National Snow and Ice Data Center

NSIDC also supports the National Science Foundation through the Exchange For Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) and other scientific research grants.

In 1976, responsibility for the WDC for Glaciology was transferred to NOAA, Environmental Data and Information Service (EDIS), and the center moved to the University of Colorado at Boulder under the direction of Professor Roger G. Barry.

In-house scientists pursue their work as part of the CIRES Cryospheric and Polar Process Division, University of Colorado Boulder.

Data management and user support are provided by ELOKA while it fosters collaboration between resident Arctic experts and visiting researchers.

A key challenge of local and traditional knowledge (LTK) research and community-based monitoring is having an effective and appropriate means of recording, storing, and managing data and information.

There is also the issue of finding an effective means of making such data available to Arctic residents and researchers, as well as other interested groups such as teachers, students, and decision makers.