This paper introduces the latest version of the freely available S2M dataset which provides estimates of both meteorological and snow cover variables, as well as various avalanche hazard diagnostics at different elevations, slopes and aspects for the three main French high-elevation mountainous regions. A complete description of the system and the dataset is provided, as well as an overview of the possible uses of this dataset and an objective assessment of its limitations.

A new digital elevation model of Greenland was provided based on the ICESat-2 observations acquired from November 2018 to November 2019. A model fit method was applied within the grid cells at different spatial resolutions to estimate the surface elevations with a modal resolution of 500 m. We estimated the uncertainty with a median difference of −0.48 m for all of Greenland, which can benefit studies of elevation change and mass balance in Greenland.

The temporal series and spatial distribution discontinuity of the existing snow water equivalent (SWE) products in the pan-Arctic region severely restricts the use of SWE data in cryosphere change and climate change studies. Using a ridge regression machine learning algorithm, this study developed a set of spatiotemporally seamless and high-precision SWE products. This product could contribute to the study of cryosphere change and climate change at large spatial scales.

Snow over Antarctic sea ice controls energy budgets and thus has essential effects on the climate. Here, we estimated snow depth using microwave radiometers and a newly constructed, robust method by incorporating lower frequencies, which have been available from AMSR-E and AMSR-2. Comparing the new retrieval with in situ and shipborne snow depth measurements showed that this method outperformed the previously available method.

Long-term snow cover data are not only of importance for climate research. Currently China still lacks a high-quality snow cover extent (SCE) product for climate research. This study develops a multi-level decision tree algorithm for cloud and snow discrimination and gap-filled technique based on AVHRR surface reflectance data. We generate a daily 5 km SCE product across China from 1981 to 2019. It has high accuracy and will serve as baseline data for climate and other applications.

Water equivalent of snow cover (SWE) is a key variable for water management, hydrological forecasting and climate monitoring. A new Canadian SWE dataset (CanSWE) is presented in this paper. It compiles data collected by multiple agencies and companies at more than 2500 different locations across Canada over the period 1928–2020. Snow depth and derived bulk snow density are also included when available.

Current sophisticated snow physics models were mostly designed for alpine conditions and cannot adequately simulate the physical properties of Arctic snowpacks. New snow models will require Arctic data sets for forcing and validation. We provide an extensive driving and testing data set from a high Arctic herb tundra site in Canada. Unique validating data include continuous time series of snow and soil thermal conductivity and temperature profiles. Field observations in spring are provided.

Climate change strongly impacts the Arctic, with clear signs of higher air temperature and more precipitation. A sustainable observation programme has been carried out in Lake Orajärvi in Sodankylä, Finland. The high-quality air–snow–ice–water temperature profiles have been measured every winter since 2009. The data can be used to investigate the lake ice surface heat balance and the role of snow in lake ice mass balance and parameterization of snow-to-ice transformation in snow/ice models.

Landfast ice, or fast ice, is a form of sea ice which is mechanically fastened to stationary parts of the coast. Long-term and accurate knowledge of its extent around Antarctica is critical for understanding a number of important Antarctic coastal processes, yet no accurate, large-scale, long-term dataset of its extent has been available. We address this data gap with this new dataset compiled from satellite imagery, containing high-resolution maps of Antarctic fast ice from 2000 to 2018.

We publish and describe a surface spectral reflectance data record of seasonal snow (dry, wet, shadowed), forest ground (lichen, moss) and forest canopy (spruce and pine, branches) constituting the main elements of the boreal landscape and collected at four scales. The data record describes the characteristics and variability of the satellite scene reflectance contributors in boreal landscape, thus enabling the development of improved optical satellite snow mapping methods for forested areas.

Snow is the major water resource in high-mountain Asia; therefore, it is crucial to continuously monitor it. Currently, remote sensing, mainly MODIS, is used for snow monitoring. However, the available MODIS snow product is not useful for various applications without postprocessing and improvement. This study reduces uncertainty in the MODIS snow data. We found approximately 50% underestimation and overestimation of snow cover by MODIS Terra–Aqua products, which were improved in this study.

The paper presents a suite of datasets consisting of long-term hydrometeorological, snow cover and frozen ground data for investigating watershed science and functions from an integrated, distributed and multiscale observation network in the upper reaches of the Heihe River Basin in China. These data are expected to serve as a testing platform to provide accurate forcing data and validate and evaluate remote-sensing products and hydrological models in cold regions for a broader community.

This paper describes long-term meteorological and evaluation datasets from 10 reference sites for use in snow modelling. We demonstrate how data sharing is crucial to the identification of errors and how the publication of these datasets contributes to good practice, consistency, and reproducibility in geosciences. The ease of use, availability, and quality of the datasets will help model developers quantify and reduce model uncertainties and errors.

Meteorological, snow survey, streamflow, and groundwater data are presented from Marmot Creek Research Basin, a small alpine-montane forest headwater catchment in the Alberta Rockies. It was heavily instrumented, experimented upon, and operated by several federal government agencies between 1962 and 1986 and was re-established starting in 2004 by the University of Saskatchewan Centre for Hydrology. These long-term legacy data serve to advance our knowledge of hydrology of the Canadian Rockies.