Carla C. Sullivan

NOAA Senior Policy Advisor Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce

  for Oceans and Atmosphere October 30, 2007

Carla C. Sullivan

NOAA Senior Policy Advisor Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce

  for Oceans and Atmosphere October 30, 2007

Fourth Earth Observation Ministerial Summit

USGEO Update

Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology (OFCM)

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“President Bush and Prime Minister Abe agreed today that confronting the interlinked challenges of energy security, clean development, and climate change requires sustained and effective global action. The United States and Japan . . . will continue to exercise leadership in the development of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).”

U.S. - Japan Joint Statement on

Energy Security, Clean Development,

and Climate Change, April 27, 2007

U.S. Commitment to GEOSS U.S. Commitment to GEOSS

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Earth Observation ImperativeEarth Observation Imperative

Understanding the Earth system is fundamental for well informed economic decision making

A global sustained approach to Earth observation is required

The U.S. benefits from the Global Earth Observation System of System

GEOSS

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Earth Observation SummitsEarth Observation Summits

Every 2 to 3 years GEO organizes a ministerial level Earth Observations Summit to:

– Evaluate progress– Prioritize the next inter

Summit period– Declare contributions to

GEOSS

The next Earth Observation Summit is in South Africa on November 30, 2007

EOS I

EOS II

EOS III

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U.S. GEO Summit RepresentationU.S. GEO Summit Representation

GEO Nations Date U.S. Minister

1 34 July 30, 2003 Powell DOSEvans DOCAbraham DOE

Norton DOI

2 43 April 25, 2004 Leavitt EPA Marburger

OSTP

3 55 February 16, 2005 Gutierrez DOC

4 72 November 30, 2007 Kempthorne DOI

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Anticipated Summit Outcomes Anticipated Summit Outcomes

• Support of GEO progress since 2005

• Agreement to GEO emerging priorities– Water Security – Changing landscapes, ecosystem health and biodiversity– Disaster mitigation and response– Climate Change and Sustainable Growth

• Agreement to GEO information tools– GEONETCAST– GEO Portal

• Endorsement of Cape Town Declaration– Continued support for GEO and GEOSS – Improved statement of full and open data policy– Support to Common Alerting Protocol– Support to use of spectrum for Earth observations

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U.S. Priorities at the SummitU.S. Priorities at the Summit

• Promote Global Drought Early Warning System

• Announce U.S. National Land Imaging Program, and promote applications of land imaging

• Recommend that GEO improve air quality forecasts through near real time air quality observations

• Support improved dissemination of information through GEONETCast and SERVIR models

• Strengthen the GEO full and open data policy

• Support the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

Indian Ocean DART Conceptual Design 2005

Deep-ocean Assessment & Reporting of Tsunami- an early GEO achievement

Deep-ocean Assessment & Reporting of Tsunami- an early GEO achievement

Global DART Operational Network April 2007

DART II Buoy

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U.S. benefits by the Global Partnering on Land Imaging Applications within GEO

U.S. benefits by the Global Partnering on Land Imaging Applications within GEO

Landsat 5 MSS and Landsat 7 ETM+ images of agriculture development in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia from 1975 through 2003.

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U.S. GEO Involvement: A National Integrated Drought Information System

U.S. GEO Involvement: A National Integrated Drought Information System

U.S. Western Governor’s Association

– 1996: Recommendation: U.S. to prepare for, respond to drought – 2000: Creation of National Drought Policy Commission– 2003: NOAA Partnership on drought monitoring & forecasting– 2004: Formal document published recommending NIDIS

Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction, President’s National Science & Technology Council

– 2005: Highlighted drought as one of the grand challenges in disaster reduction• Proposed action: development of an implementation plan for NIDIS

U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System– 2005: NIDIS identified by USGEO as near term opportunity

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Drought Early Warning SystemProposed GEO Program

Drought Early Warning SystemProposed GEO Program

The U.S. proposes the development of an International Drought Early Warning System that will:

– Enable the production of a global drought monitor

– Provide information for drought response, planning, mitigation, and recovery

– Act as a data integrator to complement and support United Nations programs related to drought

North American Drought MonitorConcept to be expanded internationally

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Understanding and Adapting to Climate Variability and ChangeUnderstanding and Adapting to Climate Variability and Change

USGEO recognizes that the need to monitor the Earth’s climate on an ongoing basis remains one of the highest priorities of the international community.

With a focus on integrating observing system data to useful and accessible information, the State of the Climate Report, developed by the US, the WMO and other international partners, serves as a hallmark achievement of GEOSS efforts to use integrated global Earth observations to monitor and enhance the understanding of climate variability and change.

