The Global Cryosphere Watch

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The Global Cryosphere Watch"

Elfrieda Atkinson
5 years ago
Views:

1 The Global Cryosphere Watch Jeff Key NOAA, Madison, Wisconsin USA EC-PHORS GCW Task Team Lead 2 nd Asia CryoNet Meeting, Salekhard, Russia, February

The cryosphere collectively describes elements of

state and includes: solid precipitation, snow

caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, permafrost and

2 The cryosphere collectively describes elements of the earth system containing water in its frozen state and includes: solid precipitation, snow cover, sea ice, lake and river ice, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, permafrost and seasonally frozen ground. The cryosphere is global, ~100 countries

3 Assessment with the goal of integration: Integrated Global Observing Strategy Partnership The IGOS themes were developed primarily to assess current observing systems, including capabilities and requirements.

4 WMO The IGOS Cryosphere Theme (2007) Global Cryosphere Watch

The Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW) The 16 th WMO

focus on global cryosphere issues to be able to

responsibilities on regional and global weather,

decided to embark on the development of the Global

5 The Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW) The 16 th WMO Congress (2011) agreed that WMO needs to have a focus on global cryosphere issues to be able to provide authoritative information to meet Members responsibilities on regional and global weather, climate, water and related environmental matters and decided to embark on the development of the Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW), as an IPY Legacy, with a view of an operational GCW.

Global Cryosphere Watch Mission & Objectives Mission: GCW will provide authoritative, understandable, and useable data, information, and analyses on the past, current and future state of the

GCW will: Implement the IGOS (Integrated Global Observing Strategy) Cryosphere Theme (CryOS); Facilitate reliable, comprehensive observations through an integrated observing approach in collaboration

6 Global Cryosphere Watch Mission & Objectives Mission: GCW will provide authoritative, understandable, and useable data, information, and analyses on the past, current and future state of the cryosphere to meet the needs of WMO Members and partners in delivering services to users, the media, public, decision and policy makers. GCW will: Implement the IGOS (Integrated Global Observing Strategy) Cryosphere Theme (CryOS); Facilitate reliable, comprehensive observations through an integrated observing approach in collaboration with relevant national and international programmes and agencies; Provide the scientific community with the means to predict the future state of the cryosphere; Facilitate the assessment of changes in the cryosphere and their impact; support decision making and environmental policy development; Provide authoritative information on the current state and projected fate of the cryosphere for use by the scientific community, media, public, decision and policy makers meet user needs.

7 GCW Development History WMO 15 th Congress welcomes proposal for GCW IGOS Cryosphere Theme Report published WMO 16 th Congress approves GCW development First GCW Implementation Workshop (Geneva) First CryoNet workshop (Vienna) First Snow Watch workshop (Toronto) CryoNet Team meeting (Reykjavik) Cg-17 GCW Implement. Pre-operational st Asia CryoNet workshop (Beijing) Interim Steering Group meeting (Reykjavik) South America CryoNet workshop 2nd Asia CryoNet workshop (Salekhard)

GCW in the 17 th World Meteorological Congress The 17th World Meteorological Congress (2015) decided to mainstream and implement GCW in WMO Programmes as a cross-cutting activity and requested that

8 GCW in the 17 th World Meteorological Congress The 17th World Meteorological Congress (2015) decided to mainstream and implement GCW in WMO Programmes as a cross-cutting activity and requested that the Secretary-General ensure, to the extent possible within available resources, management of, and provide support to, the implementation of GCW and to establish a GCW Project Office. Congress also agreed that an immediate priority for GCW is to establish CryoNet, which is one of the four WIGOS component observing systems and agreed on 36 CryoNet sites that will be used for the pre-operational testing phase.

9 Organization: GCW Conceptual Framework The WMO Executive Council expert panel on Polar and High Mountain Observations, Research, and Services (EC-PHORS) oversees GCW.

Website and Outreach Team Asia Regional Group Portal

Terminology Team South America Regional Group Solid

Observations Working Group Integrated Products

10 Website and Outreach Team Asia Regional Group Portal Team Information and Services Working Group Terminology Team South America Regional Group Solid Precipitation Team Steering Group Sea Ice Team Observations Working Group Integrated Products Working Group CryoNetTeam Best Practices Team Snow Watch Team GlacierTeam

11 Steering Group The GCW Steering Group (GSG) provides high-level guidance on GCW development and implementation. It is concerned with process and general direction more than specific actions. The GSG is comprised of experts from EC-PHORS, relevant WMO Programmes, contributors, partners and cosponsors. In the near-term, the Steering Group will provide guidance on Task Team formation and on initial GCW activities and tasks to be conducted, given the available budget. It currently reports to EC-PHORS.

