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7. Status of Glaciers, Permafrost, Hydrology and Ecology Networks


In addition to discussing specific issues regarding the further development of individual networks (see Sections 7.1. through 7.4), participants also prepared input to a concise description of each network as required for the SBSTA/COP process. These descriptions were subsequently finalised and are attached as VIII.

7.1 Glaciers

Dr Roger Barry reported on the status and progress of the glacier network:

During the past year, the glacier network (GTN-G) was formally established following preparations at TOPC-IV and subsequent actions which included contacts with national agencies, definition of observation and reporting guidelines, and organisation of the invitations sent to individual countries.

Twenty-eight countries have so far agreed to participate in GTN-G (Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, China, CIS, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greenland/Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, Uzbekistan). GTN-G includes annual glacier length measurements at about 500 sites, and annual mass balance measurements on a subset of about 60 glaciers. The observations will be published on the web at the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) and the mirror site at the World Data Center-A for Glaciology: WGMS web: <http://www.geo.unizh.ch/wgms>. WDC-A/NSIDC web: http://www-nsidc.colorado.edu/NOAA/wgms_inventory/.

During the year, TOPC members have been exploring various possibilities for an enhancement of global glacier observations and for further development of GTN-G: closer association of the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) project with GTN-G (see 7.1.4); identification of gaps in the surface networks and ways of filling these; and streamlining of reporting and quality control procedures for glacier information.

Dr Kargel described the GLIMS project’s objectives, current status, the planning of an international collaboration involving regional GLIMS coordinating centres, the status of products development and validation, and the possibilities for an integration of GLIMS into GTN-G (GLIMS web: http://www.flag.wr.usgs.gov/GLIMS). The project addresses a major limitation of the present GTN-G, namely lack of spatially representative information. Subject to funding, the GLIMS project aims to produce an inventory of up to 95 percent of the world's estimated 160,000 glaciers by 2005 (currently only about 67,000 glaciers are in the World Glacier Inventory), assuming that the needed Terra-ASTER satellite data start becoming available in 2000. Three glacier parameters will be measured every one to five years, depending on data availability: total length, total area, and ablation area (displacement). The use of new technologies will also be explored to obtain displacement, glacier motion tracking, and elevation information using active satellite optical and microwave sensors. The information obtained from the satellite-derived products and related field data will be placed in the WDC-A for Glaciology.

TOPC discussed the status of GTN-G, link with GLIMS, and the need for national inputs regarding glacier observations. It highlighted the importance of GTN-G and GLIMS for a comprehensive global monitoring of glaciers. Given the relevance of glacier observations to climate as well as freshwater supply, glacier monitoring should be an important part of an eventual IGOS-P terrestrial theme. For this reason and given the progress made by both GTN-G and GLIMS, GTOS should consider developing plans for long-term, sustained glacier observations.

Glacier observations would logically form a part of the ‘terrestrial’ theme proposed for IGOS-P (refer also to Section 2). However, other terrestrial issues are not as advanced, and the definition of the entire terrestrial theme appears premature. This suggests that sustained glacier observations might best be developed as a component in its own right, to be incorporated in the terrestrial theme in due course, as the latter develops.

The following recommendations are made:

Recommendation 7.1: Given the potential of GLIMS to provide a fundamental enhancement to the global capability for glacier monitoring, the following actions should be taken:

Recommendation 7.2: That the process initiated by COP-4 be used to increase the comprehensiveness of GTN-G coverage (refer to Section 7.1).

Recommendation 7.3: It is recommended that based on the results and experience from GLIMS, glacier monitoring be incorporated in the terrestrial theme of IGOS-P when the latter is being defined.

7.2 Permafrost

Over the past year, TOPC has been working with the International Permafrost Association (IPA) to establish a global network for permafrost observations, GTN-P. Dr Jerry Brown, Member of the IPA Executive Committee, reported on the progress made and the current status.Two frozen ground variables were identified as part of the cryosphere component (Global Climate Observing System, 1997):

In 1998, IPA established an ad hoc steering committee to develop a strategy for the organisation, implementation and management of a global monitoring network and service for active layer and borehole temperature monitoring. Membership included: Jerry Brown (IPA), Wilfried Haeberli (World Glacier Monitoring Service), Roger Barry (World Data Center-A for Glaciology), Frederick E. Nelson (University of Delaware), and Margo Burgess (Geological Survey of Canada). The group prepared and submitted to GCOS a strategy and implementation report. Based on the report GCOS Steering Committee endorsed the Global Terrestrial Network-Permafrost (GTN-P) in February, 1999 and requested that IPA implement the GTN-P to serve the needs of GCOS and GTOS.

