Preface Foreword Executive Summary 1. The Cryosphere Theme 2. Applications of Cryospheric Data 3. Terrestrial Snow 4. Sea Ice 5. Lake and River Ice 6. Ice Sheets 7. Glaciers and Ice Caps 8. Surface Temperature and Albedo of Snow and Ice 9. Permafrost and Seasonally Frozen Ground 10. Solid Precipitation 11. An Integrated and Coordinated Observing System 12. Implementation +Appendices - Final document approval IGOS-P-14 May IGOS being transferred to GEO - Report published by WMO Report Team: Jeff Key (Chair) Mark Drinkwater (Vice-Chair) Jinro Ukita (Vice-Chair) Ken Jezek and ~ 50 contributors from 14 countries

IGOS-Cryo: Already Achieved an Impact Contributions to IPY planning (multiple projects) IPY Task in GEO 10-year Work Plan (CL-06-05) Improved coverage of cryospheric elements in the GCOS Implementation Plan (autumn 2004) at the Theme initial phase Contribution to GCOS-CEOS plan of development of satellite-based products for UNFCCC (2006) Work with GEO, GCOS SC, OOPC, GTOS – increased awareness Support to CryoSat-2, re-launch 2009 Impact on ESA Earth Observation Programme: CoreH2O (snow hydrology) mission, possibility of secondary cryospheric objective on BIOMASS mission Impact on ESA DUE program – GlobICE, GlobGLACIER, GlobSNOW

Timeline of current and future satellites. The blue section highlights the interval of the International Polar Year

First Virtual Satellite Constellation under the umbrella of the Global Interagency IPY Polar Snapshot Year (GIIPSY) proposed by CliC and IGOS Theme on Cryosphere. It involves all major satellite agencies, and has the emphasis on the Synthetic Aperture Radar sensors.

CliC Arctic Sea Ice Observations Group Co-chairs: Don Perovich (USA) Sebastian Gerland (Norway) Objectives: To develop, standardize, implement observation and measurement protocols for Arctic sea ice in coastal, seasonal, and perennial ice zones (focus will be on surface-based observations) Activities will be directed towards characterizing the state of the ice cover, enhancing the retrieval of sea ice remote-sensing parameters, and improving the treatment of sea ice in models. A further aim is to develop an integrated, international approach to implementing surface-based sea-ice observation components for an evolving Pan-Arctic Observing System. Proposed Workshop: "Integrated protocols and observations for Arctic sea ice"

Global Cryosphere Watch- A WMO Initiative “The 15th WMO Congress (May 2007) welcomed the proposal of Canada that WMO will create a Global Cryosphere Watch which would be an important component of the IPY legacy. Congress requested the WMO Inter-commission Task Group on IPY to establish an ad-hoc expert group to explore the possibility of creation of such global system and prepare recommendations for its development.”

Global Cryosphere Watch - Initial Concept research, observation, monitoring, assessment, product development, prediction GCW will contribute to WMO’s integrated observing and information systems and to the Global Climate Observing System network (like GAW does). It will cover all aspects of the cryosphere and be an intergovernmental mechanism for supporting key cryospheric in-situ and remote-sensing observations In collaboration with other international programmes and agencies, the proposed GCW will provide reliable, comprehensive observations of the components of the cryosphere through an integrated observing approach on global and regional scales, serving the needs of climate, water, weather and environmental science. GCW will work with, and build on, existing programs such as GOOS, GCOS, GTOS, GTN-G, GTN-P, GTN-H, and work with external partners such as space agencies and World Data Centers for Glaciology. GCW is envisioned to include “cold GAW-like stations” - key stations/sites working on a coherent agreed program on monitoring of changes in all components of the cryosphere, producing valuable long-term records, covering key areas of the globe with cryospheric observations. GCW will contribute to GEOSS through the implementation of CryOS and as an IPY Legacy for observation, monitoring and provision of data and information.

Global Cryosphere Watch - Initial Concept…2 a goal of GCW would be to establish a one-stop portal for authoritative up-to- date cryosphere data and products/information, helping existing elements to be better integrated and contributing to a global data system. GCW would provide the integrating mechanism needed to ensure better quality of data and metadata, and ensure comparison of algorithms and the evaluation of products. will also ensure the means to provide the scientific community with good-quality data to predict the future state of the cryosphere, resulting in improved prediction of the earth system over a wide range of time and space scales, and facilitate assessment of changes in the cryosphere and their impact on climate, water and weather. will use information to aid the detection of climate change and organize assessments of changes in regional and global components of the cryosphere to support decision making and policy development. GCW will help IPY cryospheric projects to develop elements of a lasting observing system that will benefit science in the future. GCW will have direct application to societal benefit areas Logically would contribute to a Climate Information System

It is proposed to hold a joint WMO-GEO-WCRP Workshop addressing “Building an IPY Legacy: Observations and Data Products for a Global Cryosphere Watch” (title may change) Organisation: WCRP/CliC, WMO, GEO, possibly to be extended Date and Venue: 3-5 December 2008 at the WMO Secretariat, Geneva Organising Committee: Members of IPY Joint Committee, CliC SSG, the IGOS Cryosphere Theme Team, IPY Data-, Observations- and Space Committees, WMO and GEO, possibly others Prime Objective: Identify relevant activities, review and prioritise projects selected through IPY that are “vital” to be continued and identify potential sponsors per priority activity