12 GCW Steering Group Members Chair: Árni Snorrason (IMO); Vice-Chair: Barry Goodison (Expert) Members: Gianpaolo Balsamo (ECMWF) Jenny Baeseman (SCAR; CliC IPO, ) Sue Barrell (WMO CBS) Gino Casassa (Geoestudios, UMAG) Michele Citterio (GEUS) Mark Drinkwater (ESA) Charles Fierz (IACS) Øystein Godøy (Metno) Jeff Key (NOAA) Kari Luojus (FMI) Tetsuo Ohata (NIPR) Wolfgang Schoener (UGraz) Vasily Smolyanitsky (AARI) Cunde Xiao (CAS) *Bold indicates present in Salekhard

13 Working Groups Observations WG Addresses capabilities and needs for surfacebased and satellite observations. It is responsible for the establishment and coordination of operations of the surfacebased observational network, including the core network called CryoNet. Integrated Products WG Identifies key GCW datasets. This includes the development of an inventory of candidate in situ and satellite products for GCW that are mature and generally accepted by the operational and scientific community. Information and Services WG - Responsible for the ongoing development and operation of the GCW Portal and its Data Catalogue, cryospheric metadata and terminology, the GCW Website, and outreach activities.

14 GCW Task Teams 1. CryoNet Team establishes the surface-based observational network, including its core standardized CryoNet network. 2. Best Practices Team conducts an inventory of measurement methods and compiles best practices, guidelines, and standards. 3. Solid Precipitation Team facilitates the intercomparison of instruments for measuring solid precipitation. 4. Snow Watch Team assesses the maturity and accuracy of snow products through intercomparison projects. 5. Sea Ice Team assesses the maturity and accuracy of sea ice products. This team is currently being formed. 6. Glacier Team assesses the maturity and accuracy of glacier products. This team is currently being formed. 7. Portal Team develops the GCW web portal (catalogue). It determines linkages to data contributors, evaluates and improves interoperability with partners, including metadata. 8. Terminology Team identifies current cryosphere glossaries and develops/evaluates terminologies and vocabularies. 9. Website and Outreach Team develops and maintains the GCW information website and creates outreach material.

15 What is GCW doing? developing a network of surface observations called "CryoNet", which builds on existing networks; developing measurement guidelines and best practices; refining observational requirements for the WMO Rolling Review of Requirements; engaging in and supporting, intercomparisons of products, e.g., the GCW Snow Watch project; contributing to WMO s space-based capabilities database (with PSTG); creating unique products, e.g., the SWE Tracker, in collaboration with partners; engaging in historical data rescue (e.g., snow depth); building a snow and ice glossary; developing international training and outreach materials; providing up-to-date information on the state of the cryosphere; providing access to data through a portal; co-sponsoring workshops.

16 CryoNet the core GCW Network an immediate priority in GCW development. Establish the core network of GCW surface measurement sites CryoNet. CryoNet is one part of the whole GCW observing system, which is a component observing system of the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS). CryoNet covers all components of the cryosphere (glaciers, ice shelves, ice sheets, snow, permafrost, sea ice, river/lake ice) through an extensive approach of in-situ observations. CryoNet is initially comprised of existing stations/sites, rather than creating new sites.

17 GCW CryoNet

18 Measurement standards and practices IUGG urges snow and ice scientists, practitioners, and scientists from related disciplines to adopt these new schemes as standards.

Requirements and Capability for observations GCW Requirements are being formulated and documented on the GCW website; They will draw from various sets of existing user requirements and will be vetted

19 Requirements and Capability for observations GCW Requirements are being formulated and documented on the GCW website; They will draw from various sets of existing user requirements and will be vetted by the scientific community; Those requirements will become part of the WMO Rolling Review of Requirements (RRR); Will be accessible through the Observing Systems Capability Analysis and Review Tool (OSCAR), the official source for WMO requirements, which has a cryosphere theme; Need for a new application area GCW.

20 Other Products and Services Identification and development of initial products Development of hemispheric snow anomaly trackers for snow cover & SWE An inventory of snow datasets Product intercomparison: Snow Watch and ESA SnowPEX Glossary

21 Portal and Website

22 Portal and Website About GCW impact, framework GCW News Cryosphere now - products CryoNet site requirements, practices Activities mtgs, projects Outreach forum, video References Glossary, acronyms, GCW documents

23 Why be a part of CryoNet and GCW? Being a CryoNet site means being part of an international, operational, global observing system providing observations of known quality for research and knowledge beyond a site s local region. Being part of a global network not only brings better visibility, but also a recognition of the importance of the observations made at your site. This in turn can bring better support, either funding or logistical support. GCW promotes the exchange of knowledge and data, so CryoNet sites may see broader use of their data and products.

24 24

GLOBAL CRYOSPHERE WATCH

WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION GLOBAL CRYOSPHERE WATCH REPORT No. 3 2014 Final Report of the Steering Group Meeting First Session Reykjavik, Iceland 23-24 January 2014 World Meteorological Organization,