Permafrost

The FGDC identifies, archives, documents, and distributes data related to permafrost and
seasonally frozen ground. The FGDC currently holds over 100 data sets and information
products and contains detailed metadata records describing over 100 additional data sets
available at other GGD nodes around the world. The data center has improved access to these
data through an online search and order system, and by publishing Version 2.0 of the
Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System (CAPS) CD-ROM set.
The International Polar Year (IPY) now presents an opportunity to take the IPA data
strategy to a new level. The IPY will involve an unprecedented number of geophysical,
biological, and social science projects in the Polar Regions, and IPA projects will integrate
closely with many of these projects through shared data and other affiliations. Integrated data
management will be necessary to realize the full scientific and interdisciplinary potential of
these projects and the IPA is positioned to take a lead in this area.
This presentation will present an array of high level data management considerations for
the IPY including cross-disciplinary data access, essential documentation, system guidance, and
long-term data archiving and how the IPY has begun to address these issues. The primary
means by which IPY is addressing data management is through the creation of a Data Policy
and Management Subcommittee and by endorsing an IPY Data and Information Service as
described in the IPY Framework document. I will review the initial work and future plans of
these groups and describe how they fit into existing international data structures. I will further
highlight how existing and planned IPA efforts can fit into and lead broader IPY efforts.
Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN): An international effort to
encourage the involvement of young researchers for the International Polar
Year (2007–2008)
Oliver W. Frauenfeld 1 , Lisa Ballagh 2 , Hugues Lantuit 3
(1.CIRES/NSIDC, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
2. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany)
Abstract: The newly created Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) envisions
spreading permafrost science and information among young researchers looking at permafrost
environments around the globe. PYRN aims at gathering information, redistributing it,
furthering international cooperation, and promoting the ideas and results emanating from
permafrost research.
The imminence of the International Polar Year (IPY) prompted the need for a visible
representation of the young permafrost community at the newly formed Youth Steering
Committee of the IPY. PYRN will be an active member of IPY projects as well as the Youth
Steering Committee within IPY, investigating the effects of changing environmental conditions
on permafrost.
PYRN is formally established under the patronage of the International Permafrost
Association (IPA). Its role is to create and maintain means of communication among young
researchers involved in permafrost research. It reports on the activities of young permafrost
213