Annexes

Annex I List of Participants

Local Participants:

Secretariat:

Annex II Agenda

This agenda describes the joint sessions of the Commission for Basic Systems (CBS) Working Group on Satellites (WGSAT) with the Global Observing Systems Space Panel (GOSSP). Item 5 was specific to GOSSP.

1. ORGANISATION OF THE JOINT SESSION

1.1 Opening of the Joint Session

1.2 Adoption of the Agenda

1.3 Working Arrangements of the Session

1.4 Election of the Joint Session Chairman

2. CHAIRMEN'S REPORT

3. UPDATE ON GLOBAL OBSERVING SYSTEMS AND WGSAT ACTIVITIES

4. INITIATIVE FOR AN INTEGRATED GLOBAL OBSERVING STRATEGY (IGOS)

5. CONSIDERATION OF THE SPACE PLAN DRAFT

6. REVIEW AND UPDATE OF CURRENT REQUIREMENTS AND INSTRUMENT PERFORMANCES

7. "CRITICAL REVIEW"

8. CONSOLIDATION OF ACTION ITEMS AND FUTURE WORK PROGRAMME

9. CLOSURE

Annex III Terms of Reference

Recognizing the need for a comprehensive approach to the various space-based observational activities for the global observing systems, the JSTC of GCOS, the Joint Scientific and Technical Committee for GOOS (J-GOOS)^[5], and the Steering Committee (SC) for GTOS have established a Global Observing Systems Space Panel (GOSSP).

Terms of Reference:

Based on guidance from the JSTC, J-GOOS, and the SC, the primary tasks of the Panel are:

• To maintain and further develop the plan for the space-based observation components of the global observing systems considering the requirements from the scientific panels;

• To develop, integrate, and promote the space-based observational requirements of the user communities carrying out global studies and providing related advice and services;

• To recommend to the space agencies how these requirements may be met (e.g., through such bodies as the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites or the Coordination Group on Meteorological Satellites);

• To facilitate the participation of the global observing communities, in particular in developing countries, through regional activities;

• To identify and evaluate problems, and advocate solutions;

• To report regularly to the JSTC, GOOS, and GTOS SC.

The GOSSP will be the focus for exploiting space systems in meeting the objectives of the global observing systems. The Panel must continually refine, update, and interpret the implications of the requirements of the user communities carrying out global studies, and provide related advice in terms of space instruments and satellite pay loads flown by the data providing agencies.

Chairman: Mr. John Morgan

Annex IV Space Plan, Version 2.0, Draft Outline

Tentative Chapter Headings and Actions were presented at the meeting. The GCOS Joint Planning Office suggested an approach to guide the Panel through the discussion of the revision, and to provide some simplifications to the structure of the document.

Basically, it is proposed that the plan should consist of two sections. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 are relatively general, and with some modifications, could provide a focused discussion of the overall strategy. This first section would therefore be a relatively permanent one, stating the overall aims and purposes of the space plan, describing key aspects of the G3OS, providing the adequate background for the process used to obtain user requirements and to compare them with agency missions and plans, and indicating the mechanisms whereby the plan is maintained in a current state.

The second section would contain integrated recommendations from the user groups, the specific evaluation of the space agency missions which are relevant to them and the recommendations for actions. This section will be constantly under review and will be subject to frequent updates and modifications. It is proposed that it appear in a "loose-leaf" format.

Both printed and electronic versions will be available.

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 The G3OS Space Strategy

Chapter 3 The G3OS Themes

The next two chapters require frequent update, therefore it is suggested that they be done in a "loose-leaf" and electronic version, where the information may be modified and updated conveniently.

Chapter 4 The G3OS Space Requirements

Chapter 5 The Space Agency Missions

Chapter 6 The Analysis Method

Chapter 7 Enhancement for Developing Country Needs

Chapter 8 Conclusions

Annex V Virtual Task Groups

The Panel decided to set-up Virtual Task Groups to work intersessionally. Panel attendees and representatives of other science groups will be invited to participate.

The messages will automatically be resent to the following lists:

(The GCOS office will get a copy of your correspondence.)