Important uses and users of permafrost data include: research and modelling (e.g. carbon cycle, gas hydrate, paleoclimate, GCM input); IPCC assessments; GCM validation; engineering/geotechnical uses (e.g. roads, pipelines); government agencies and organisations (e.g. transport, energy, mines, hydropower, municipal planning); hydrocarbon/mineral industries (e.g. exploration and development); land management; water resources; water supply and treatment; and the handling of contaminants.

Parts of the GTN-P are already in place through national and regionally funded projects. Under the coordination of IPA, active layer measurements are being obtained at about 80 sites in the Northern Hemisphere as part of the Circumpolar Active-Layer Monitoring (CALM) network. The United States National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded CALM web site developed at the University of Cincinnati contains site descriptions, data summaries, and sampling protocols. The European Community project Permafrost and Climate Change in Europe (PACE) has begun to instrument a series of nine permafrost boreholes in mountains from Spain and Italy to Svalbard. A PACE renewal proposal under the Global Observation Systems Key Action of the 5th Framework is in preparation for a January 2000 submission. Web sites support each programme or recently designated subnetworks (see table in Appendix VII):

What remains to be accomplished is the development of a globally comprehensive network of permafrost borehole temperature measurements, building on past and current programmes. An action plan has been developed (Appendix VII) to put in place for the 21st century a standardised set of site measurements that will conform to the requirements defined by TOPC (Global Climate Observing System, 1997).

In order to gain national commitments for continued site measurements, GCOS is requested to send letters of invitation to individual countries. Although the GCOS criteria require commitments to ensure sustained observations, this will not always be possible in all countries, particularly for sites where standard equipment is unavailable and/or support is required for site visits. For this reason it is also proposed to assist in starting up a limited number of representative sites in Argentina, China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia.

Recent related IPA activities include compilation and publication of a new permafrost map (1:10,000,000), preparation of a CD-Rom (refer to the GOSIC web site under GTOS - Cryosphere), publication of the news bulletin Frozen Ground, establishment of several web sites, coordination among the eight IPA working groups and the 23 national members, preparation for the 7th International Conference on Permafrost held in Yellowknife, Canada, June 1998, and liaison with numerous international organisations. A resolution was passed in Yellowknife supporting the GCOS/GTOS terrestrial networks and its inclusion in the IPA CALM network as well as in the Permafrost and Climate in Europe (PACE) projects. Appendix VII provides further information on the GTN-P background.

TOPC discussed the progress report and the need for reporting on national activities. It commended IPA and Dr Brown on the progress achieved over the last year and the formulation of ambitious future plans, and made the following specific recommendations.

Recommendation 7.4: TOPC recommends that GCOS/GTOS send out invitations to countries to participate in GTN-P, based on the plans developed by IPA.

Recommendation 7.5: TOPC recommends that the borehole sites be identified in GTN-P as part of the measurement of the thermal state parameter.

Recommendation 7.6: TOPC recommends that once initial sets of sites (active layer and boreholes) are identified they be entered into the GTN database (refer to Section 11).

Recommendation 7.7: TOPC encourages GTN-P to continue improving the network, the comprehensiveness of its geographic and temporal coverage (with priority emphasis on mountain and plateau regions of Eurasia and South America), and its long-term viability and functioning, along the lines of the action plan developed (refer to Appendix VII).

Recommendation 7.8: TOPC endorsed IPA and GTN-P initiatives in recovery of data in digital form, including soil temperature observations in Asia and historical permafrost borehole data.

7.3 Hydrology

Dr Landwehr reported on the progress in establishing mechanisms for acquiring and accessing global hydrological data sets for GCOS/GTOS purposes:

As a follow-up to TOPC-IV item 12.6.1. (Information Dissemination), Dr Landwehr made a presentation at the IUGG99 conference taking place at Birmingham University, in the IAHS workshop HW1 “Global Data Bases” (cosponsored by WMO, IGBP-BAHC, ICASVR, ICWQ, ICSW, ICCE, and the IAHS/WMO Joint Working Group). The talk was entitled “A Review of Global Hydrologic Data Sets in Relation to the GCOS/GTOS Plan for Terrestrial Climate-Related Observations. This was accompanied by a posting of GTOS and GCOS materials and reports for the duration of this workshop. The presentation highlighted the work of TOPC and its interest in developing a global hydrologic multivariable data set that meets needs of both researchers and managers. During the IUGG and IAHS meetings contacts were made with members of other groups attempting to develop global hydrologic data systems for their respective purposes, including GRDC, WHYCOS, FRIENDS, and the newly evolving HELP.

