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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-5529</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>A contour-gradient approach for improving glacier centerline extraction in High Mountain Asia</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wang</surname>
<given-names>Rongjun</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5998-7028</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Shangguan</surname>
<given-names>Donghui</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9975-0722</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Guo</surname>
<given-names>Wanqin</given-names>
</name>
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<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>4</sup>
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</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wang</surname>
<given-names>Shanshan</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Zhao</surname>
<given-names>Dan</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wang</surname>
<given-names>Shijin</given-names>
</name>
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<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Zhao</surname>
<given-names>Qiudong</given-names>
</name>
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<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Han</surname>
<given-names>Haidong</given-names>
</name>
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<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
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<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Song</surname>
<given-names>Miao</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>National Field Observation and Research Station (Yunnan Lijiang Yulong Snow Mountain) for  Cryosphere and Sustainable Development, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources,  Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 73000, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science and Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>China Aero Geophysical Survey and Remote Sensing Center for Natural Resources, Beijing 100083,  China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff6">
<label>6</label>
<addr-line>College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Gansu Agricultural University,  Lanzhou 730000, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>13</day>
<month>10</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>32</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Rongjun Wang et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5529/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5529/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5529/egusphere-2026-5529.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-5529/egusphere-2026-5529.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Glacier centerlines are fundamental to glacier inventory, ice-flow dynamic modeling, and thickness estimation. Although numerous approaches exist for extracting glacier centerlines, they often involve complex processes, require excessive parameters, and produce noticeable deviations, particularly in the accumulation zones of larger glaciers leading to significant discrepancies in subsequent glacier dynamic modeling and thickness estimation. To address this issue, we propose a novel method that extracts glacier centerlines using only a DEM and glacier outlines as input. Our approach integrates contour gradient derived ridge lines and steep terrain constraints to effectively regulate flow direction, while also incorporating a cost grid and hydrological flow routing for enhanced centerline delineation. This approach is characterized by its fully automatic nature, algorithmic simplicity, and high computational efficiency. A total of 134,790 glacier centerlines were derived across High Mountain Asia using our proposed algorithm. Our approach proves effective in extracting centerlines for individual valley glaciers without manual intervention with robust performance even in rugged terrain. The average glacier length is 1.072 km. In total, 607 glaciers in HMA exceed 10 km, and 6 extend beyond 50 km. The longest centerline extracted in our dataset is 82.371 km, corresponding to Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram. We found the centerlines have a good consistency with glacier velocity, indicating it can represent real flow path for glaciers. Our centerlines extraction approach may be beneficial for glacier conceptual models.</p>
</abstract>
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<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>National Key Research and Development Program of China</funding-source>
<award-id>2024YFF0808302-04</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>National Natural Science Foundation of China</funding-source>
<award-id>42001068, 42371145 and 42271156</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs3">
<funding-source>Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province</funding-source>
<award-id>25JRRA502</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
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