Climate SBA Report Progress on the 59 actions CEOS coordination with GCOS

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Climate SBA ReportProgress on the 59
actionsCEOS coordination with GCOS

• Mitch Goldberg, CEOS-GCOS Climate Coordinator

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TOPICS

• Response from UNFCCC SBSTA on the CEOS Progress
  Report of the 59 climate actions
• Initiated 17 Priority 2 Actions
• Examples of CEOS agencies contributions to key
  climate datasets

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CEOS 59 Climate Actions in response to GCOS-IP
107

• Action plan adopted by CEOS in September 2006
• Overall goals
• Ensuring continuity of climate-relevant satellite
  measurements (13 actions)
• Taking a systematic approach to generating
  fundamental climate data records (FCDRs) (11
  actions)
• Preserving climate data records (4 actions)
• Ensuring access to climate data products (10
  actions)
• Coordinating international communities and
  interaction with users (10 actions) and
• Addressing future measurement needs (11 actions).

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CEOS 59 Climate Actions

• A first round of climate actions assessment, in
  coordination with GCOS, led in 2007 to identify
• 22 Priority 1 actions
• Deemed to be progressed immediately
• Capable of delivering significant outcomes within
  a 1-2 year timescale.
• 32 Priority 2 actions
• Continuous, on-going, or require additional
  information from potential contributors in order
  to be suitably defined
• will not necessarily deliver significant results
  in the 1-2 year timescale.
• 5 Priority 3 actions
• Considered premature at this stage.

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CEOS UNFCCC 2008 Report

• The status of the Priority 1 actions and plans
  for new tasks were detailed in the CEOS UNFCCC
  report.
• The updated progress report was presented to the
  UNFCCC Subsidiary Body on Scientific and
  Technological Advice (SBSTA) at its 29th session
  in December 2008.
• 2009 Progress Report under preparation

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UNFCCC SBSTA Response

• Encourages the Committee on Earth Observation
  Satellites to continue coordinating and
  supporting the implementation of the satellite
  component of the Global Climate Observing System
• Urges Parties that support space agencies
  involved in global observations to enable these
  agencies to continue to implement, in a
  coordinated manner through the Committee on Earth
  Observation, the actions identified in the
  updated report of the Committee on Earth
  Observation Satellites, in order to meet the
  relevant needs of the Convention, in particular
  by ensuring long-term continuity of observations
  and data availability
• The SBSTA invited CEOS to report at its
  thirty-third session on progress made in its
  efforts to meet the relevant needs of the
  Convention.
• SBSTA also interested in terrestrial domain,
  particularly forest carbon tracking.

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GCOS Independent Assessment of Space Agency
Progress is very favorable
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Initiated Priority 2 Actions

• Initiated 17 CEOS-GCOS climate actions based on
  readiness and critical mass from CEOS in working
  these actions
• Progress reports are provided to GCOS and GEO Sec
  twice per year
• (some highlights provided in backup section)

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Significant progress in CEOS agencies commitments
to sustained generation of climate data records

• WMO GSICS SCOPE-CM efforts
• Both efforts are engaging WCRP/GEWEX
• GSICS held its first user workshop in September
  09
• GSICS workshop report will be released in
  November
• EUMETSAT Climate SAFs
• NOAA Climate Data Records Program
• NASA on-going reprocessing of EOS datasets
• ESA Climate Change Initiative
• Availability of key datasets on clouds, sea
  surface height, ocean color, sea ice, greenhouse
  gases, precipitation, aerosols (see backup
  slides)

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Long-term time series of AVHRR (clouds, aerosol,
surface temperature, vegetation index) extended
using NOAA-19

• AVHRR climate records were generated for 2009
  including those from NOAA-19 (launched February
  2008).
• This extends the AVHRR Pathfinder Atmospheres
  Extended (PATMOS-x) data-record from September
  1981 July 2009.
• Products include clouds, land and sea surface
  temperatures, aerosols and vegetation index

Example of AVHRR image showing derived cloud
reflectance and SST
Monthly anomalies in global cloud amount
(1981-2008) Taken from BAMS State of Climate
2008
Comparison of AVHRR December Tropical High Cloud
Amounts to those from ECMWF Reanalysis
Significance Provides the longest satellite
record of clouds, aerosols and surface
temperatures for climate studies.
Project Lead Andrew Heidinger
http//cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/patmosx
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SSM/I total precipitable water, rain rates and
snow cover products from July 1987 to September
2009

• The Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I)
  monthly products was extended to over twenty-two
  years (July 1987 September 2009)
• Products include rainfall rate, snow cover, and
  total precipitable water. Data is available from
  NCDC.
• Rainfall rates are used by the international
  Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP).
• Future work (funded through NOAA) includes
  reprocessing entire record using improved
  satellite intercalibration.

