Special issue  

The Arctic, the Antarctic, and the Tibetan Plateau are called the three poles. Although the regions are geographically separated, they are often regarded as a group because of the similar extreme cryosphere environments and their critical role in maintaining Earth’s climate, hydrology, and ecosystem conditions. The three poles contain the world’s highest mountains and extreme environments and store more snow, ice, and freshwater than anywhere else in the world. However, the regions are found to be particularly sensitive to climate change, and their changes could also lead to critical feedback loops of global climate changes and the sustainability of human society. Unfortunately, our understanding of the three poles, especially the connections among the regions, is still limited. The spare and scattered data collected and produced for these harsh environments are one of the main bottlenecks for promoting comprehensive studies of the regions. With this special issue, we are looking forward to inviting experts to review and present existing and new datasets for the three poles region, to recognize these valuable datasets, and to promote their use in international and interdisciplinary studies of the three poles.