Terrestrial Observation
Panel for Climate
General requirements
Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC
http://www.wmo.ch/web/gcos.
Endorsed by
COP9
And by
2003 WMO
Congress
Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC
The 2nd 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 (m3 s-1) ground water extraction rates (m3 yr-1) and location, snow cover extent (km2) 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 (km2), 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
fAPAR derived from
MERIS (top left) and SeaWifs
(bottom right)
Images acquired 19th 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 fAPAR
– 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 SeaWifs
Source: Nadine Gobron
Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate TOPC
Requirements for Land Cover information
• New products wanted
– moderate resolution (250m – 1km / 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. 250m /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
fAPAR and LAI
• fAPAR 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 fAPAR 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 fAPAR). These have the same
spatial resolutions (250 m – 1 km) and temporal frequencies (7 to 10
days) as the fAPAR 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