Table S1. Summary of cryosphere related Canadian IPY projects discussed in this paper.

Project Name / Project Leader / Description / Project Participants
Variability and Change in the Canadian Cryosphere (Snow and Ice) / Anne Walker, Environment Canada / Through the analysis of satellite data/images, field measurements, and historical data records, this project evaluated how the Canadian cryosphere has evolved over time and what it looks like today. / 129
Environmental Change in the High Arctic from Snow and Ice Cores / Jocelyne Bourgeois, Natural Resources Canada / Through the analysis of ice cores and snow samples and comparison with results of similar surveys completed in the 1990s, this project documented changes in climate and trends and levels of atmospheric contaminant deposition in the Canadian Arctic and adjacent regions. / 25
Measuring the Impact of Climate Change on Landscape and Water Systems in the High Arctic / Scott Lamoureux, Queen’s University / Through research on rivers, soil, vegetation, snow, ice and permafrost, this project investigated the current state of hydrological and ecological systems in the High Arctic. / 42
Permafrost Conditions and Climate Change
(ThermalState of Permafrost) / Antoni Lewkowicz, University of Ottawa / This project provided a “snapshot” of current ground thermal conditions across the Canadian North and also used data from existing monitoring sites to detect how permafrost has changed over time. / 20
Dynamic Response of Arctic Glaciers to Global Warming / Martin Sharp, University of Alberta / To understand the role of changes in the dynamics of tidewater glaciers in future changes of ice sheets and ice caps, this project investigated the dynamics of the Belcher Glacier, the largest tidewater outlet glacier draining from the Devon ice cap. The resulting data are being used to initialise, drive and validate a sophisticated model describing the hydrology and flow dynamics of the glacier, which can be used to predict the impact of climate change on this (and other similar) Arctic glaciers. / 24

Table S2. Summary of mean annual ground temperature (MAGT) for the Canadian Permafrost region (Smith S et al. 2010a). Note MAGT for individual sites is determined at the depth of zero annual amplitude or the nearest measurement to it.

Region / MAGT (°C)Discontinuous / MAGT (°C) Continuous
Western Canada
(lowland 59.5 - 70°N) / >-2.2 / -0.3 to -8.1
Western Canada
(mountain 60 - 63°N) / >-3.6 / -2.2 to
unknown
Central Canada
(lowland 57 - 75°N) / NA / >-12.3
Eastern Canada
(lowland 55.5 - 82.5°N) / >-2.6 / -2.4 to -14.9


Figure S1. Arctic seasonal snow cover extent (SCE) anomaly time series (with respect to 1988-2007) from the NOAA snow chart Climate Data Record for (a) April (b) May and (c) June.

Figure S2. Example of a river ice map produced from Radarsat data for the community of Kuujjuaq (from Gauthier et al, 2010).

Figure S3. Climatic conditions over the Arctic in the IPY summers (2007-2009) expressed as a difference from the mean for 1980-2010. (a) June-August mean 700 hPa geopotential height (NCEP/NCAR R1 Reanalysis); (b) June-August mean 700 hPa temperature (NCEP/NCAR R1 Reanalysis); (c) June-August mean sea surface temperature (HadlSST1 dataset). Note the strong summer warming over north and west Greenland and the CanadianArcticIslands associated with poleward airflow along the western side of the 700 hPa geopotential height anomaly centred over Greenland and the CanadaBasin from a region of positive sea surface temperature anomalies around southern Greenland.