The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) installs, operates and maintains an extensive, automated system to collect snowpack and related climatic data in the western United States called SNOTEL (for SNOwpack TELemetry). SNOTEL sensors collect hourly data on temperature, precipitation and snow water equivalent. Data can be displayed as tables or graphs for individual stations, drainage basins ... Full description.

This site features a collection of visual resources about glaciers. Diagrams, images and animations reveal how a glacier forms, advances and retreats. These resources can be integrated into lectures, labs or other activities. Full description.

This Flash animated slide show with accompanying audio illustrates the evolution of an alpine environment from a fluvial V shaped valley landscape to a glaciated U shaped valley landscape. It also shows the advance and regression of glaciers and the reestablishment of post glacial streams and hanging valleys. This visualization is from Chapter 20 (Glacier Systems and the Ice Age) of the animations ... Full description.

The World Glacier Inventory contains information for over 67,000 glaciers through out the world. Parameters within the inventory include geographic location, area, length, orientation, elevation and classification of morphological type and moraines. The inventory entries are based upon a single observation in time and can be viewed as a "snapshot" of the glacier at this time. The database can be searched ... Full description.

This exercise was developed for a paleoclimatology course in order to educate graduate students about the availability of archived paleoclimate data and provide them with the opportunity to perform analyses of these data at a near-professional level. Two datasets are accessed, one from Vostok Station, Antarctica and the other from Greenland (GRIP database). The databases are not directly comparable ... Full description.

This site features visual resources that illustrate the deglaciation of North America after the last glacial maximum. Animations and supporting text demonstrate glacial retreat and the flooding of the Bering Land Bridge between Alaska and Russia. These resources may be incorporated into lectures, labs, and other activities. Full description.

This lecture discusses physical and chemical processes that break down rocks and rock debris transportation mechanisms. Physical weathering includes abrasion, fragmentation, frost wedging, and thermal expansion and contraction. Chemical weathering includes solution, oxidation and hydration, and hydrolysis. The lecture notes are supported by images such as photographs, satalite photos, and diagrams ... Full description.

This NSF funded biocomplexity project seeks to understand the complex linkages between biogeochemical cycles, vegetation, disturbance, and climate across the full summer temperature gradient in the Arctic in order to better predict ecosystem responses to changing climate. The project examines the complexity associated with self-organization in frost-boil; complexity associated with interactions between ... Full description.

This webpage describes glacial fluctuations with respect to time. Glacial changes are discussed in three different topics; geologic time and glacier cycles, plate tectonics and glacier formation, and Milankovitch Cycles. Links within the text provide photographs, diagrams, and a glossary of technical terms. Users may also follow links to other pages related to glacial fluctuations such as glaciers ... Full description.

This site provides animations useful for teaching about global cooling and the way glaciation originates. Visualizations illustrate and explain the effects of Milankovitch Cycles and fluctuations in atmospheric carbon dioxide leading to "Snowball Earth" conditions. Resources may be incorporated into lectures, labs, or other activities. Full description.