The Cryosphere Observing System for GEOSS

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What is the Cryosphere?
The term “cryosphere”, as defined in the WCRP Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) Project Science and Co-ordination Plan, collectively describes all forms of frozen water at the Earth’s surface - sea ice, ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, snow cover and  solid precipitation, river and lakeice, permafrost and seasonally frozen ground. The cryosphere spans the globe, though most of the mass of frozen water is found in the polar regions.