SWIPA - Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic

Dr.ing. Arne Instanes, INSTANES POLAR AS, is participating in the SWIPA project. 

The SWIPA project was established by the Arctic Council in April 2008 as a follow-up to the 2004 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA). Its goal is to assess current scientific information on changes in the Arctic cryosphere, including the impacts of climate change on the ice, snow, and permafrost characteristics of the Arctic, which have potentially far reaching implications for both the Arctic and the Earth as a whole.

A full description of the project components and organization, and its overall timeline can be found in the SWIPA project desciption document, see www.amap.no/swipa/.

The work under SWIPA is organized into three major components (Arctic Sea Ice, Greenland Ice-sheet, Terrestrial Cryosphere), with the terrestrial component further divided into four modules (Snow, Permafrost, Glaciers and ice-sheets, Hydrology). Each component/module has one or more lead countries.