Task Group I: Maintain the Space Plan

Email: [email protected]

Task Group II: Observational Requirements of the User Communities

Email: [email protected]

J. Withrow (IOC) as contact point for the ocean community: [email protected]

N. Andersen (Chairman HOTO) - not in the list

N. Flemming (Chairman ad hoc Coastal Panel) - not in the list

G. Grise (OSLR,re LMR) - not in the list

N. Smith (Chairman OOPC) - not in the list

Task Group III: Moderating between G3OS and the space community

Email: [email protected]

Task Group IV: Facilitate Activity in Support of Developing Countries

Email: [email protected]

Annex VI Proposed Initial IGOS Implementation Projects

The IGOS Strategic Implementation Team (SIT) agreed at its first meeting in Irvine, California, February 1997, on six key issues, as the basis for developing project statements for prototype activities. The Irvine reports includes a table listing the proposed initial IGOS implementation projects. The slightly expanded version for each of the proposed projects has been produced by the SIT:

Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment

Issue: Need an integrated suite of remote (and direct) measurements of the ocean for real-time assimilation, interpretation and application. The project will provide a regular, global depiction of the ocean circulation, from climate down to ocean eddy scales, consistent with the measurements and appropriate and physical constraints.

Tools Needed: Real-time satellite data stream; global in situ observing system; assimilation to exploit integrated data stream; models and computer for production and output; high band-width communications.

Partners: GOOS/GCOS/WCRP OOPC, CNES, ESA, NASA, EUMETSAT, NOAA, NASDA.

Products/Results: Global analyses/forecasts based on limited models, data streams; global products at reduced resolution (time and space); global hindcasts based on past remote sensing and in situ data; global eddy-resolving analyses with reduced physics, dynamics, assimilation; some regional analyses/forecasts based on enhanced data models.

Upper Air Measurements Including Upper Air Network and Tropospheric Winds from Space

Issue: Ground-based radiosonde observations and omega sondes are being reduced and could impact numerical weather prediction models.

Tools Needed: In situ and satellite data of tropospheric winds and profiles of temperature and specific humidity.

Partners: WMO, EC, NOAA, ESA. NASA, CNES, EUMETSAT.

Products/Results: New/improved satellite-derived products assimilated into operational models.

Long-Term Continuity of Ozone Measurements

Issue: No long-term strategy for continuity of stratospheric ozone observations.

Tools Needed: Space and ground-based measurements of total ozone and vertical profiles. Ground-based measurements of both ozone and spectrally resolved surface UV. Space-based full daily global coverage total ozone; vertical profiles of ozone, other species, temperature.

Partners: WMO/IPCC, ESA, NASA, EUMETSAT, CNES, NOAA, NASDA, ASI, CSA/AES.

Products/Results: Commitment by identified agencies to long-term total ozone and ozone vertical profile measurements and data exchange.

Global Observation for Forest Cover

Issue: Monitoring of forest cover and its changes is essential to a variety of issues including land cover change, biodiversity, renewable energy resources, and more. There is no systematic plan for routine acquisition and analysis of data on global forest cover from optical and microwave satellites.

Tools Needed: Optical and microwave imaging satellites (already in existence and planned); acquisition stations and processing facilities.

Partners: GCOS/GTOS TOPC, IGBP LULC, EC, FAO, CSA/CCRS, INPE, ESA, NASA, CNES, EUMETSAT, ASI NASDA, NOAA.

Products/Results: Database of georeferenced high resolution data with periodic systematic coverage of all forested areas globally; periodic analysis of change on regional and global scale.

Long-Term Ocean Biology Measurements

Issue: Multiple ocean colour sensors in operation and planned; need coordinated strategy to support data needs for scientific studies of ocean biogeochemical and ecosystem processes.

Tools Needed: Satellite and in situ observations, coordinated calibration/validation campaign.

Partners: GOOS, IOC, EC, NASDA, NASA, CSA, ESA, NOAA, CNES, WGISS, WGCV.

Products/Results: Internationally coordinated calibration/validation programme to understand regional influences and variations in the ocean environment; integrated database with in situ and satellite data; multi-sensor data streams and products.

Disaster Monitoring and Management Support

Issue: Earth observation satellite data is not being fully utilised to support disaster prediction, monitoring, and mitigation on a worldwide basis.

Tools Needed: Information systems to locate, acquire, re-format as necessary, and deliver Earth observation satellite data products rapidly to emergency response authorities; improved understanding of the requirements of emergency response authorities.

Partners: NOAA, EC, ESA, BNSC, ASI, STA/NASDA, NASA, CSA, CNES, WGISS.

Products/Results: Work with subset of agencies with broad geographic responsibility to develop an initial requirements and capabilities profile for the contribution of Earth observation satellite data and to implement a capabilities demonstration.

