The objective of this encyclopedia is to present the current state of scientific understanding of various aspects of earth’s cryosphere – snow, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, sea ice, river and lake ice, and permafrost – and their related interdisciplinary connections under one umbrella. Therefore, every effort has been made to provide a comprehensive coverage of cryosphere by including a broad array of topics, such as the atmospheric processes responsible for snow formation; snowfall observations; snow cover and snow surveys; transformation of snow to ice and changes in their properties; classification of ice and glaciers and their worldwide distribution; glaciation and ice ages; glacier dynamics; glacier surface and subsurface characteristics; geomorphic processes and landscape formation; hydrology and sedimentary systems; hydrochemical and isotopic properties; permafrost modeling; hazards caused by cryospheric changes; trends of glacier retreat on a global scale along with the impact of climate change; and many more quantitative estimates of various glacier parameters, such as degree-day, mass balance, extent and volume, and downwasting. Also included are articles on GPS application, and satellite image application in glaciology; GPR analysis; and sea level rise.