El Nino
Significance The extended time series of SSMI
products allows us to more accurately monitor and
detect change in the amount and pattern of
climatically important surface and atmospheric
processes such as rainfall.
Lower SST (La Nina)
Project Lead Ralph Ferraro
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Reprocessed SCIAMACHY Products
SCIAMACHY provide products of O3, BrO, HCHO, NO2,
SO2, OClO, H2O, CO, CO2, CH4 and properties of
aerosols and clouds The data has been reprocessed
from the start of operations August, 2002 using
the improved calibration and algorithms,
Ozone difference in between SCIAMACHY and
Brewer data from Hohenpeissenberg, Germany
Significance Provides critical atmospheric
chemistry datasets for monitoring
Project Lead Thomas Trautmann, DLR
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Climate Data Records for the SBUV(/2) measurement
retrievals
The SBUV/2 data for NOAA-16 SBUV/2 (2004 to
2007) and NOAA-17 SBUV/2 (2003 to 2007) has been
reprocessed with the latest instrument
characterization and calibration to extend the
previously released Ozone Climate Data Record
(1979 to 2003) from SBUV(/2) instruments by four
years.
Figure from C. Long et al., http//www.cpc.noaa.go
v /products/stratosphere/sbuv2to/sbuv2to_cohesive.
shtml
Significance The SBUV(/2) ozone CDRs are used
to determine and monitor atmospheric ozone trends
and variations. These are compared to models and
other results in creating the international ozone
assessments. The latest report is available at
www.esrl.noaa.gov/csd/assessments/2006/ This new
data set is being used in the preparing the next
assessment due out in 2010.

Start of Recovery of Ozone as result of Montreal
Protocol
Figure from V. Fioletov et al. at the 2008
Quadrennial Ozone Symposium in Tromso Norway
showing deseasonalized global mean ozone time
series from SBUV(/2) and other sources.
Project Lead Lawrence Flynn
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Reanalyzed global sea ice (1987 2008)
Reprocessing of daily ice concentration products
from SSMI for 1987 2008 using latest algorithms
and most current ECMWF reanalysis for
atmospheric corrections. Reprocessing is
on-going and is expected to be completed in
December 08, using SMMR data (1978
1987) http//sat.met.no in NETCDF
Significance Provides critical ice cover
datasets for monitoring sea ice and for use in
models.
Project Lead Soren Anderson, Norwegian Ice SAF
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WCRP/GEWEX/ Global Aerosol Climatology Project
(GACP)
The complete GACP dataset is currently available
at gacp.giss.nasa.gov and is composed of monthly
1 x 1 degree averages of AOT and AE for the
period from August 1981 to June 2006. GACP
represents the longest uninterrupted satellite
record of aerosol properties.

Long-term record derived as part of GACP from
multi-decadal satellite data reveals a likely 20
decrease in the global amount of tropospheric
aerosols between the late 1980s and early 2000s.
This decline makes aerosols less efficient in
counter-balancing the warming effect of the
greenhouse gases.
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Mishchenko et al., Science 315, 1543 (2007)
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New observing capabilities for GHGs

• Thermal instruments (e.g., AIRS, IASI, CrIS)
  measure mid-tropospheric column
• Peak of vertical weighting is a function of T
  profile and water profile and ozone profile.
• Age of air is on the order of weeks or months.
• Significant horizontal and vertical displacements
  of the trace gases from the sources and sinks.
• Solar/Passive instruments (e.g., SCIAMACHY, OCO
  II, GOSAT) laser approaches measure a lower
  troposphere weighted total column average.
• Mixture of surface and near-surface atmospheric
  contribution
• Age of air varies vertically.