The limited progress that has been made toward the development of a TOPC hydrologic network following the initial identification of variables of interest (Global Climate Observing System, 1997) reflects the nature of hydrologic information availability. Although there is an increasing call for global information by many groups with a climate change focus, such as IPCC, as well as groups with global change concerns such as IGBP and various UN agencies, the global availability of hydrologic information is diminishing. Hydrologic measurements are made primarily to address the operational concerns of regional and national hydrologic services. These observational networks have not been established primarily to satisfy climate or research objectives, but rather are funded for purposes of water resources assessment. Thus, global hydrological data are highly heterogeneous in quality, with a diverse pedigree, and from a multiplicity of sources.

The number of hydrological data sources is decreasing. Although the cost relative to satellite systems may seem small, the staffing and sustained funding of the in situ networks is difficult to maintain. Presentations at the 1999 IUGG meetings have highlighted reductions of the observational systems, in developed as well as developing countries and in countries with rapidly changing economic conditions, such as those of the former Soviet Union. Furthermore, the access to existing hydrological data is diminishing for several reasons. First, many countries view information about water resources to be a matter of national security and do not wish to share this information. Secondly, as governments are searching for new sources of revenue to finance activities historically considered to be “for the common good”, many regional and national authorities treat hydrological data in particular as a commercial commodity. A reflection of the severity of the problem of access is attested to by the passage of Resolution 25 by WMO Congress XIII in May, 1999, pertaining to the exchange of hydrological data and products. In addition, there is an overall concern regarding the privatisation of scientific information.

In the 1997 report (Global Climate Observing System, 1997), TOPC identified seven variables to be of primarily hydrologic concern: surface water discharge, surface water storage fluxes, groundwater storage fluxes, precipitation, evapotranspiration, relative humidity, and transport of biogeochemical materials from land to ocean. Two other variables identified, soil moisture and snow water equivalent, also have important hydrological dimensions. Furthermore, water use should be added to better assess the impact of climate change on water resources. Unlike the other nine above variables which are primarily of a physical nature, water use arises from socio-economic causes and is critical to assessing climate change and human activity as an agent of global change.

There is no single global entity that serves as a data center for the above variables, nor is there a single national or regional agency that monitors each of these variables within a region or a nation. Thus, the assembly of an adequate global information base will be a significant challenge.

HELP (Hydrology for Environment, Life and Policy) is a new global initiative currently being organised under the auspices of WMO and the UNESCO IHP (International Hydrological Programme), as a parallel effort to the IHP FRIEND programme. HELP is envisioned to be a field-oriented programme of research, addressing questions about hydrological catchment processes at the mesoscale, but the research questions will be specifically motivated by societal needs. HELP's intention is to formally bring together water policy specialists and water resources managers with members of the hydrological research community. HELP plans to develop strong ties with the modelling and remote sensing communities, and the initial terms of reference recommended that HELP should also be closely interfaced with other global programmes such as the WCRP/GEWEX, ICSU/IGBP, other UN agencies, non-governmental organisations, international programmes and the World Water Council's Vision on Water, Life and Environment in the 21st Century. Close ties between HELP and GTOS and GCOS are desirable because of the shared need to develop global information that will satisfy both scientific and policy management needs.

Dr Kuma discussed the case for improved land hydrological information. For climate prediction, ocean-atmosphere interaction has been recognised to be of primary importance as research-oriented ocean observation networks such as TOGA-TAO array come to an operational phase. It has also been shown by many studies that Eurasian snow amount before the monsoon season is important for the intensity of the Asian Monsoon. The Global Soil Wetness Project conducted under WCRP/GEWEX identified the impact of global soil moisture distribution upon the seasonal climate prediction. Given the recent progress in land surface data assimilation, it will be possible in the next several years to combine in situ observation and satellite passive microwave observation with models to produce the global analysis for soil moisture and snow water equivalent, thus substantially improving seasonal climate prediction. River discharge data provide a powerful validation tool for global analyses. The success in seasonal climate prediction will yield large national benefits for agricultural, water management, and other user communities. Since improved predictions depend on the availability of observations to the climate modelling institutions, it is in the interest of nations and agencies conducting such observations to make them available for climate analysis and prediction. It is important to note that the relevant in situ observations are already made in many countries and the major problem lies in the exchange of the data. The keys for a successful transition are 1) promotion of the international exchange of operational data and 2) the increased use of the satellite data for the operational land surface analysis.

TOPC noted with satisfaction the adoption of Resolution 25 of the XIIIth Congress of WMO on hydrological data which it regards as an important step in developing a viable global network for hydrological observations. TOPC also welcomed the agreement to put snow cover data on GTS. These are important steps in improving the availability and effectiveness of land hydrological observations for climate analysis and prediction.

TOPC discussed the above issues and made the following recommendations.

Recommendation 7.9: Water use should be added to the list of hydrologic variables to be obtained globally. The USGS model of reporting WATER USE both by political and hydrologic spatial units, for various economic/industrial sectors, on a five-year time step, could be used as an appropriate format.

