The goals of this symposium are:

1. to provide a forum for presenting the current best observational data of all aspects of sea ice and polar ice sheets in both hemispheres, and their ongoing changes,
2. to present and discuss results from models of ongoing polar climate and cryospheric processes, and interactions between sea ice and the climate system,
3. to examine the likely future course of the sea-ice, ice-sheet and polar -climate systems as revealed by coupled models,
4. to entrain the global polar science community, at all stages of career development, in discussing the state and direction of the Earth’s polar regions.

The key focus areas include (but are not limited to):

1. Sea-ice mapping and observations of sea-ice–climate–ocean processes and interactions; remote determination of snow cover on sea ice or sea-ice thickness; sea-ice models; past, present and future evolution of the Arctic or Antarctic sea-ice system; studies combining field and remote observations,
2. Satellite or airborne observations of ice-sheet and glacier mass balance, glacier flow, ice-sheet accumulation, surface melting, melt ponds and streams; remote sensing of ice–ocean interaction and ocean circulation near the ice front; new observational techniques; historical records of ice flow and thickness,
3. Model studies of polar regions, including: ice-sheet and ice–ocean processes; polar climate variability; coupled models of the polar atmosphere–ice–ocean–land system; predictive models of the evolution of the ice-sheet system, ice–ocean system, or terrestrial snow cover over the next few decades to centuries,
4. Trends in snow cover over the Northern Hemisphere; snow albedo, dust and soot in snow; new technologies for mapping snow cover; remote sensing (satellite and airborne) studies of permafrost, new methods of observation of permafrost,
5. Calibration and validation studies of polar remote-sensing data,
6. Information on the polar cryosphere, especially sea ice extents, from early satellite or other remote-sensing records; data rescue,
7. Data management and informatics as they apply to polar remote-sensing data, calibration–validation data sets.

For more information, visit the Symposium website.