GEWEX
And Observational
Networks
Peter van Oevelen
Kevin Trenberth
Dawn Erlich
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General Info
• Website: http://www.gewex.org
• Organizational Structure:
– Scientific Steering Group
– Four Scientific Panels
– WCRP Joint Scientific Committee is
oversight body
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J. Polcher
Some Key Issues for GEWEX
• The new GEWEX has adopted the mission of “landatmosphere”
However GEWEX has also decided to be much more:
• GEWEX will continue to embrace the global energy and
water cycles
• GEWEX also embraces activities spanning Earth system
domains and other integrating themes
monsoons
o extremes …
o
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GEWEX : post 2013
New name*:
Global and regional Energy and Water
Existentialism:
GEWEX
Exchanges: GEWEX
* To be approved
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GEWEX: post 2013
Mission statement
To measure and predict global and regional
energy and water variations, trends, and
extremes (such as heat waves, floods and
droughts), through improved observations and
modeling of land, atmosphere and their
interactions; thereby providing the scientific
underpinnings of climate services.
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Imperatives: Headlines
Datasets: Foster development of climate data records of atmosphere, water,
land, and energy-related quantities, including metadata and uncertainty
estimates.
Analysis: Describe and analyze observed variations, trends and extremes (such
as heat waves, floods and droughts) in water and energy-related quantities.
Processes: Develop approaches to improve process-level understanding of
energy and water cycles in support of improved land and atmosphere models.
Modeling: Improve global and regional simulations and predictions of
precipitation, clouds, and land hydrology, and thus the entire climate system,
through accelerated development of models of the land and atmosphere.
Applications: Attribute causes of variability, trends and extremes, and
determine the predictability of energy and water cycles on global and regional
bases in collaboration with the wider WCRP community.
Technology transfer: Develop diagnostic tools and methods, new observations,
models, data management, and other research products for multiple uses and
transition to operational applications in partnership with climate and hydrometeorological service providers.
Capacity building: Promote and foster capacity building through training of
scientists and outreach to the user community.
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Example: Imperatives: 1
DATASETS: Foster development of climate data records of
atmosphere, water, land, and energy-related quantities,
including metadata and uncertainty estimates.
Lead: GRP, CEOP; Partners: SCOPE-CM, CEOS, WOAP
Actions:
•
•
•
•
•
Reprocess GEWEX datasets, provide advice on other efforts and lead evaluations.
Continue evaluation and refinement of sensor algorithms, influencing next
generation space-born platforms and reprocessing.
Development of appropriate calibration/validation/evaluation datasets to confront
models.
Devise robust ways of dealing with the more diverse, complex, higher spatial and
temporal resolution, and much greater volumes of data.
Build on CEOP experience in data management, archival and access.
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GRP develops climate data records of water and energy
variables, complete with metadata and error bars.
Clouds - ISCCP
Cloud Assessment
Radiation - SRB
Surface reference observations - BSRN
Radiation Assessment
Aerosols - GACP
Available Global Datasets
Aerosol Assessment
TIME
Parameter
Precipitation - GPCP
Clouds
Sfc gauge obs (GPCC)
Water Vapor
Turbulent Fluxes
Precipitation
SeaFlux
TOA Radiation
LandFLux
SRF Radiation
- Soil Moisture
Evaporation
1979
1985
1990
Pentad
Daily
3 – 6 hrs
1995
2000
2005
2010
50 km
250 km
100 km
100 km
Atmospheric
Circulation
100 km
50 km
50 km
A GRP product is endorsed by GEWEX/GRP to conform to a high standard
of production and documentation. It consists of a blend of available
satellite and in-situ observations and is periodically compared and
assessed against other products in an open and transparent fashion. It is
openly available to everyone without restrictions.
Key Data Objective
When GRP began there were few datasets. Now there is a
proliferation: a multitude of datasets that are all different, and with
different strengths and weaknesses. The need to assess these,
and evaluate and reprocess the data is enormous! So the
objective is:
Reprocess all GRP products with common ancillary data and
assumptions. Panel has learned much about reprocessing; distribution;
documentation and user support. Plan to reprocess periodically (e.g.
approx. every 5 years)
Publish state of the “Observed” Water and Energy budgets
Expand accessibility to multi-variable products
Facilitate research to interpret global and regional covariance among
Water & Energy variables.
Assess all products of the same variable for strengths and
weaknesses. Each agency wants to only reprocess their product.
