Gregory W. Withee USGEO Task Group Co-chair September 21, 2007 Gregory W. Withee USGEO Task Group Co-chair September 21, 2007 GEOSS and Fourth Earth Observation Ministerial Summit November 30, 2007 The User and GEOSS Architecture XVI Regional Decisions for Climate Change OGC Plenary – Boulder, Colorado

2 U.S. Initiative for GEOSS President's Statement on Earth Observation Summit July 31, 2003 “….Working together, our nations will develop and link observation technologies for tracking weather and climate changes in every corner of the world, which will allow us to make more informed decisions affecting our environment and economies. Our cooperation will enable us to develop the capability to predict droughts, prepare for weather emergencies, plan and protect crops, manage coastal areas and fisheries, and monitor air quality.” Secretary of State Colin Powell opening the first Earth Observation Summit

3 “ 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

4 Earth Observation Imperative Understanding the Earth system is fundamental for well informed economic decision making A global approach to Earth observation is required All countries can benefit from the Global Earth Observation System of System GEOSS

5 GEOSS Global Earth Observation System of Systems A distributed system of systems –Improves coordination of strategies & observation systems –Links all platforms: in situ, aircraft, & satellite networks –Identifies gaps in our global capacity –Facilitates exchange of data & information; promotes interoperability standards –Improves decision-makers’ abilities to address pressing policy issues

6 6 Decision Support Assessments Decision Support Systems Linking Earth Observations to Societal Benefits ? Earth Observation Systems Remotely-sensed In situ Societal Benefits Earth System Models Oceans Ice Land Atmosphere Solid Earth Biosphere Policy Decisions ? ? On-going feedback to optimize value and reduce gaps ?

7 Earth Observation Summit 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

8 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 –GEO architecture Endorsement of Cape Town Declaration: improved statement of full and open data policy and continuation of GEO

9 USGEO Organization

10 U.S. Priorities at the Summit Promote Global Drought Early Warning System Improve air quality forecasts through near real time air quality observations Announce future land imaging in the U.S., data available to all countries Support the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) on disasters Strengthen the GEO full and open data policy Support GEO architecture and associated standards

Indian Ocean DART Conceptual Design 2005 Deep-ocean Assessment & Reporting of Tsunami- an early GEO achievement Global DART Operational Network April 2007 DART II Buoy 11

12 GEO Disaster Theme Background In the two years since the Sumatra earthquake and Indian Ocean tsunami struck, the US and many international partners have worked cooperatively to enhance seismic monitoring and tsunami detection capabilities. International agreement on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) standard and associated technology is a recent breakthrough opportunity to greatly improve public warning at modest cost.

13 Proposed GEO Language Support of the Common Alerting Protocol, and encourage GEO countries to use this protocol for all environmentally related disasters.

14 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

15 Drought Early Warning System Proposed GEO Program Proposed 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 Monitor Concept to be expanded internationally

16 U.S. Air Quality Observations Air Quality Monitoring in Midwest USA: Combinations of EPA ground monitoring stations (bars) and NASA satellite observations (background). Colors relate to the Air Quality Index.

17 Air Quality Proposed GEO Program Through international cooperation to extend existing air quality forecasting and assessment tools, the proposed effort will: –Inform decisions in multiple societal benefit areas: Health, Climate, Disasters –Encourage standardization of data and create the foundation for a global network of air quality information systems. –Provide a core activity to further catalyze the formation of a robust Community of Practice in Air Quality and Health Hazardous Very Unhealthy Unhealthy Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups Moderate Good

18 Other Summit Issues Announcement of follow on land imaging program GEONETCAST and SERVIR

19 Summary Global environmental information is key to more informed socio-economic decision making Observations from GEOSS are major inputs into decision making process Next Earth Observation Summit will take significant steps in ensuring that GEO members cooperate on important issues such as drought, air quality, land applications, disasters, data sharing policy, and GEO architecture and associated standards

20 A Global Earth Observation System of Systems GEOSS 20 Environmental Information Systems

21 BACKUP.

22 Example GEOSS Connections to More Informed Decision Making Water Increasing number of quality in situ and satellite measurements of air temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture; increasing stream level monitoring Improvement of now casts and forecasts of drought Improved water management and preparedness Health Better in situ and satellite air quality observations Improvements in air quality forecasts and warnings Fewer asthma attacks and respiratory problems improved human health and cost avoidance Agriculture Improved and sustained land surface imagery Improvements in vegetation index and assessments improvement of crop forecasts and warnings Better crop management and dollar savings 22