Annex VII List of Applications

A. GOSSP APPLICATIONS

The panel agreed upon the following list of application to be used for GOSSP. The closed circle signifies that the application is a major focus in one or more of the three areas (atmosphere, land, ocean), whereas the open circle indicates only a contributing effect. This list of applications resulted from the three ad hoc groups at the meeting. The specific group applications have been mapped into the GOSSP applications

Major Focus Contributing Effect

B. TERRESTRIAL APPLICATIONS

The "Land" ad hoc group developed the following list of applications for terrestrial use. Participants of "Land" ad hoc group were: J. Cihlar, A. Bassolé, J. Townshend, D. Williams

· Ecosystem Productivity and Sustainability (short title: Ecosystem productivity)

Includes both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. For terrestrial ecosystems it covers: 1) the productivity of terrestrial ecosystems defined in terms of biomass increase over a time interval; and 2) sustainability, described as the ability of the ecosystems to maintain the functions and processes of growth, development, and renewal characteristic of that ecosystem type at the present time. Together, these measures reflect the ability of the ecosystem to remain viable over the long term.

· Land use and sustainable development planning (short title: Sustainable land use)

Characterisation of the present land use and the potential for land development that can be sustained over time.

· Hydrological resources assessment (short title: Hydrological resources)

Use of G3OS data for the inventory and assessment of the terrestrial hydrological resources. Includes issues of water quantity and quality, seasonal and interannual variability or trends, natural (soil moisture, wetlands) and artificial (reservoirs) sources, and availability for various types of use. Both surface and ground water resources are included.

· Greenhouse gas trend assessment (short title: GHG trend)

Evaluating and quantifying the role of terrestrial ecosystems in the cycle of GHGs and their change over time. The emphasis is on the natural sources and sinks of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other gases which interact with vegetation for carbon uptake or release); and on processes that are likely to change in response to human activities or to a changing climate.

· Biodiversity and ecosystem health

Includes both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. For terrestrial ecosystems it refers to the diversity of the ecosystem at the gene, species and landscape levels (with emphasis on the latter two), and to the status of the ecosystem in comparison with a similar fully-functioning, vigorous one.

· Climate trend assessment

Evaluation of the change of climate through its effects on the terrestrial ecosystems. Uses the record of cryospheric, hydrologic, and biospheric processes or phenomena.

The six application areas found by the "Land" group map into the G3OS objectives as indicated with an "X". Further, the group indicated the scope of the applications.

C. OCEAN APPLICATIONS

The ad hoc group "Ocean" presented a list of eight applications and examples. Participants were: N. Hoepffner, J. Johannessen, M. Lefebvre, K. Ohta, M. Ono, P. Ryder, T. Spence, S. Viktorov, J. Withrow.

• Hazard Mitigation
  Tsunamis, Iceberg, Storm Survey
• Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health
  Waste disposal, Habitat Destruction (N.B. there is need of a new entry for "coral growth")
• Marine Productivity
  Fisheries, Aquaculture
• Transport Services
  Ship Routing, Port Operational Prediction Service
• Coastal Zone Management
  Efficient Off-Shore Operational Prediction Service, Erosion, Land-Surface Fluxes can be included
• Improvement and Use of Deterministic Ocean Models
• Climate Model Validation
  El-NiZo-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)
• Climate Assessment
  Carbon Dioxide Uptake, Variation of Currents

D. ATMOSPHERE APPLICATIONS

The ad hoc "Atmosphere" group worked out a list of five applications. Members of the group were: D. Croom, J. Hawkins, A. Karpov, D. Mitchell, J. Morgan, C. Richter, R. Schiffer.

• Green House Gases Trend
• Climate Impacts
• Climate Modelling (Boundary, Initialisation, Validation)
• Seasonal / Inter-Annual Prediction
• Climate Trend Assessment

Annex VIII Methodology to Identify Requirements

Dr Cihlar suggested the following procedure for a systematic and consistent way of defining G3OS requirements as an input into the GOSSP/CEOS analysis.

Step 1: Finalise the list and definitions of the twelve "Applications" (Annex VII):

and for the CEOS prototype projects (Annex VI):

Step 2: Finalise the list of variables required by each G3OS panel and provide definitions for all the variables in geophysical terms. The list and draft definitions for the terrestrial, atmospheric and oceanic "Applications" can be found in Annex VII.

Step 3: Categorise each variable into one of four types:

(1) Target:

Variable giving the final information for an application or an important stand-alone data set for an application, e.g., net primary productivity;

(2) Input:

Variable needed as an input into an 'earth system model', a generic term referring to models which produce the target variable, (e.g., leaf area index);

(3) Ancillary:

Variable used to specify/correct measured variable (e.g., atmospheric optical depth);

(4) Measured:

Variable actually measured ( e.g., spectral radiance).

If more than one category applies for an application, use the most relevant (i.e., the primary use for that variable) to identify the category.

Step 4: Identify the applications (Annex VII) for which each variable is required. A variable may be needed for one or more applications, and/or it may be needed as an input in conjunction with other variables. Typically (especially in the case of satellite data), target variables will be required for one or more applications; input variables will be required by target variables; ancillary and measured variables will be required by input variables. No distinction is made at this step. The intent is to clarify the reasons for wanting that variable so that its characteristics may be defined in a rational way (see next step).