Help move products to operations; share experience
2. Analysis: Describe and analyze observed variations,
trends and extremes (such as heat waves, floods and
droughts) in water and energy-related quantities.
Precipitation from
observations and
reanalyses
(courtesy D. Dee)
Runoff trends 1948 to 2004
(Dai et al 2009)
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CEOP
GHP
GEWEX REGIONAL HYDROCLIMATE PROJECTS
Mackenzie GEWEX
Studies (MAGS)
Baltic Sea Experiment
(BALTEX)
Northern Eurasia Earth
Science Partnership
(NEESPI)
GEWEX Asia Monsoon
Experiments (GAME)
Monsoon Asian HydroAtmosphere Science
Research and
prediction Initiative
(MAHASRI)
HYdrological cycle in the
Mediterranean EXperiment
(HYMEX)
Climate Prediction
Program for the Americas
(CPPA)
Terrestrial Regional North American
Hydroclimate Experiment (TRACE)
Large Scale BiosphereAtmosphere Experiment
in Amazonia
(LBA)
Current RHP's
Former RHP's
Prospective RHP's
African Monsoon
Multidisciplinary Analysis
(AMMA)
La Plata Basin
(LPB)
Murray-Darling Basin
(MDB)
Regional water cycles
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GHP 3 -5 Year Vision
• Promotes evolution of Regional Hydroclimate Projects:
–
–
–
•
•
•
•
biological/environmental aspects
anthropogenic climate focus ,
longer term, exploiting the
infrastructures of the RHPs.
Seeks to enhance integration of in-situ, satellite and model data.
Includes e.g Monsoons Regional Study and Pan-WCRP Monsoon crosscut on
–
–
–
–
regional studies in cold regions,
high elevations,
monsoon, and
semi-arid regions.
Focus on Water and Energy budgets, 2002 out to 2013 and beyond.
–
–
–
extremes
aerosols
water isotopes
Hydrologic Applications Project (HAP): explicit global, regional, land surface,
and hydrologic applications; cooperating with Hydrologic Ensemble Prediction
Experiment (HEPEX).
http://www.eol.ucar.edu/ projects/ceop/dm/
INTEGRATED
IN-SITU
SATELLITE
MODEL
CEOP Reference Site Map
Role of HE
Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface covering all altitudinal belts and
encompassing within them all the Earth’s climatic zones (Meybeck et al., 2001).
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Mountaineous terrain excluding Antartica
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% Mountainous terrain
"Mountaineous terrain including Antartica"
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Espo. (Mountaineous terrain excluding
Antartica)
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20
15
10
5
R2 =0, 8585
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
m (a.s.l.)
High elevation areas (above 2,500 m a.s.l.) represent about 20% of the total mountain area
(not counting Antarctica).
http://www.unep-wcmc.org/habitats/mountains/region.html
Objectives
Goal: to study multi-scale variability in hydro-meteorological and energy cycles in
high elevation areas, while improving observation, modeling and data
management.
Objectives:
- promote a network of monitoring of climatic data in high elevation regions,
- develop a database and a mechanism for sharing the data collected at high
elevation monitoring stations,
- improve the studies on energy and water budget at high altitude to optimize the
benefits in water resources management,
- improve understanding of the influence of aerosols and other atmospheric
components on the water cycle in high elevation areas.
Recent updates
Permanent monitoring sites distribution in the HE
Total Stations > 2500 m a.s.l.:
645
Objective:
to create a global network based on 30-40
sites and to increase up to 10-12 the number
of reference sites.
7. Capacity Building: Promote and foster the development
of capacity through training of scientists and outreach to the
user community.
Education: workshops, training, summer schools; observations, data;
technology use; technology transfer; interactions with users;
outreach  climate services.
Participants at a recent
La Plata Basin
Workshop held in Itaipú
Technological Park, Foz
do Iguaçu, Paraná
State, Brazil.
A panel discussion at the International
BACC Conference, May 2006 in
Gothenburg, Sweden, providing for
science – stakeholder interaction and
GEWEX/BALTEX outreach.
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GEWEX
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Some Concluding
Thoughts/Ideas
• Himalayan Hydromet Stations Extremely Important
• Data quality and consistency as important as quantity
• High Altitude data/science should be more linked to
High Latitude data/science
• GEWEX High Elevation working group (G. Tartari)
natural and obvious link
• TPE could consider becoming a GEWEX RHP
• Wealth of experience in measurement networks and
data set development exists – do not invent the wheel
again!
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