Recent advance in polar seismology: Global impact of the International Polar Year.

The most exciting initiative for the recent polar studies was the International Polar Year (IPY) in 2007–2008. The IPY has witnessed a growing community of seismologists who have made considerable efforts to acquire high-quality data in polar regions. It also provided an excellent opportunity to make significant advances in seismic instrumentation of the polar regions to achieve scientific targets involving global issues. Taking these aspects into account, we organize and publish a special issue in Polar Science on the recent advance in polar seismology and cryoseismology as fruitful achievements of the IPY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]