Current Projects and Activities

Current GCW projects and their point(s) of contact (POC) are briefly described below. Contact the POC for more information and to get involved.

Statement of Guidance An detailed analysis of gaps in the cryosphere observing system is underway, to be completed in early 2025. This involves an evaluation of current observational capabilities of the most impactful cryosphere variables, user requirements for those variables, an analysis of the gaps, and recommendations for filling those gaps. Results will be documented in a Statement of Guidance for Cryosphere Observations (SoG) as part of the WMO Rolling Review of Requirements (RRR) process. The sea ice portion is one of the RRR pilot projects. A draft SoG for sea ice is under review (early 2024). Point of contact: Jeff Key (NOAA), Rodica Nitu (WMO)

CryoNet CryoNet is the GCW network of surface stations. This project is establishing the the network. It is defining the types of sites, e.g., “supersites”, reference sites, and/or tiered sites in cold climate regions, on land or sea, operating a sustained, standardized programme for observing and monitoring as many cryospheric variables as possible. It is creating an inventory of the current network, working with site managers, developing formal procedures for establishing the GCW network, evaluating potential supersites, and determining data availability. The project will compile best practices, guidelines, and standards, determine what should be measured, and facilitate interaction and collaboration between the scientific and operational communities. [More...] Point of contact: Wolfgang Schöner (Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik)

Measurement Standards and Best Practices GCW is developing snow and ice measurement standards and best practices. They draw from existing measurement practices, where documented and accepted by cryospheric scientists. New practices will be created, as necessary. [More...] Point of contact: Charles Fierz (WSL/SLF) and Þorsteinn Þorsteinsson (IMO)

Data Portal and Data Interoperability The Portal Team is working with CryoNet stations, data centres, and other projects on the metadata and data interoperability issues. A GCW Operational Manual for contributing data centres and a document on GCW Guidance for data centres contributing to GCW are being developed. Furthermore, a GCW Interoperability Package for CryoNet stations is being tested, as a demonstration project for coupling a small data centre of a CryoNet station with the GCW Data Portal. [More...] Point of contact: Øystein Godøy (Norwegian Meteorological Institute)

Snow Watch The main goals of Snow Watch are to assess the maturity and accuracy of snow products, improve the reporting of and access to in situ snow measurements, promote the exchange of snow data and information for snow cover monitoring, and identify critical snow-related issues that need to be addressed in GCW. Snow Watch is making major advances in snow cover observation, monitoring and exchange of data and products from in-situ and satellite sources as part of GCW’s goal to provide authoritative cryospheric information. Team members are drawn from across the global snow community. [More...] Point of contact: Ross Brown (Environment Canada) and Kari Luojus (Finnish Meteorological Institute)

Terminology An official GCW Glossary of cryospheric terms is being created. As with measurement standards, existing glossaries will be used as a starting point and modified as necessary. A robust, though not exhaustive, compilation of existing glossaries is available in the Reference section of this website. [More...] Point of contact: Gino Casassa (Geoestudios)