The Polar Data Catalogue is a CoreTrustSeal Certified Repository of metadata and data that describes and provides access to diverse data sets generated by Arctic and Antarctic researchers. The metadata records follow International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 19115 and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) standard formats to provide exchange with other data centres. The records cover a wide range of disciplines from natural sciences and policy, to health and social sciences.
The Polar Data Catalogue is a member of the Canadian Polar Data Consortium (CPDC), formerly the Canadian Consortium for Arctic Data Interoperability (CCADI). Founded in 2015, the CCADI is a collaboration among Canadian Arctic data centres with the common goal of providing ethically open, accessible, and comprehensive digital resources to the broadest possible audience of data users. The CPDC/CCADI is involved in the development of an integrated Canadian arctic data management system intended to facilitate information discovery, establish sharing standards, and enable interoperability between partner repositories, as well as other data infrastructures.
The Polar Data Catalogue provides a variety of online tools, available to the public and researchers alike, that facilitate the contribution and discovery of essential Arctic and Antarctic research. The Polar Data Catalogue was created by the Canadian Cryospheric Information Network, in conjunction with various collaborators and partners, and it is hosted by the University of Waterloo. Support for the Polar Data Catalogue is provided by a variety of partner organizations, listed below.
Looking for Help? Check out the updated PDC Help Manual or try the PDC YouTube Channel for helpful demos and tutorials.
Looking for Metadata or Data from the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan? Visit the new NGMP Explorer interactive discovery tool for NGMP records.
Metadata API: You can easily harvest PDC Metadata using our Metadata API. Both JSON and XML formats are available. Documentation and examples are also provided.
PDC Explorer: Try using our Interactive Visualization to discover PDC metadata and datasets.
PDC Book Chapter: Polar Research Data Management now available in Library and Information Sciences in Arctic and Northern Studies.
CCIN provides research data management services and infrastructure for the Canadian Arctic and Antarctic research and monitoring communities.
CCIN/PDCFirefox 115, Google Chrome 119, Opera 101, Microsoft Edge 119, and Safari 16
The PDC website and applications may not be available during the daily maintenance window from 9:00pm to 11:00pm Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5:00) / Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4:00).
Version 2.4: Released August 2025