2018) Recent climate-induced shape changes of the ice summit of Kebnekaise, Northern Sweden. Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography 101:68–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/04353676.2018.1542130
Data description
The data is provided in one csv file with four columns, separated by semicolon:
year[yyyy] Measurement year.elevation[m] Elevation (meters above sea level).date[yyyy-mm-dd] Measurement date.methodMeasurement method, where dGPS stands for differential Global Positioning System.
The annual measurement series is not complete, but most years after 1968 have a data value. Measurement date and method is only provided from 2011 onwards.
Comments
Surveys of the elevation of Sydtoppen are carried out annually in late summer by staff at the Tarfala Research Station, which is the Stockholm University centre for glaciological and alpine research, and located in the Tarfala valley in the Kebnekaise massif.
Because the exact position of the peak may change from year-to-year due to changes in snow accumulation and wind direction, the position 67° 54’ N, 18° 31’ E (WGS84) is to be seen as an approximation whenever no exact annual position is reported. Shape changes of Sydtoppen are described in Holmlund and Holmlund (2018), who also report that the ice base of Sydtoppen is located at 2060 m a.s.l. (± 2 m).
Version history
Version 5
Data from 1951 to 2025.
Version 4
Data from 1951 to 2024.
Version 3
Data from 1951 to 2023.
Version 2
Data from 1951 to 2022.
Version 1
Initial release. Data from 1951 to 2021.
Publisher
Bolin Centre Database
License
First name
Nina Kirchner
Last name or organisation
Tarfala Research Station
Email address
Address
Stockholm University
Postal code
SE-106 91
City
Stockholm
Country
Sweden
GCMD science keyword
Earth science > Climate indicators > Cryospheric indicators > Glacial measurements > Glacier elevation/ice sheet elevation
GCMD location
Continent > Europe > Northern Europe > Scandinavia > Sweden
Dataset language
English
Begin date
1951-01-01
End date
2025-09-10