NOAA
NSIDC_ARCSS
The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Arctic System Science (ARCSS) Program is a multidisciplinary approach to understanding polar processes for climate and global change. ARCSS is the only element of the U.S. Global Change Research Program specifically concerned with the arctic region. By focusing on understanding Arctic processes in great detail, investigators are better able to characterize global changes through the improvement of global-scale models and other research tools. The ARCSS Data Coordination Center (ADCC) at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), USA, is funded by NSF to archive and disseminate data and information generated from the ARCSS program. A major concern of the arctic research community is the availability of reliable data for research. The ADCC, while working with ARCSS investigators, the ARCSS Committee, Science Management Offices and NSF, is continually acquiring data and developing data products appropriate and useful for the research community. Integrating data and information from among the ARCSS ocean-based, land-based, ice core, paleoclimate and human dimension communities is a high priority at the ADCC. Many of the data sets available at the ADCC are directly applicable to studies within the Arctic (river runoff, landforms, vegetation cover, vegetation type, ice and snow accumulation, temperature, precipitation, ice cores, etc.). The ADCC also maintains a complete backup of the entire ARCSS archive to ensure data and information collected from the program are available on a long-term basis. The ADCC strives to provide the most contemporary means of data accessibility to the scientific community. This ARCSS Web site has become an important tool for data accessibility and integration within ARCSS. It is currently accessed by investigators of varying disciplines in more than 40 countries worldwide. Data and information are also distributed on other media (CD-ROMs, disks, data catalogs, etc.) when appropriate. We work with other national and international data centers so as to provide optimum accessibility to data and information from the ARCSS archive. We also regularly attend both ARCSS and non-ARCSS scientific meetings to ensure that investigators, regardless of the discipline, are aware of the products and services we provide at the ADCC and NSIDC to assist them in their research needs. Through these endeavors the ADCC strives to be a catalyst for system science and integration within ARCSS, as well as being a part of NSIDC - the definitive source for arctic data and information. Website: "http://nsidc.org/arcss/" [Summary provided by the NSIDC]