In January 2022, the new Joint Body on the "Status of Mountain Snow Cover (JB-SMSC)" was launched. This Joint Body is a joint activity of the International Association for Cryospheric Sciences (IACS), the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), aiming to significantly improve the knowledge of the status and changes of the snow cover in mountain regions of the world. In addition to an in-depth analysis of snow changes and the underlying processes, the provision of data sets on snow cover in mountain regions is also a key objective. The JB is divided into four work packages, as follows:
- WP1: Mountain snow data quality control and homogenization for use in climatology and hydrology
- WP2: Status of snow cover: multi-decadal changes in mountain regions of the world
- WP3: Snow accumulation processes in mountain regions
- WP4: Snow ablation processes - research gaps in mountain snow modelling