South America CryoNet Meeting

27-29 October 2014, Santiago de Chile

The 1st CryoNet South America Workshop was held on 27, 28 and 29 October in Santiago, Chile, with the attendance of 65 participants from 16 countries. The Workshop was sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) through the Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW) initiative. Co-sponsors included the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile; the University of Magallanes, Chile (UMAG); the Chilean Weather Service (DMC); the Chilean Water Directorate (DGA); the University of Talca, Chile (UTAL); and the company Geoestudios, Chile.

GCW and CryoNet sessions were held during Days 1 and 2 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, with presentations from experts of all participating countries. On Day 3 field work was conducted at Valle Nevado and El Colorado ski resorts, 60 km east of Santiago, visiting snow and meteorological stations operated by University of Chile and DMC, and learning practical experiences of snow cover characterization.

It was concluded that systematic long-term monitoring of the cryosphere is critically needed in Latin America, especially in view of the drastic changes experimented by snow and ice masses at a continental scale. In this regard CryoNet Latin America will provide a key contribution to the global CryoNet initiative.

The agenda, local information, and documents are available via the links at right. WMO's meeting web page also provides this information.