During the GTOS Coordination and Implementation meeting in May, it was agreed that a priority activity should be to examine ways of linking existing terrestrial monitoring networks. This was followed by a meeting of Experts on Ecological Networks (17-20 June 1997, Guernica, Spain) jointly sponsored by GCOS, GTOS and IGBP, which brought together for the first time the major terrestrial monitoring networks to present their programmes, discuss future plans and ways to collaborate (see annex 2).
This meeting confirmed the common ground shared by the networks and the need for a forum and mechanisms to work together. The participants decided to establish a Global Terrestrial Observing Network (GT-Net) and to work toward coordinating the activities of the terrestrial observation networks around a core set of issues, such as data access and availability, demonstration projects and harmonization of measurements methods.
A number of recommendations were made to the GTOS Steering Committee, including the establishment of a GTOS Network panel consisting of selected members of the GTSC and of participating networks.
GT-Net Structure
The GT-Net will be composed initially of the networks in attendance at the meeting in Guernica. This would be expanded as required after gaining experience in operating the network. A Network Panel, consisting of selected members of the GTSC and representatives of the participating networks, would guide the development and implementation of GT-Net. Initially the GTOS Secretariat will provide support to the GT-Net activities but efforts are underway to have one of the GT-Net members play a substantive role in programme coordination and monitoring.
Activities
The key activities of the GT-Net will be to:
define a clear policy on data and information access;
share and exchange environmental data;
develop a set of standards for metadata as well as local/regional/global in situ data sets;
and undertake demonstration projects, the initial one to estimate primary terrestrial productivity.
Demonstration Project
The GT-Net will undertake projects which demonstrate the effectiveness of linking existing networks by generating data sets which are useful in studying global change. This will serve as a test bed for collaboration among networks and sites, including data sharing and exchange, and obtaining the experience needed for a further development of the global terrestrial network.
The first project will concentrate on improving current estimates of global terrestrial primary productivity. It will adopt a hierarchical approach and use models which combine both satellite data and in situ observations. A set of output products, which have Net Primary Production (NPP) as their common foundation, would serve this purpose.
Scope of GT-Net
The overall objective of GT-Net is to better understand global and regional change by linking existing terrestrial observation networks. Initially, it will be limited to those networks that attended the meeting in Guernica and that are regularly making in situ terrestrial and freshwater measurements. Over the longer term, the GT-Net will strive to meet the needs of the other Global Observing Systems on issues relating to climate and oceans.
