Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate General requirements Terrestrial

Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate General requirements Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

http: //www. wmo. ch/web/gcos. Endorsed by COP 9 And by 2003 WMO Congress Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

The 2 nd Adequacy Report main issues • Free and unrestricted exchange of data for essential climate variables • Integrated global climate products to meet user needs • Capacity Building and System Improvements in developing countries • Observing Standards - especially for the terrestrial domain • Full implementation of integrated global observing systems for climate – Global (satellite and in situ) climate-quality observations for the essential climate variables Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

The ECVs • • • Atmospheric – Surface – Air temperature, Precipitation, Air pressure, Surface radiation budget, Wind speed and direction, Water vapour – Upper Air – Earth radiation budget (including solar irradiance), Upper-air temperature (including MSU radiances), Wind speed and direction, Water vapour, Cloud properties – Composition – Carbon dioxide, Methane, Ozone, Other long-lived greenhouse gases, Aerosol properties. Oceanic – Surface – Sea-surface temperature, Sea-surface salinity, Sea level, Sea state, Sea ice, Current, Ocean colour (for biological activity), Carbon dioxide partial pressure – Sub-surface: Temperature, Salinity, Current, Nutrients, Carbon, Ocean tracers, Phytoplankton Terrestrial – River discharge, Water use, Ground water, Lake levels, Snow cover, Glaciers and ice caps, Permafrost and seasonally-frozen ground, Albedo, Land cover (including vegetation type), Fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR), Leaf area index (LAI), Biomass, Fire disturbance Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Terrestrial ECVs • Terrestrial Domain – River discharge – Lake Levels – Ground Water – Water Use – Snow Cover – Glaciers and Ice Caps – Permafrost and Seasonably Frozen Ground – Albedo – Land Cover – Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) – Leaf Area Index (LAI) – Biomass – Fire Disturbance Includes run off (m 3 s-1) ground water extraction rates (m 3 yr-1) and location, snow cover extent (km 2) and duration, snow depth (cm), glacier / ice cap inventory and mass balance (kg m-2 yr -1), glacier length (m), Ice sheet mass balance (kg m-2 yr -1) and extent, permafrost extent (km 2), temperature profiles and active layer thickness, above ground biomass (T/ha), burnt area (ha), date and location of active fire, burn efficiency (%vegetation burned/unit area) Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Cross-cutting issues • Product accuracy f. APAR derived from MERIS (top left) and Sea. Wifs (bottom right) Images acquired 19 th June ‘ 02 Source: Nadine Gobron Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Cross-cutting issues • Completeness of record – both geographically and over time…mission/ in-situ observation continuity is essential • Accuracy of observations – Agreed cal/val protocols…and applied • Accuracy of product – Benchmarking, validation • Acceptability of product – Fitness for purpose (especially in legally binding situations), standard definitions Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Scientific and technical challenges • Limited capacity to measure key variables; especially soil moisture, above-ground biomass, canopy structure – development of appropriate observing techniques – need for deployment of appropriate instruments – need for algorithm development k=1. 18 Bell-shape Source: B. Pinty, M. Verstraete, J-L. Widlowski Source: http: //earthobservatory. nasa. gov: 8000/Library/VCL/ Source: European soil atlas Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Scientific and technical challenges • Combining multiple sources of data/products to create integrated products, e. g. GHG emissions from biomass burning, terrestrial carbon sink estimates from f. APAR – Standards – QA/QC – new assimilation techniques Source: J-M Gregoire Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Scientific and technical challenges • More efficient tools for data analysis – objective information extraction – automated analysis / pattern-recognition procedures – faster models – common data structures and formats – open data access ’ 97 -02 Sea. Wifs Source: Nadine Gobron Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Requirements for Land Cover information • New products wanted – moderate resolution (250 m – 1 km / annual) – fine resolution for land cover change (10 – 30 m / 5 year) – Raises questions of mission continuity • More thematic detail requested • standards for legends & mapping protocols required • Land cover change, land use scenarios needed • Concurrent cover disturbance information (fire, pests, wind-throw…) required Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

FAO’s Land Cover Classification System; a move to setting standards for regional classifications Source: FAO Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

New land cover classes • wetlands – (peatland, mangroves, sedge grasslands, rush grasslands and seasonally flooded forests) • agriculture – (including irrigated / non irrigated) • wet and dry season class extents – (inland fisheries / aquaculture, locust breeding) • forest species occurrence/abundance • river delta ecosystems • artificial surfaces Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Wetland GLC 2000 (1 km) Radar mosaic (1 km) Wetland Radar (1 km) Source: Frank de Grandi Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC Radar mosaic (100 m) Wetland Radar (100 m)

Improved spatial resolution…c. a. 250 m /yr Source: GLC 2000 1 km land cover: VGT Source: University of Swansea, SIBERIA II 300 m land cover: MERIS Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

For each ECV • Why: ECV as drivers, feedbacks, indicators, and impacts • Aim: how will the variable be used. e. g. an assimilation scheme is there, waiting for the variable, and it will be used immediately…this will condition the ECV’s specifications • What: the resolution of the measurements (spatial, temporal etc. ), technology used to make the measurements and highlights what needs to be done to ensure current, historic and future records. • Outcome: what will be produced in information and knowledge terms Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

GIP continued • Who: responsibilities for measurement, processing and maintenance (archival, standards, benchmarking). Data centre mandates (if they exist…) • How: institutional structures and agreements…who is doing what • Indicators: specific measurable factors used to judge progress over the 5 – 10 year period. • Timeframe and costs. Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

A joint initiative of May 1999 Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Albedo draft work plan • CGMS will generate a global directional hemispherical reflectance factor, or black sky albedo product • CEOS WGCV should co-ordinate an international benchmarking activity comparing the global black sky albedo with other currently available albedo products • CEOS WGCV should interact with the Programme Intercomparing Land Process Schemes (PILPS) to ensure that the climate modelling community are able to access the most appropriate albedo product for each model Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Land cover • Global land cover databases must be accompanied by a description of by-class thematic/spatial accuracy. The CEOS WGCV, working with GOFC-GOLD, is establishing agreed validation protocols; these should be used • Network capable of providing in-situ observations of global land cover and land use is required. – GLC-N will help – The LPV’s in situ reference network will help Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

f. APAR and LAI • f. APAR can be recovered from a range of sensors by various algorithms. CEOS WGCV working with GTOS panels (especially TCO and GOFC-GOLD) should lead benchmarking and comparison of these f. APAR products and the algorithms used to generate them. Reference sites making in situ observations should form part of this process. WGCV is identifying a core set of sites and measurement campaigns and these should be supported by the CEOS agencies and by national / EC research budgets. • regular global LAI estimates from space are currently being produced and should be continued (this requires little extra resource above that required to produce f. APAR). These have the same spatial resolutions (250 m – 1 km) and temporal frequencies (7 to 10 days) as the f. APAR products. • Benchmarking and comparison of these LAI products is essential Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC

Fire • Institutional arrangements between the fire data producer and user communities need to be made to improve communication and to facilitate the exchange of remote sensing and in-situ validation data. CEOS WGCV and GOFC-GOLD should establish a clearing house of validation data for product development. • The space agencies should continue to generate, archive and distribute individual fire products, but a single data clearing house should provide centralized identification of data holders. The UN-affiliated Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) could in the first instance act as a data clearing house. Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC