Repeat photography of Langtang Valley, Nepal (1949–2025): A dataset for monitoring landscape and settlement changes

This article presents a multi-temporal dataset of historical photographs and replicates from the Langtang Valley, located in the Central Himalaya of Nepal. The collection and collation of historical images from various archives and thematically focused repeat photography surveys enables detailed analysis of landscape, glacier and settlement changes. Characterized by harsh topography and glaciers at higher elevations, the high mountain landscape of Langtang Valley is also known as a prominent destination for mountain tourism. Based on historical landscape and settlement images, rephotographic surveys were conducted in the years 2008, 2012, 2017, 2018, and 2025. Hence, the dataset allows for comparative views before and after the massive 2015 Gorkha Earthquake, which heavily affected the Langtang Valley. The first part of the dataset (A) contains a set of ten examples of bi- and multi-temporal landscape photographs and allows to detect glacier changes, including debris cover, ice cliffs, and disconnection from headwalls. The second part (B) contains a set of twelve examples of bi- and multi-temporal photographs that focuses on structural and functional changes in the two main settlements Langtang village and Kyanjin Gompa, both affected by the 2015 mega-rupture. The imagery taken before and after the earthquake illustrate the rapid reconstruction activities and the massive transformation process, mainly driven by mountain tourism. The dataset can be used by glaciologists, climate scientists, geographers and planning experts in urban development and tourism. It supports a recently submitted article (Klaus et al. 2026, Before and after the 2015 Disaster: Development Trajectories in the Himalayan Riskscape of Langtang from 1949 to 2025, Progress in Disaster Science) with original archival material.