AIRS/IASI/CrIS
SCIAMACHY
OCO II
GOSAT
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CO2 seasonal cycle NH from Sciamachy
Schneising et al., ACP, 2008
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AIRS, IASI (and soon CrIS) Provide a 20 Year
Self-Consistent Record of Satellite Sounder
Retrieved CO2
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Comparison of NOAA CO2 product with in situ
aircraft at Carr, Colorado (Precision 2 ppm)
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Methane as observed by SCIAMACHY (WFMDv1.0)
Landfills
Rice
Coal mining
Wetlands
Ruminants
Wastewater
Energy
Natural gas
Termites
Hydrates
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AIRS observes methane variability over Asia

• Enhancement in AIRS methane product is seen in
  summer months over Asia.
• Green points is the AIRS methane product
• Red points are TM3 model provided by Sander
  Houweling, SRON
• Model agreement suggests methane is transport of
  local emissions during monsoon season.
• Evidence of strong transport from surface to
  mid-troposphere.

Xiong, X., S. Houweling, J. Wei, E. Maddy, F. Sun
and C. Barnet, 2008 Methane Plume over South
Asia during the monsoon season satellite
observation and model simulation. Atmos. Chem.
Phys. 9, p.783-794.
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Plans for next year

• Hold a 3 Day meeting to review new GCOS
  Implementation plan and to review and amend the
  59 actions
• CEOS will provide progress report to SBSTA-33
• The report needs to include progress on Forest
  Carbon Tracking, GHG Monitoring, and CEOS climate
  data records

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• BACKUP

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Atmospheric Domain (5 initiated actions)

• Action A-1 CEOS agencies will review the
  capability of passive microwave sensors to make
  scatterometer-quality measurements and will work
  to ensure A.M. and P.M. satellite coverage of
  surface wind speed and direction by 2015.
• Action A-2 CEOS will strive to ensure continuity
  of GPS RO measurements with, at a minimum, the
  spatial and temporal coverage established by
  COSMIC by 2011. CEOS will continue efforts to
  exploit the complementary aspects of radiometric
  and geometric upper-air determinations of
  temperature and moisture.
• Action A-10 CEOS agencies will participate in
  planning, by 2011, the follow-on to the chemistry
  missions planned for the next 5 to 7 years. (ACC
  action)
• Action A-11 CEOS agencies will commit to
  reprocessing the geostationary satellite data for
  use in reanalyses projects before the end of the
  decade. (SCOPE-CM action)
• Action A-12 CEOS will determine options by 2010
  for continuing improvements to wind
  determinations demonstrated by MODIS and to be
  demonstrated by ADM Aeolus.

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Oceanic Domain (7 initiated actions)

• Action O-10 ISRO will lead planning of
  Oceansat-2, ESA and the EU of Sentinel-3, and
  JAXA of GCOM-C, which are all new missions
  planned to carry an ocean colour sensor. OCC
  Action
• Action O-11 Relevant CEOS agencies will examine
  their respective plans to maintain continuity of
  the 25-km-resolution ocean colour global product.
  OCC Action
• Action O-12 CEOS agencies will cooperate to
  support the combination of all existing ocean
  colour data sets into a global FCDR. OCC Action
• Action O-15 ESA will fly SMOS in 2009 to
  demonstrate measurement of the sea surface
  salinity (and soil moisture) ECV NASA/CONAE will
  fly Aquarius/SAC-D in 2010 to demonstrate
  measurement of the sea surface salinity ECV.
• Action O-17 CEOS agencies will undertake
  planning for reprocessing past data to improve
  FCDRs and legacy databases (e.g., AVHRR
  Pathfinder, ATSR, Sea Level Pathfinder, and the
  sea ice ECV) in close coordination and
  partnership with existing advisory groups and
  reanalysis centres. All Level 2 data products for
  use in reanalysis should be properly accompanied
  by estimates of their uncertainty.
• Action O-18 CEOS, through its Working Group on
  Calibration and Validation (WGCV) and in the
  context of developing standards for on-going
  missions and for the Constellations, will
  recommend best practices for pre-launch and
  onboard calibration of ocean sensors and for
  validation of space-based ocean observations with
  in situ sensors, including the establishment and
  maintenance of calibration and validation sites
  and networks. This will facilitate the
  combination of data from different sources and
  enable the establishment of global data sets and
  long-term series. WGCV Action
• Action O-19 CEOS agencies, in cooperation with
  other partners, will support planning for a
  follow-on to GODAE.