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USGEO Strategic Assessment Group

Analyze observational capabilities versus requirements (gap analysis)

Identify Critical Earth Obs. Requirements by SBAs

Identify Existing and Planned Capabilities

Document requirements and candidate observing

system capabilities

Review Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs) Linkages to Agencies

Integrate Requirements

Integrate Gap Analysis

Recommend Strategic Investments

Ph

ase

IP

has

e II

Ph

ase

III

External Stakeholders Forum

External Stakeholders Forum

Analyze observational capabilities versus requirements (gap analysis)

Identify Critical Earth Obs. Requirements by SBAs

Identify Existing and Planned Capabilities

Document requirements and candidate observing

system capabilities

Review Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs) Linkages to Agencies

Integrate Requirements

Integrate Gap Analysis

Recommend Strategic Investments

Ph

ase

IP

has

e II

Ph

ase

III

External Stakeholders Forum

External Stakeholders Forum

Process

Inform Stakeholders of Activity

Collect Input from Stakeholders

Data

Collecti

on

Data

Com

pilati

on

Inte

gra

tion

an

dre

com

men

dati

on

s

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DESDynILaunch 2010-2013

CLARREOLaunch 2010-2013

ACELaunch 2013-2016

ASCENDSLaunch 2013-2016

ICESat-IILaunch 2010-2013

Societal Challenge: Climate PredictionRobust estimates of primary climate forcings for improved climate forecasts, including local predictions of the effects of climate change

CO2 measurements: Day/night, all seasons, all latitudes

Connection between climate and CO2 exchange

Aerosol and cloud types and properties

Changes in carbon storage in vegetation

Estimate of flux of low-salinity ice out of Arctic basin

Absolute spectrally resolved IR radiance

Incident solar and spectrally resolved reflected irradiance

GACMLaunch 2016-2020

Vertical profile of ozone and key ozone precursors

GPSRO Launch 2010-2013

Pressure/ temperature/ water vapor profiles

Decadal Survey Recommendations

Decadal Survey Recommendations

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SMAPLaunch 2010-2013

ACELaunch 2013-2016

GPSROLaunch 2010-2013

3D-WindsLaunch 2020+

PATHLaunch 2016-2020

XOVWMLaunch 2013-2016

Societal Challenge: Improved Weather PredictionLonger-term, more reliable weather forecasts

Three dimensional tropospheric wind profiles

Hurricane wind fieldsSea surface

temperature

Temperature and humidity profilesHigh

resolution ocean vector winds

Pressure/ temperature/ water vapor profiles

Cloud and aerosol height

Linkage between terrestrial water, energy, and carbon cycle

Decadal Survey Recommendations

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Major Economies Meeting & GEOSSMajor Economies Meeting & GEOSS

• President Bush hosted a Major Economies Meeting recently to discuss a framework for a post 2012 climate initiative.– The President specifically stated:

“By next summer, heads of state should convene to finalize a long-term goal for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and to establish strong and transparent systems for measuring progress.” 

• Clearly the work we are doing through GEO will have a role in facilitating how we measure progress.

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Major Economies Meeting & GEOSSMajor Economies Meeting & GEOSS

• In remarks at the UNGA High Level Event on Climate Technology Session. Secretary Rice acknowledged the contribution of GEOSS toward this effort.

“Improved technology can play a key role in our efforts to build more resilient societies. One advancement in this area is the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, an important partnership we have advanced with more than 70 developing and developed countries to address the world's most pressing environmental and biological challenges.”

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Preparation for Earth ObservationSummit

• Secretary Kempthorne will lead U.S. Delegation • USGEO coordinating Agency participation at Summit

– Coordinating Summit and Plenary delegations– Preparing Summit and Plenary U.S. positions– Preparing National report for GEO Summit– Coordinating a common USGEO exhibit at the Summit– Coordinating pre Summit events in the U.S. , eg Media

Roundtable– Submitted 13 papers for GEO Early Achievements– Submitted 10 papers for GEO “Full Picture”

• USGEO lead shaping of the GEO Summit – GEO Progress Report– GEO Declaration– GEO Exhibits and Press

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SummarySummary

• Global environmental information is key to more informed socio-economic decision making in U.S.

• GEOSS is one the Administration’s key environmental priorities

• Next Earth Observation Summit will take significant steps in ensuring that GEO members cooperate on issues important to the U.S. such as climate, land imaging applications, drought, air quality and data sharing policy

Natural & Human Induced Disasters

Human Health & Well-Being

Energy Resources

Climate Variability & Change

Water Resources

Weather Information, Forecasting & Warning

Ecosystems

Sustainable Agriculture &

Desertification

Oceans

Benefits of Earth ObservationsBenefits of Earth Observations

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