RECENT PROGRESS IN SNOW AND ICE RESEARCH

Snow and ice research during the past quadrennial covers a wide range of topics varying from the climatic effects of large ice sheets and sea ice covers to applied problems such as the icing of power lines and communication facilities. This review focuses in more detail on three topics of the many subjects investigated to provide a more coherent look at the advances achieved and prospects for the future. These are: the influences of layers in seasonal snow covers; research in ice mechanics on freshwater and sea ice; and remote sensing of polar ice sheets. These topics provide useful examples of the general needs in snow and ice research applicable to most areas, e.g. better representation in models of detailed processes, careful controlled laboratory experiments to quantify processes, and field studies to provide the appropriate context for interpretation of processes from remote sensing.