The Coastal Zone Community of Practice of the Group on Earth Observations:
Servicing the Coastal Zone with Earth Observations
Hans-Peter Plag (1), Paul DiGiacomo (2), Jimmy Adegoke (3)
(1) Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA
(2) Satellite Oceanography and Climatology Division (SOCD)
NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR)
College Park, MD, USA
(3) Department of Geosciences
University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO, USA
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The Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
Ad hoc GEO established in 2003 by G8 after
Sustainable Development (2002, Johannesburg);
Mandat: Develop an Implementation Plan for a
coodinated Earth observation system;
After eighteen months and many meetings (including
2 Summits on EO):
10 Year Implementation Plan for the Global Earth
Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) was available.
Vision: A future where decisions are informed by Earth
observations
GEO established at the EO Summit in February 2005 in Brussels
One major objective: Establish a coordinated and sustained
GEOSS to enhance informed decision making in nine Societal
Benefit Areas
Participation: By now ~90 Member Countries and >60
Participating Organizations
Implementation: Plenary, Executive Committee, Implementation
Boards, Work Plan, Task Teams, Communities of Practice
High priorities GEOSS are services that enable access to environmental
intelligence for decision makers.
The Coastal Zone Community of Practice (CZCP) supports the
Group on Earth Observations (GEO) in its goal to provide timely
observations informing decisions concerning the coastal zone.
High priorities for the CZCP related to the Global Earth Observing
System of System (GEOSS) are improved forecasts of sea-level
rise and the associated increase in frequency and extent of coastal
inundation, which may be exacerbated by an increase in the
frequency of extreme weather, as well as changes in water quality
and ecosystem health and productivity.
Sustainable development of the coastal zone is one of the frontlines
in humanity's sustainability crisis
(Motivated by Glavocic, 2013: “The coast is the 'frontline' of humanity's struggle for sustainability”)
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The CZCP brings together experts in an effort to support integrated
coastal zone management through utilization of Earth observations
and derived products. The CZCP focuses both on research and
practical applications related to coastal zone management. It interacts
directly with a number of GEO Participating Organizations and the
Societal Benefits Implementation Board of GEO.
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In the past, one of the main activities of the CZCP was organizing a series of Regional Workshops titled:
“GEOSS Support for Decision-Making in the Coastal Zone: Managing and Mitigating the Impacts of
Human Activities and Natural Hazards in the Coastal Zone.”
Three workshops were organized focusing on the Mediterranean, Africa and the Caribbean.
These regional workshops:
- emphasized importance of understanding and linking to decision makers,
- underlined the need of capacity retention in addition to capacity building,
- and identified user needs for access to comprehensive environmental coastal zone information.
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The first regional workshop focused on the Mediterranean and was held in June 2008 in Athens,
Greece, with participants from Europe, Africa, and America.
The workshop emphasized the importance of understanding and linking to decision makers, and
produced a set of conclusions and recommendations, which are available at the CZCP web page
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The second regional workshop focusing on West Africa was held in
Cotonou, Benin, in conjunction with a United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)/International
Hydrological Programme (IHP) Workshop on water and climate.
The importance of capacity retention in addition to capacity building
was emphasized, and the importance of bridging the gap between
science and governance was reiterated.
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Beyond “Capacity Building”:
During the workshop, a growing dissatisfaction in Africa with the term “capacity building” and
the perceived slow pace of progress was reported. It was suggested to plan in terms of:
- Capacity retention: prevent existing infrastructure, individuals, and know-how from disappearing;
- Capacity sustainability: the need for institutional and infrastructure longevity; and
- Capacity empowerment: the need to make enhanced use of capacities that already exist.
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The third regional workshop took place 9-11 March 2011 in Puerto Rico:
“Earth observation support for sustainable tourism in small island states”:
Conclusion: Many stakeholders have information needs that are not met
Recommendation: Establish a Coastal Information System
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Other CZCP activities include:
• populating the GEOSS User Requirements Registry (https://urr.ccpo.odu.edu/urr);
• support for relevant GEO Work Plan Tasks, in particular “Blue Ocean” task;
• working with other observing programs related to coastal zones;
• facilitating data sharing and access;
• building of capacity;
• address funding issues.
The focus of the CZCP has now shifted to services that provide information on the
coastal zone.
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•Support for GEO Task “Ocean and Society: Blue Planet”: The CZCP will be:
- facilitating monitoring services for coastal ecosystems including
* mangroves,
* coral reefs, and
* estuaries;
- engage in the development of globally available cyberinfrastructure for a Global Coastal
Zone Information System (GCZIS), which initially will be populated for a small number of
study cases;
- support the development of demonstrators for a coastal water quality service;
- initiate a decadal sea level forecasting services;
- demonstrate in a regional pilot project the value added of an end-to-end system of
systems for the coastal zone;
- update the user needs related to integrated coastal zone management that are captured
in the GEOSS User Requirement Registry (URR).
Capacity building through cyberinfrastructure: Global Coastal Zone Information System (GCZIS):
- information on environmental, social and economic state of the CZ;
- access to science, technology, and innovation knowledge;
- crowd-sourcing tool, including real-time information on hazards and issues;
- democratizing of data, information, knowledge;
- virtual stakeholder table (VST);
- support for deliberative governance;
- disaster risk reduction;
- increased resilience, adaptive capabilities.
Populated with selected study cases:
- U.S. East Coast;
- Caribbean;
- West Africa (?)
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