Step 5: For each variable define five observational characteristics and two classes. The characteristics are:

(i) Horizontal Resolution (Hor):

The horizontal resolution is intended to mean sampling distance, which is perhaps the most familiar concept to the user (average distance between observing stations in remote sensing or the integration distance). Specification of significant/integration distance is not requested at this stage. In the case of images, horizontal resolution is agreed to mean the pixel size. In the case of parameters of fractal nature observed in images, horizontal resolution is agreed to mean the image resolution. In the case of products or images oversampled in respect of the integration distance, the integration (not sampling) distance has to be quoted.

(ii) Vertical Resolution (Ver):

The vertical resolution also is intended as vertical sampling distance, with the same understanding as above in respect of the vertical significant/integration distance.

(iii) Cycle (Cyc):

The observing cycle is intended to mean the required interval between two successive global coverages (including the equatorial regions), i.e., the time needed for the whole Earth surface to be provided with at least one observation each grid square of size equal to the horizontal resolution, and with the specific accuracy. Again, this is not the integration time for taking a single measurement. If a parameter is going to be used after time integration or other filtering processes over several measurements (e.g., daily radiation budget reconstructed by integrating hourly measurements), the observing cycle has to refer to the measurements.

(iv) Timeliness (Time):

Timeliness describes the delay between satellite observation of the area concerned, and the availability of the processed geophysical parameter for distribution to the user.

(v) Accuracy (Acc):

The accuracy is intended to be the root mean square difference between the observed and the true values, i.e., inclusive of both random and systematic errors. If there is a particular reason to require that the systematic error (bias) is specifically controlled, two separate figures could be specified: standard deviation and bias. Provision for two values is also foreseen in cases when the parameter has been specified with two facets (e.g., wave period and direction), or actually requires two figures (e.g., horizontal and vertical accuracy of topography). For images or features, accuracy is not applicable. For parameters of fractal nature, accuracy is accuracy of location. For parameters resulting from classification processes, accuracy is the number of recognisable classes. It is recommended to use proper physical units, not percentages as far as possible. Where accuracy is expressed in percentage error, this will be understood to mean that there is no requirement for absolute calibration. The figure quoted for accuracy must be consistent with those quoted for horizontal and vertical resolution, i.e., the figure must be valid for a product sampled at that horizontal/vertical distance.

The two classes are:

(a) Optimal Requirement:

The optimised (or "necessary") requirement is the value which, if exceeded, would not yield significant improvements in performance for the application in question. Therefore the cost of improving the observations beyond this requirements would not be matched by a corresponding benefit. Optimal requirements are likely to evolve; as applications progress, they develop a capacity to make use of better observations.

(b) Threshold requirement:

The threshold (or "minimal") requirement is the value below which the observation would not yield any significant benefit for the application in question (or below which the benefit derived would not compensate for the additional cost involved in using the observation). Assessment of minimal requirement for any given observing system is complicated by assumptions concerning which other observing systems are likely to be available. It may be unrealistic to try to state the minimal requirement in an absolute sense, because the very existence of a given application relies on the existence of a basic observing capability.

The following tables (Table I and Table II) give examples of how the variables of a specific heritage, (i.e., GCOS, GTOS, GOOS, GOSSP) can be assigned to the different application areas 1-12 or IGOS projects a-f.

Table I illustrates the assignment of required parameters to one of the four "Types", for a specific application area, e.g., (1) Ecosystem productivity.

Table II, compiled by Dr Cihlar, demonstrates the assignment of the required parameters to the "Type", for a CEOS project, e.g, (d) Forest Cover. Shaded cells indicate numbers need to be specified.

Terrestrial Requirements List

The next table (Table III), compiled by Dr Cihlar, contains all variables as required by the TOPC, where space observations can provide input. They have been assigned to relevant applications areas 1-12, as indicated by the numbers. Some "input" variables are directly related to "target" variables, which indicates that "target" variables still need a clear definition. Shaded cells indicate those items needing to be filled in, (e.g. accuracy formats to be clarified, or existing numbers requiring further discussion).

Ocean Requirements List

The following list is the result coming from the ad hoc "ocean" group", based on the list of requirements documented in the WMO stand-alone:

Atmosphere Requirements List

The following list is the result coming from the ad hoc "atmosphere" group. The variables for the application area "Climate Modelling", indicated by the number 10, were divided into "validation" (v), "boundary (b)" and "initialisation (i)" conditions. The requirements are documented in the WMO stand-alone database.