ICSIH, SNOW AND ICE HYDROLOGY

ICSIH Snow and Ice Hydrology

President-Elect	James McPhee	Chile
President	Melody Sandells	UK
Vice President	Shiqiang Zhang	China
Vice President	Dhiraj Pradhananga	Nepal
Vice President	McKenzie Skiles	USA
Vice President	Vsevolod Moreydo	Russia
Secretary	Timothy Link	USA
ECC Representative	Anna-Marie Jorss	Germany

 

ICSIH is one of the Commissions of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS). The goal of the International Commission for Snow and Ice Hydrology (ICSIH) is to promote the scientific study of the processes of snow and ice dynamics and the influence of snow and ice on the environment, runoff generation, rivers, and lakes, with an emphasis on the seasons and regions where the solid phase of water and meltwater runoff are important components of the hydrological cycle.

ICSIH in its present form is the newest IAHS commission. ICSIH was approved to begin its functions with a provisional bureau at the IAHS Bureau meeting in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil in April 2005. ICSIH was voted into existence by the IAHS General Assembly at the IUGG in Perugia, Italy, in July 2007, when the former International Commission on Snow and Ice (ICSI) became the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS).

ICSIH has actively worked towards its mission goals by publishing several special issues and Red Books and by participating in the organization of conferences/workshops and sessions at all IAHS and IUGG symposia. ICSIH also has a special role with IAHS by fostering fruitful connections with IACS.

Snow and ice have been studied as core components of hydrology since its inception and their dynamics are important components of the hydrological cycle throughout much of the world. Water stored as snow and ice is a critical contributor to the world’s available freshwater supply and is essential to the sustenance of natural ecosystems, agriculture, and human societies.

The formation, vaporization, and melting of snow, ice, and soil frost hold an inordinately important role in the runoff, soil moisture replenishment, and streamflow generation in cold regions. River flow from these source regions is critical to sustaining coupled human-natural systems in more temperate and often more arid downstream areas. River and lake ice affect water flow and may result in catastrophic flooding. Due to global warming, the cryosphere is rapidly changing. Changing climate has resulted in altered patterns of snowfall and snowmelt, conversion of snowfall to rainfall, loss of glaciated area, and thawing of permafrost.

John Pomeroy, ICSIH 1st President

ICSIH serves the scientific community by promoting communication and collaboration amongst scientists dealing with snow and ice hydrology. We organize dedicated sessions at international conferences and workshops on a regular basis. Past and upcoming meetings are listed here.

We also support students, practitioners, and scientists who deal infrequently with snow and ice hydrology. To provide them with up-to-date concepts, methods, and tools we are compiling and developing useful resources. Check out our new article section here. Please contact us if you have suggestions for specific topics or would like to provide feedback on existing resources.

In our download section, you can access publications that have resulted from ICSIH activities associated with scientific meetings and workshops. These include conference proceedings, special issues, and red books. Other interesting resources can be found via our list of links.

ICSIH Bureau officers for 2019 – 2022, IUGG General Assembly, Montreal, Canada, July 2019. Top left to right: Melody Sandells (PE), Tobias Jonas (P), Timothy Link (VP). Bottom left to right: Vsevolod Moreydo (S), McKenzie Skiles (VP), James McPhee (VP)

Supplementary historical documents

Check out ICSIH Annual Reports in the following section.

Further reading

For more information about ICSIH, please click on the red block with white arrow located at the top right corner of this page.