3.1.1 The Director of the GCOS Joint Planning Office (JPO), Dr Spence, gave an overview of GCOS and its relation to the G3OS. To meet GCOS objectives, the GCOS plans to take a comprehensive view of the observational requirements for climate information, and address the required observations from the atmosphere, ocean, land surface, and cryosphere. GCOS includes surface-based and space-based observations, and a comprehensive data strategy.
3.1.2 The GCOS is planned as a phased programme, building upon the present observational activities of the operational and research programmes of the participating countries. For the atmosphere, a close coordination with ongoing WMO programmes has begun, including the World Weather Watch, the Global Atmosphere Watch, and operational hydrology programmes. Recommendations are being made for enhancements and new observations which should be done, in concert with existing programmes, to ensure the climate needs are met. In a similar fashion for the ocean, the GCOS programme is co-operating with the IOC in its efforts to establish a Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). For Terrestrial Systems a joint work with the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS) is underway.
3.1.3 The detailed scientific plans for GCOS have considered the full scope of issues, including the requirements of users, the contributions of existing research and operational programmes and data systems, and the participation of both international and national organisations. With the completion of its plans and documents in 1995, GCOS entered a new phase in 1996, that of implementation. The initial implementation of GCOS has stressed observations to improve seasonal to interannual predictions of climate. It is expected that as GCOS continues to be implemented, countries will see benefits not only from improved seasonal to interannual climate predictions but in planning for sustainable development and in assessing the impacts of climate change on both agricultural and natural ecosystems.
3.1.4 Development of overall strategies for observations of the Earth system have received considerable attention over the last two years. Most attention has been paid to space-based observations, but of comparable importance is the wide variety of in situ observations made at the surface of the Earth and in its atmosphere and oceans. The GCOS Upper-Air Network (GUAN), as an example of an existing Global Observing System, was successfully implemented in 1996.
3.2.1 The Director of the GOOS Support Office, Dr Summerhayes, reported on GOOS and gave an overview of its activities. GOOS is a system based on long-term monitoring for providing detailed nowcasts and forecasts of ocean conditions for the benefit of coastal states and marine users. It is based on the notion that improvements of just 1-2% in the efficiency of marine and coastal operations, which could be achieved through more detailed marine observations, at a cost of up to US$ 1 billion would lead to annual savings of US$ 8-10 billion, for a benefit to cost ration of 10:1 globally. This excludes the benefits to agriculture, and the energy and water supply industries from improved weather and climate forecasts based on imposed marine data.
3.2.2 GOOS is being implemented in 5 phases: (1) planning, (2) pilot projects, (3) integration with pre-existing systems, (4) full system implementation and (5) performance monitoring and improvement. Planning culminates this year. GOOS is preparing for a "Heads of Agencies" meeting in summer 1998 to gain commitments to GOOS by the nations which will implement it. GOOS centrally, through the GOOS Project Office and GOOS Steering Committee, will guide design, set standards, coordinate and oversee implementation, providing some essential services like a Data and Information Management Service for the benefit of developing states. Planning initially focused on four customer groups: coastal, climate, living marine resources, and health of the ocean. All have some requirement for space-based data.
3.2.3 A data and information management policy is being developed for GOOS with GCOS and GTOS through the Joint Data and Information Management Panel (JDIMP). The Director stated that GOOS is not just about the delivery of data, although that is all that some users may need. GOOS is based on the production line or end to end concept in which data flow and products are integrated. It involves the collection of data to provide services and products that nations really need. For that reason GOOS is looking at the provision of products and services, current and future, and asking the question: how does the service infrastructure have to be improved to achieve GOOS ?
3.2.4 The Director noted that GOOS needs a Space Plan, hence the involvement in GOSSP. GOOS is also interested in working with CEOS in the development of an Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS). In this context GOOS is promoting, through the GCOS/GOOS/World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Ocean Observation Panel for Climate (OOPC), a Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) to learn how to assimilate masses of satellite data and other in situ data into advanced numerical models. GODAE is also one of CEOS's pilot projects. GOOS will promote the development of advanced global ocean models through the GOOS Core System.
