The second IGOS Cryosphere Theme (IGOS-Cryo) development workshop was held in Yokohama, Japan (50 km south of Tokyo) 24-25 April 2006. It took place in conjunction with the Asia CliC meeting (20-22 April). The first IGOS-Cryo workshop was held 2-4 March 2005 in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada.  It was a key step in the development of the Cryosphere Theme Report, which is the first major milestone in the Theme development process. 

The goal of the second workshop was similar to the first: bring together representatives from the user and scientific communities to identify the major issues in cryospheric information needs, particularly our current and planned observational capabilities, applications, and observational requirements.  This information forms the core of the Theme Report.  In fact, the desired outcome of this workshop was to work towards a complete draft of the Report, discussing the cababilities, requirements, and recommendations, adding applications and societal benefits, etc.  

The workshop consisted of presentations and a long discussion session (in lieu of breakout groups). The presentations covered some, but not all, of the major topical areas, e.g., terrestrial snow cover, seasonally frozen ground, permafrost, ice sheets, ice caps, and glaciers, sea ice, river and lake ice, and solid precipitation.  Both the presentations and the breakout sessions addressed observational requirements, measurement accuracies and the gaps between the two, particularly from an Asian perspective.  

The workshop was being sponsored by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), and WCRP. It was hosted by JAMSTEC.