Recommendation 7.10: GTOS should develop contacts with HELP coordinators to see how programmes could be developed in a coordinated manner.

Recommendation 7.11: GTOS should continue exploring ways of improved availability of snow depth and other observations, and should consider the feasibility of proposing “water theme” in IGOS-P framework.

Dr Cihlar reported on the recommendation by GCOS SC for TOPC to organise, in collaboration with WMO and other organisations as appropriate, an experts meeting on a global hydrological observing system. In establishing such a system, the basic issue is a mechanism that provides hydrological data for a community of users interested in climate change/hydrological processes. This can most effectively be provided by agencies that are in the business of collecting, archiving and making available hydrological data on an operational basis. These include:

Consequently, a suitable initial strategy for GCOS/GTOS could be to ensure that such centres also provide data and products that are needed by GCOS/GTOS, and then assist them in this task in appropriate ways. In practice this means: a) familiarisation with the current programmes of the two centres; b) identification of gaps, problems in collection, etc.; c) agreement on the role of these in GCOS and GTOS,....; d) assistance in the collection and access to original data (including support in establishing new networks, filing gaps, etc. Dr Cihlar noted that this approach met with a broad support within GCOS and GTOS when initially proposed.

Based on the above, TOPC discussed the possible scope and format of such a meeting, and proposed the following:

Meeting objectives

Participants

In principle, two interests need to be represented, hydrological data ‘sources’ and ‘users’:

Format

Venue

TOPC noted with appreciation the offer of the Global Precipitation Climatology Center to host such a meeting, and it felt that the meeting should be held as soon as the preparations can be completed. Realistically, this would likely be in the spring of 2000.

Regarding the experts meeting on hydrological observations, the following recommendation is made.

Recommendation 7.12: TOPC recommends that the meeting on hydrological observations be prepared according to the outline in Section 7.3.6, and an organising committee should be established representing both ‘source’ and ‘use’ agencies.

7.4 Ecology

Prof. Gosz reported on the status of the ecosystems network, GTN-E:

The initial efforts at identifying global sites that could be involved in GTOS resulted in a large database of sites surveyed and entered into the original TEMS database. That list is now outdated and a renewed effort at locating ecological networks was initiated at the meeting of network experts in Guernica, Spain. That meeting reinforced the need for a Global Terrestrial Network (GT-Net) and the 12 networks represented at that meeting became the initial set in the network. Since that time three of those networks have continued their active involvement in GTOS; CERN (China), ECN (the United Kingdom) and LTER (United States). Renewed efforts will be made to contact the other networks (e.g., Fluxnet) to encourage their continued participation.

The Guernica meeting also determined that demonstration projects were critical in developing interest and demonstrating the capabilities of the network. The first demonstration project was identified to be the Net Primary and Ecosystem Productivity (NPP/NEP, refer to Section 4.2) project that will use data from the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite to be launched later this year. It was apparent from that meeting that projects must demonstrate a value to the sites to encourage their participation. In this case, free satellite imagery that can be used to estimate local to regional productivity was the key. Since that meeting, the NPP demonstration project has been promoted at many international meetings with the result that other sites from national and international networks have been added to GT-Net. The International LTER Network (ILTER) which represents 17 countries and over 200 sites voted to participate in GTOS. Other countries are expected to join this network in the near future.

TOPC discussed the progress in the GTN-E development. It supported the addition of the existing ILTER sites to GTN-E and encouraged their involvement in the NPP/NEP and GOFC projects to the maximum extent possible. TOPC acknowledged that the addition of sites to the two demonstration projects will increase the level of effort needed for the two-way communications between the sites and satellite data providers, but considered this a critical element of closer cooperation between the satellite and ground-based components in the global observation scheme and essential for a proper validation of the satellite-derived products.

There is a need to examine the adequacy of the coverage by existing flux networks to meet the needs of the two projects. Data shown by Dr Running indicate that the present networks may not adequately sample the precipitation/temperature space occupied by the various ecosystems; this is consistent with an analysis by Dr Leemans presented at the TOPC-IV meeting (Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate, 1998). A first-order answer to this question might be obtained from modellers who use Fluxnet measurements.

Following the discussion, TOPC made these recommendations:

Recommendation 7.12: TOPC recommends that GTN-E be expanded if possible to include all ILTER sites and that these be engaged in the demonstration projects to the maximum extent feasible.

Recommendation 7.13: TOPC recommends that GTN-E serve as the focal point for the involvement of the long-term ecological sites in the NPP/NEP and the GOFC projects.

Recommendation 7.14: TOPC recommends that NPP/NEP and GOFC projects further examine the adequacy of the existing flux networks for the two projects, and make appropriate recommendations for further action.

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