State and dynamics of snow and ice resources in the arctic region derived from data in the world atlas of snow and ice resources

The compilation of the World Atlas of Snow and Ice Resources has been in progress in the Soviet Union for more than 15 years. The effort ranks as one of the most important glaciological projects ever undertaken because of its comprehensiveness and global scope. Several hundred of the most prominent scientists in the USSR, including 300 specialists from 40 research institutions, participated in the work. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and many other researchers from many nations provided broad scientific assistance to the compilers of the Atlas by compiling various datasets, analyzing maps, and giving advice. The Atlas is a major contribution of the USSR to the Hydrological Program (IHP) and will also be presented by the Soviet Union to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP), because many parameters associated with change in the cryosphere are included. The Atlas presents, in a systematic arrangement, comprehensive data and information about the global distribution of snow and ice, compiled since the early 1950s. The Atlas includes about 1,000 maps, ranging in scale from 1:25,000 (local or individual glaciers) to 1:90,000,000. The maps in the Atlas are distributed throughout the 17 subject sections