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Terrestrial Domain (1 action) and Cross-cutting
(4)

• Action T-5 CEOS agencies will undertake research
  to support satellite technology development, such
  as lidar or P-band sensors, that are capable of
  retrieving biomass and LAI globally that meet
  GCOS requirements. CEOS agencies will also
  support research to improve algorithms that do
  not currently meet GCOS threshold requirements.
  New satellite technology and algorithms should be
  available by 2015.
• Action C-7 CEOS agencies will increase their
  cooperation in ensuring stability, accuracy, and
  inter-comparability of their respective satellite
  observations. These observations will be tied to
  irrefutable international standards in order to
  enhance the utility of space programmes for
  climate applications. (GSICS and WGCV action)
• Action C-8 CEOS agencies will contribute to
  development of GSICS under development by CGMS
  and WMO to better integrate calibration efforts.
  Furthermore, CEOS agencies will continuously
  pursue establishment of reference measurements in
  space, complementing those on the ground and in
  the air, which will enable absolute
  inter-calibration of radiance measurements.
• Action C-9 CEOS will charge its WGCV to promote
  existing in situ networks, identify new
  opportunities for product validation, and support
  both validation research and operational
  validation projects at an adequate level. (WGCV
  Action)
• Action C-10 CEOS agencies will coordinate their
  efforts in designing future data archives and
  data dissemination systems, ensuring that past
  data holdings (including associated metadata) are
  preserved, assessing standards and protocols, and
  incorporating new information technology (IT)
  developments as much as possible. Practical
  actions in response to this cross-cutting need
  will be developed by CEOS Working Group on
  Information Systems and Services (WGISS) in line
  with the technical solutions adopted by GEO.
  (WGISS Action)

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Some highlights from the newly initiated actions

• Atmospheric Domain capability of passive
  microwave sensors to make scatterometer-quality
  measurements.
• NOAA/NESDIS performed extensive research,
  development and validation of wind vector
  retrievals from WindSat, a passive polarimetric
  microwave sensor. Results show that passive
  polarimetric radiometer cannot make
  scatterometer-quality measurements that would
  satisfy the requirements for ocean surface vector
  wind data in support of NOAA's short-term weather
  forecasting and warning or climate missions. NWS
  Ocean Prediction Center and National Hurricane
  Center have both conducted operational validation
  activities with WindSat data and concluded that
  the ocean surface wind vector measurements were
  not of consistent quality to reliable utilize in
  support of their forecasting and warning
  responsibilities.
• Terrestrial Domain research to support satellite
  technology development, such as lidar or P-band
  sensors, that are capable of retrieving biomass
  and LAI globally that meet GCOS requirements.
• ESA recently selected the BIOMASS mission for
  study at Phase-A level. This is a polarimetric
  P-band SAR mission aiming at producing global
  estimates of above ground biomass. The Sentinel-3
  mission of the GMES Space Component will provide
  synergistic products for LAI. Scientific studies
  on algorithms for biomass retrieval form
  polarimetric InSAR are on-going.
• Cross-cutting Activities CEOS agencies support
  development of GSICS under development by CGMS
  and WMO to better integrate calibration efforts.
• NOAA, EUMETSAT, NASA CNES contributing
  significantly to GSICS, GPM is part of GSICS.
  JAXA and ESA are observers to GSICS
• Geostationary intercalibration using AIRS and
  IASI is routine at NOAA, EUMETSAT, and JMA
• The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity
  Observatory (CLARREO) Mission has been
  recommended in the National Research Council
  Earth Science Decadal Survey as a key component
  of the future climate observing system 1.
  NASA is currently supporting a pre-phase A study
  to be completed by October 1, 2009.

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Highlights from the newly initiated actions
Contd

• Oceanic Domain CEOS agencies will cooperate to
  support the combination of all existing ocean
  colour data sets into a global FCDR.
• NOAAs continued support for MOBY and open access
  to its data for critical vicarious calibration.
• NASA and ESA plan to continue and possibly extend
  their interaction related to MERIS calibration
  and characterization and also extend this to the
  ocean color instrument planned for Sentinel-3 as
  agreed between ESA and NASA at the MERIS Data
  Workshop on 14 July 2008..
• GlobColour has successfully demonstrated the
  benefits that MERIS can bring to merged ocean
  colour data sets, and has helped in working
  towards an ocean colour Essential Climate
  Variable (ECV). The project is almost completed,
  with the full 10 year data set (4km) available
  via the web (www.globcolour.info) and NRT merged
  products (1km) already available.
• Reprocessing past data to improve FCDRs and
  legacy databases in close coordination and
  partnership with existing advisory groups and
  reanalysis centres.
• ESA will include sea level and sea ice among the
  ECVs to be developed under the new ESA Climate
  Change Initiative that is now starting.
• Cooperation initiated between NOAA and CM SAF on
  the generation of homogeneous data sets based on
  AVHRR GAC data.