A16: Use of Large-Scale, Satellite-Based Observations for Energy, Water, and Carbon
Cycle Research
Convener: Rachel T. Pinker
University of Maryland
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
College Park, MD, USA 20742
301-405-5380
pinker@atmos.umd.edu
Eric F. Wood
Princeton University
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Princeton, NJ, USA 08544
609-258-4675
efwood@princeton.edu
Index Terms: Index Terms: 1640 0321 1622 1655 1855 .
Description: The use of satellite-based measurements of climate forcings and states (e.g.
radiation, precipitation, atmospheric water vapor, sea surface temperatures, soil moisture,
etc.) to better understand continental to global scale climate fluxes and states, and their
variability has been a central focus of national and international programs like the NASA
Energy and Water cycle Study (NEWS), WCRP Global Energy and Water Cycle
Experiment (GEWEX) and the WCRP/GEWEX Coordinated Enhanced Observation
Program (CEOP), and the North American Carbon Program. These programs are aimed
at promoting research activities that will lead to a better understanding of the
hydrological cycle and related energy and carbon fluxes in the atmosphere, at the land
surface and in the upper oceans and to improved prediction of global and regional climate
change. An important element of this effort is the recognition of the need for satellitebased information of climatic parameters for model development and evaluation, for
input forcing to off-line numerical prediction models, and for assimilation into either offline or coupled models. Data availability has increased significantly in recent years, and
significant progress has been made in several key areas, including the retrievals and
validation of atmospheric and surface radiative fluxes, precipitation, surface land and sea
surface temperatures, vegetation, soil and snow states. Additionally, progress has been
made in utilizing these data in assimilation systems, and in their use for improving and
validating hydrological, mesoscale and global models, resulting in increased skill to
predict hydrologic fluxes and climate states like precipitation and soil moisture, and
changes in water resources. The objective of this session is to present recent research
ranging from the retrieval of satellite-based information on components of the water,
energy and carbon cycles, the validation of such retrievals using GEWEX, CEOP,
FLUXNET and specialized field experiments (e.g. NAME), the assimilation of these
observations in models, and their application to better understanding the water, energy
and carbon cycles.