IGS 2027 Sea Ice Symposium, Helsinki 14–18 June 2027
The International Glaciological Society (IGS) will hold an International Symposium on Sea Ice in Transition: Emerging Processes and Extremes in Helsinki, Finland from 14 to 18 June 2027.
Sea ice is undergoing rapid transition in both polar regions, with profound consequences for climate, ecosystems, coastal environments, and human activities. In light of these changes new processes emerge, shifting interactions between ocean, sea ice, snow and atmosphere, and increasing occurrence of extreme events and rapidly evolving ice conditions.
This symposium will bring together the international sea-ice community to exchange recent advances in observations, field experiments, remote sensing, modeling, and prediction of sea ice in transition. Particular emphasis will be placed on emerging processes in changing ice regimes, extreme events and their impacts, and new approaches to observing the sea-ice system, including autonomous and distributed measurements. Contributions addressing coupled processes across scales, from small-scale snow and ice physics to basin-scale variability and predictability, are especially encouraged.
Interdisciplinary contributions are invited from sea-ice ecology and biogeochemistry, engineering and operations, forecasting and services, Indigenous and local knowledge, and other fields that advance understanding of sea ice in a rapidly changing world. The symposium will provide an opportunity to help shape coordinated international activities and community priorities towards the Fifth International Polar Year (IPY5).
Suggested Topics
Sea ice in the regional and global climate: past, present, and future variability and change; observations, attribution, feedbacks, prediction, polar teleconnections, Arctic-Antarctic contrasts
Sea-ice processes and coupled interactions: thermodynamics, dynamics, sea-ice mass balance, ocean-ice-snow-atmosphere coupling, surface energy balance, ocean heat flux
Snow on sea ice: snow thickness, density, thermal and microwave properties, liquid water content, salinity, metamorphism, redistribution, snow- / superimposed-ice formation
Emerging processes in changing ice regimes: marginal ice zone processes, wave-ice interactions, breakup, seasonal transitions, new ice-state configurations, evolving process interactions
Extremes and episodic events: storms, extreme forcing, hazardous and cascading events
Physical properties of sea ice across scales: microstructure, optics, mechanics, rheology, and links from microscopic to basin scales
Observations and autonomous deployments: remote sensing, field/laboratory experiments, autonomous platforms and vehicles, instrumental advances, distributed and sustained observations, new data products
Sea-ice modeling, forecasting, and model-data integration: modeling across scales, parameterizations, data assimilation, coupled prediction, model-observation synthesis
Sea-ice ecology and biogeochemistry: from microorganisms to fish and marine mammals, primary productivity, ecosystem change, particulate and dissolved organic matter, carbon cycle, gas fluxes, aerosols, and bio-physical interactions and feedbacks
Sea-ice knowledge systems, operations, and community priorities towards IPY5: Indigenous and local sea-ice knowledge, observing partnerships, shipping and operations in ice-covered waters, information systems, adaptation, risk, and international coordination towards IPY5
Programme
The symposium will include a mix of oral and poster presentations, and will be held in an open, positive, and stimulating environment that facilitates face-to-face interactions, networking, and exchange of scientific information between participants.
Additional activities will include an opening Icebreaker reception, a mid-symposium afternoon excursion, and a conference dinner.
Abstract and Paper Publication
Participants who wish to present (oral or poster) at the Symposium will be required to submit an abstract. Accepted abstracts will be posted on the Symposium's website.
IGS will publish a thematic collection of the Annals of Glaciology on topics consistent with the Symposium theme. Participants and non-participants alike are encouraged to submit manuscripts for this Annals volume. A call for papers will also be forthcoming.
Side Meetings
The organizing committee welcomes requests from groups and organizations for meeting spaces to host side meetings before or after the symposium. Please send related requests to ioanna.merkouriadi@fmi.fi.
Venue
The symposium will be held at the Clarion Hotel Helsinki, a modern waterfront venue located in the vibrant Jätkäsaari district, just a short distance from the city center. Overlooking the Baltic Sea, the hotel combines contemporary conference facilities with a distinctly Nordic setting, offering bright meeting spaces, high-quality audio-visual technology, and expansive views of sky and water.
Its seaside location and proximity to Helsinki’s design districts, cultural landmarks, and archipelago provide a welcoming environment for both scientific exchange and informal interaction.
27.3.2026
