A major concern of the cryospheric community is the availability of reliable
data for use with various types of models. The National Science Foundation’s
Arctic System Science program (ARCSS) integrates specific Arctic
investigations ranging from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project, the
Land-Almosphere-Ice Interactions, the Ocean-Atmosphere-Ice Interactions and
its associated Surface Heat Energy Budget of the Arctic program to the
recently initiated Human Dimensions of the Arctic System project. All data
collected from these investigations are archived at the ARCSS Data
Coordination Center and the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the
University of Colorado, U.S.A. A primary goal of the ARCSS Data Coordination
Center is to facilitate better use of observed data within cryospheric
modeling efforts. Working with the ARCSS Data Management Group and the
Modeling Working Group, we are developing data appropriate for the
cryospheric modeling community. This paper summarizes the data currently
available at the ARCSS Data Coordination Center, and details the mechanisms
by which Arctic researchers can access these data.