It is both the responsibility and mandate of the AES Ice Branch to provide timely and accurate ice information for Canadian waters (including lakes and major rivers) on an operational basis, and to provide a national archive for the data. The mandate as updated in 1988 reads in part:

" To provide ice and iceberg information (analysis, prognostices and warnings) for the safety of Canadians involved in fishing, marine transportation and offshore petroleum exploration, and for the protection of life and property such as ships and drilling platforms; and to protect the quality of the marine environment by supporting the prevention of environmental disasters."

The Ice Branch operates several divisions which perform the requirements set out in the mandate. Ice information is gathered by the Ice Reconnaissance Division, accumulated, sorted, analysed and issued to users by Ice Forecasting Division; archived and used for historical analysis by the Ice Climatology and Applications Division. Support for this operational process is provided by the Ice Product Development Division (for the aircraft, communications and sensors as well as improving ice products and developing new ones), Ice Research and Development (for remote sensing technology investigation and development).

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is a data and information resource for snow and ice processes, especially for interactions among snow, ice, atmosphere and ocean.

NSIDC was established by NOAA in 1982 to serve as a national information and referral center in support of research in glaciology. We are a center of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) operating under the auspices of NOAA/NESDIS, and NGDC through a cooperative agreement between NOAA and the University of Colorado

The National Ice Center (NIC) is a multi-agency operational center representing the Department of Defense (Navy), the Department of Commerce (NOAA), and the Department of Transportation (Coast Guard). The NIC includes personnel from two departments within NOAA, the National Environmental Satellite Data Information Service (NESDIS) and National Weather Service (NWS). The Navy component within NIC is called the Naval Ice Center (NAVICECEN) and is a fourth echelon command reporting directly to the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) at the Stennis Space Center, Mississippi. Both NAVICECEN and NAVOCEANO are part of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, headquartered at the Stennis Space Center. The Commanding Officer of NAVICECEN also serves as the Director of the National Ice Center.

The Polar Science Center (PSC) is a unit of the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington. PSC was established in 1978 at the end of the multiyear Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX), a major NSF/ONR program. In 1982 PSC was incorporated into the Applied Physics Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research facility. PSC is involved in numerous studies of sea, ice, polar oceanography, and meteorology with primary funding from NASA, NOAA, NSF, and ONR.

The Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research(AWI) is one of the 16 national research centres in Germany. The Institute was established as a public foundation in 1980 and was named after the geophysicist and polar researcher, Alfred Wegener, who died in the Greenland ice in 1930. It is financed by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (90%) and the Land Bremen (10%). In 1992 the Institute's budget amounted to approx. 100 Mio DM and a staff of 420. The mandate of the AWI includes fundamental scientific research in the polar regions, national coordination of polar research projects and logistic support of polar expeditions from other German institutes. Furthermore, the Alfred-Wegener-Institute takes care of international co-operation in polar and marine research. Research work is carried out on board RV "Polarstern", in the laboratories of the Institute as well as on the ice and on land in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. The objective is to achieve a better understanding of the complex relationship between water, ice, the atmosphere and the seabed as well as the fauna and flora. Special attention is given to developments in global change accelerated by human impact. In addition to these activities concentrated on polar regions there are some long-term research proprogrammes in the North Sea as well as co-operative projects with South America. The Institute comprises eight scientific departments: biology I and II, chemistry, geology, geophysics/glaciology, physics of the ocean and the atmosphere (field studies and modelling), and marine physics. Furthermore there are central services, such as administration, logistics, public relations, international bureau, library, and a data processing centre. A Board (Kuratorium) composed of government representatives and of personalities of scientific and public life, decides on general and financial matters of the Foundation. A Scientific Advisory Board (Wissenschaftlicher Beirat) gives advice to the Board and the directorate. A Scientific Council (Wissenschaftlicher Rat) composed of the leaders of the eight scientific departments and three elected scientists of the Institute assists the directorate in developing the research programme.

The Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC) is an independent non-profit research institute affiliated with the University of Bergen in Norway. A Global Contribution NERSC's vision is to make a significant contribution to the understanding of regional and global environmental problems through research and development within:

• Climate process studies and modelling
• Marine monitoring and forecasting
• Global resource management
• Distaster monitoring

Research Activities NERSC's research activities cover climate process studies and modelling, including the role played by oceans and sea ice in global and regional climatic changes. The centre also performs variability and trend studies of atmospheric ozone, greenhouse gases and UV radiation, as well as studies of the marine carbon cycle and injection of CO2 into the ocean.

The research strategy of NERSC is to develop, validate, and apply integrated methods using field observation, remote sensing, numerical modelling and data assimilation to conduct studies of:

• Ocean dynamics and currents
• Water quality
• Sea ice
• Wind and waves

Norsk Polarinstitutt is Norway's central institution for the mapping and practical and scientific investigations on Svalbard and Jan Mayen, in the Arctic waters and in the Antarctic. The institute is organized under the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment.

The institute has roots back to 1906. The head office is located in Oslo (moves to Tromsø in 1997). In 1993 and 1994 the activity was expanded with offices in Longyearbyen and Tromsø. The institute also runs a research station in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, and the summer-stations Troll and Tor in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica.

Organization

Director: Dr. Olav Orheim Deputy Director: Arne Lunde

The Danish Meteorological Institute was initially founded in 1872 and is now an institution of The Ministry of Transport.

About half of the total DMI activities are related to the Forecasting Services Department while the activities of the Research and Development, Observation, Data Processing and Data Base Departments amount to about 10%, 20%, 5% and 5% respectively.

DMI provides meteorological services for the community within a large geographical area, the Unity of the Kingdom of Denmark (Denmark, the Faroes and Greenland, including surrounding waters and airspace). DMI's field of activity comprises forecasting and warning services as well as continuous monitoring of weather, climate, and related environmental conditions in the atmosphere, on land and in the sea. The object of these activities is to safeguard life and property as well as to provide a basis for economic and environmental planning in the community (air navigation, shipping, defence, agriculture, sport and leisure activities etc.). Furthermore DMI carries out research and development within the subject areas of the institute in order to secure the optimum accomplishment of its tasks.

Based at Narsarsuaq Airfield the DMI Ice Observation and Warning Service makes a major contribution to the safety of shipping in the Greenland waters by observing and mapping the extension of sea ice, issuing ice reports as well as performing other safety related tasks.

The general public oriented services are provided within the ordinary work of the institute, funded by the yearly appropriations in the budget bill, while special services, e.g. world wide weather routeing for ships, newspaper weather information, and warning of icy road conditions through winter seasons, are accomplished as revenue-generating activities.

DMI also participates in a number of international research projects e.g. European Commission supported projects primarily within the environment part of the framework programmes, which implies external funding. Among the subsidiarily financed research activities of this kind can be mentioned research in climate and climate change and the ozone layer.