Mountain databases

Related organizations

FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000): the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), at the request of its member nations and the world community, has regularly reported (every 10 years) on the state, changes and conditions of the world's forests. The present survey, known as the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA 2000), provides crucial information describing the state and conditions of forest resources for the year 2000, and their changes over the last 20 years.

Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS): the United Nations GEMS/Water Programme provides scientifically-sound data and information on the state and trends of global inland water quality required as a basis for the sustainable management of the world's freshwater to support global environmental assessments and decision-making processes.

Global Land Ice Measurement from Space (GLIMS): is a project designed to monitor the world's glaciers.

National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC): provides cryospheric data and information gathered from such sources as remote sensing instruments, ground measurements, and models.

World Resources Institute (WRI): explores issues at the intersection of environmental protection and economic development. Work focuses on protecting Earth's living systems, increasing access to information, reversing global warming, and creating sustainable enterprise and opportunity. It provides a wide range of environmental and socio-economic data.

Networks

Australian Reference Climate Station (RCS): a network that has been established for high quality, long-term climate monitoring, particularly with regard to climate change analysis and comprises a number of monitoring sites in mountain areas.

Canadian Permafrost Monitoring Network: provides long-term field observations of active layer and permafrost thermal state which are essential for understanding the present permafrost conditions and the detection of the terrestrial climate signal in permafrost and its temporal and spatial variability.

Climatology and High-Mountain Research Group (CLIMOUNT): located at the University of Bonn, Germany. The group is concentrating its research activities on soils, climate, land use and land cover dynamics in high mountain regions of Southern and Central Asia, North West Africa, Lesotho and the Swiss Alps.

Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN): its the mandate to preserve and enhance the quality of the natural environment, including water, air and soil quality; conserve Canada's renewable resources, including migratory birds and other non-domestic flora and fauna; conserve and protect Canada's water resources; carry out meteorology; enforce the agreements made by the Canada - United States International Joint Commission relating to boundary waters; and coordinate environmental policies and programmes for the federal government.

Geological Survey of Canada (GSC): maintains national databases on both permafrost temperatures and permafrost thickness.

Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA): has established a network of the essential standardized observation settings for a comparative assessment of climate change impacts at different elevation levels from low-temperature-determined treeline upwards.

Man and Biosphere Programme of UNESCO (MAB-UNESCO): contributes to Global Change Research in Mountain regions. Over 40% of the MAB-Biosphere Reserves are situated in Mountains. MAB has now selected 26 Biosphere reserves situated in the world’s mountain regions for a research project on global change.

Operational Monitoring System for European Glacial Areas (OMEGA)

Permafrost and Climate in Europe (PACE): the PACE21 Network funded by the European Science Foundation, will promote collaborative and interdisciplinary research on Permafrost in a changing global climate.

World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS): its tasks are to continuously upgrade, collect and periodically publish glacier inventory and fluctuation data as well as to include satellite observations of remote glaciers and to assess ongoing changes. The WGMS database stores two types of data: