The first IGOS Cryosphere Theme Development Workshop was held 2-4 March 2005 (Wednesday - Friday) at the Delta Kananaskis Hotel, about one hour west of Calagary, Alberta, Canada.  The workshop was a key step in the development of the Cryosphere Theme Report. It brought together representatives from research institutions and government agencies to work on the identification of the major issues regarding a common and integrated observational strategy, where "integrated" implies the best combined use of in-situ measurements and remote sensing observations.

The workshop consisted of presentations and breakout sessions.  There were presentations from 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.  Observational requirements and measurement accuracies were stressed, and recommendations were made for filling gaps between the two.

The workshop was sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency.