The International Association of Cryospheric Sciences has announced the establishment of a new Joint Body on the Status of Mountain Snow Cover in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization and the Mountain Research Initiative.
Climate change is impacting the amount and distribution of mountain snow cover over space and time. Knowledge of these changes is of great importance for research and practice, not least given the important role that snow plays for mountain ecosystems, natural hazards, and tourism, as well as providing a source of water for ecosystems and humans. Despite the high relevance of snow in mountain regions, an inventory for mountain snow cover and the underlying processes comparable on a global scale are still lacking. Even regional inventories are strongly limited to a few well-monitored mountain ranges, such as in the U.S. Rockies and the European Alps.
A new Joint Body on the Status of Mountain Snow Cover (JB-SMSC), launched by the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS) in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), will address these knowledge gaps by providing robust information on mountain snow cover changes at a global scale in the past few decades through the compilation and analysis of existing data (covering data from stations, remote sensing, and model simulations) at sufficiently high resolution.
In addition, the JB-SMSC also aims to better understand processes of accumulation and ablation based on existing modelling and observational studies. Another important objective is to provide open access to snow data for the benefit of the research community, and thereby contribute to operational capacity building.
"We are of course very happy to see the MRI as part of this collaboration and we welcome the opportunity for the MRI network members working on snow to be involved, too," said MRI Executive Director Carolina Adler on the occasion of the launch.
Participation in the joint body is open to everybody who is willing to actively contribute to one or several of the objectives listed in the proposal. Download the 2021 approved proposal here, and find out more on the JB-SMSC website.
For further information, please contact the JB-SMSC Chairs:
Wolfgang Schöner (IACS): This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Shawn Marshall (MRI): This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Lijuan Ma (WMO): This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Submit an expression of interest to join the Joint Body.
This article was adapted from the original news release written by IACS. Find out more on the IACS website where you can also view the IACS newsletter.
Cover image by Karl Egger.