3.2.5 GOOS is already being implemented through national and regional efforts in pilot projects that are practical demonstrations of how GOOS could or should work. It is hoped that success breeds success and that, seeing working projects, other nations will want to join. In the North East Asian Region, NEAR-GOOS is involved in a project of data exchange between Russia, Japan, Korea, and China. In Europe, 22 operational agencies from 14 countries have banded together to form the EuroGOOS Association through which six pilot projects are being developed for launch in the near future: Baltic, Arctic, Mediterranean, Black Sea, North West Shelf and Atlantic. In the Tropical Pacific the Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean (TAO) array of moorings for El-NiZo-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) prediction, led by the USA, is a climate component of GOOS. So too is the Pilot Research Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA), led by Brazil. In the USA five coastal GOOS Pilot Projects are being developed. Thus by early 1998 there should be 15 or 16 active GOOS Pilot projects, including GODAE. These projects will be linked by the previously existing bits of a global observing system provided by the IOC's International Ocean Data Exchange (IODE) network of data centres, and the IOC-World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Integrated Global Ocean Services System programme (IGOSS) of collecting expendable bathythermograph (XBT) and other data, and the Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) programme.
3.2.6 One of GOOS prime functions is to involve developing states in GOOS to gain a complete global network. The development of a GOOS Space Plan linked to a GOOS Data and Information Management Plan is crucial to help developing nations participate in and benefit from GOOS. One of the key tasks through the Data and Information Management Service is to help developing states see what data is available to them, and how to use it to develop products of value to decisions makers. GOOS hopes to persuade a consortium of developed world states and space agencies to fund this service. Training courses may well be a key part in this service.
3.2.7 Mr Withrow supplemented this overview of GOOS activities in the past and emphasised the value of updating requirements for space observations.
3.3.1 The member of the Steering Committee (SC) for GTOS, Mr Bassolé, reported on GTOS activities. Since its first meeting held in Rome (FAO) in December 1996, the Steering Committee has been working, together with the Secretariat, at setting up the framework for an efficient evolution of the GTOS towards its goal. The SC meeting established working groups to cover several issues of interest to the GTOS. The SC also decided to have SC members representing the GTOS on joint panels involving the other global observing systems, namely GOOS, the Joint Data and Information Management Panel (JDIMP), GOSSP and the Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate (TOPC). On a voluntary basis, members of the SC joined the various working groups, whose leaders were given the responsibility to prepare draft terms of reference to be discussed in order to serve as guidelines for defining the objectives and activities assigned to each working group. This task has been carried out since the SC meeting.
3.3.2 Another topic of importance is the development of a GTOS implementation plan. A draft of such a plan, proposed by the working group on implementation, was presented and discussed recently during a coordination meeting that took place in Rome, in May 1997. A new version of the implementation plan that came out of this meeting is expected to be distributed soon to all the SC members for comments.
3.3.3 Variables for climate have been defined on global and regional scales and corresponding measurements have been identified. Work still has to be done to identify requirements for water resources, pollution and toxicity, loss of biodiversity and land degradation. Of great importance are in-situ measurements. The Global Hierarchical Observing Strategy (GHOST) concept will be discussed at a meeting on in-situ network representatives in June 1997.
3.3.4 Since the last meeting, SC members have been reporting to the Secretariat of the GTOS the existence of potential sites or networks in their respective geographical area, whose data might be relevant for the objectives of the GTOS. This will serve as the basis for the core data source of the GTOS.
3.3.5 The Director of the GCOS JPO informed the panel, that GTOS was represented on GOSSP by Mr Bassolé, Dr Cihlar, Chairman of the TOPC, and Dr Janetos, who was not able to attend this meeting.
3.4.1 The Chairman of WGSAT, Dr Eyre, gave an overview of activities since WGSAT-II. At that meeting the relational database on user requirements and instrument performances developed by the WMO secretariat was endorsed. It was recommended to have a regular review and update ("rolling review") of the database. At the CEOS Task Force on long-term Planning and Analysis meeting in September 1996, the group established an Internet on-line database at ESRIN which recorded user and space agencies requirements. The CEOS Plenary, held in November 1996, decided on a database reconciliation meeting to resolve differences between the on-line and stand-alone databases. This reconciliation meeting was held in January 1997[2]. The CEOS Members and users reviewed the list of parameters, which led to an up-date of the database in February 1997. The database manual will serve as the reference for stating requirements and satellite system information until the beginning of 1998. Since March 1997 a mechanism for the on-line and stand-alone database to achieve a common data set has been available. An action still to be completed is to find an effective control mechanism to update and review the common databases.
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[2] "CEOS Database
Reconciliation Meeting Report", WMO Headquarters, Geneva, 23-24 January 1997,
(available through the GCOS Joint Planning Office). |
