The Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS) was established in 1994 with a mandate to research, preserve and communicate knowledge of Earth system processes using the technologies of Earth Observation Science. Research is multidisciplinary and collaborative seeking to understand the complex interrelationships between elements of Earth systems, and how these systems will likely respond to climate change. Although researchers have worked in many regions, the Arctic marine system has always been a unifying focus of activity.

In 2012, CEOS, along with the Greenland Climate Research Centre (GCRC, Nuuk, Greenland) and the Arctic Research Centre (ARC, Aarhus, Denmark) established the Arctic Science Partnership, thereby integrating academic and research initiatives.

Areas of existing research activity are divided among six key themes:

• Ocean, sea ice and climate, including the study of geophysical, biogeochemical and biological processes and properties of sea ice and the ocean; their linkages and feedbacks across the ocean, ice and atmosphere at cascading temporal and spatial scales.

• Contaminants such as mercury in the Arctic food web. We study the pathways contaminants follow in the ecosystem, and how they might be affected by climate change.

• Mammals, how they interact with different ice types, and how they could be affected by changing environment.

• Meteorology, improving our understanding of the planetary boundary layer, with a focus on atmospheric phenomena such as precipitation and cloud formations to better predict storms and extreme weather.

• Aquatic Systems, freshwater availability, water quality and ecology within watersheds and lakes over a geographic domain that extends from the prairies to Canada’s Arctic.

• Traditional and local knowledge from Northern people contributes to understanding of the environment.