1. Earth Observation Update Development of a Global Observation System Carla Sullivan Senior Policy Advisor Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Executive Secretary, Interagency Working Group on Earth Observations July 13, 2004

2. 2 Earth Observation Summit I July 31, 2003 Washington, D.C. 34 Nations 20 International Organizations

3. 3 Earth Observation Summit II 43 Ministers & Heads of Delegation in attendance 25 International Organizations represented Prime Minister Koizumi gave keynote on importance of observations to the global environment and economy Adopted Framework for Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), along with Ministerial Communiqué

4. 4 GEOSS Will Be... Comprehensive  Includes observations & products gathered from all components Coordinated  Leverages contributing members resources to accomplish the system Sustained  By will & capacity of members A distributed system of systems  Addressing data utilization challenges  Facilitating/building on current & new capacity building efforts

5. 5 Evolving World—Evolving Needs

6. 6 Benefits Focus Natural & Human Induced Disasters Human Health & Well-Being Energy Resources Climate Variability & Change Water Resources Weather Information, Forecasting & Warning Terrestrial, Coastal & Marine Ecosystems Sustainable Agriculture & Desertification Biodiversity

7. 7 GEOSS & Disasters Recent flooding in Dominican Republic and Haiti  Significant loss of life and property What if...  We had access to all our systems? Research and operational  Results in more precise assessment of current phenomena  Better models  More accurate forecasts Benefit  Advanced flood warnings Earlier evacuations Lives saved

8. 8 GEOSS & Health Malaria Malaria killed more than a million people in 2003  Primarily in developing world Early warning system  Temperature  Humidity  Vegetation  Soil Moisture Possible outbreak prevention AVHRR AVHRR-SST TOPEX-SSA SeaWiFS-Chl-a

9. 9 GEOSS & Health Ebola ESA Initiative: Solving the Ebola Enigma

10. 10 GEOSS & Energy Improving accuracy of weather forecasts by one degree F could decrease costs of electricity by $1B annually Tennessee Valley Authority 5 Day forecast for hurricanes = Cost savings for offshore industry & consumer alike

11. 11 GEOSS & Agriculture Drought assessments/predictions  Affect planning & harvesting  Puts restraints on water use  Could likely cause active forest fire season Understanding El Niño/La Niña patterns  Help predict & understand droughts, harvests, potential crop damage  Make decisions based on sustainable agriculture practices  Worldwide benefits to agriculture $450-550M annually

12. 12 GEO Process Developing the 10-Year Plan EOS-1 Declaration created ad hoc Intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) to develop a 10-Year Implementation Plan 48 Countries + EC & 29 International Organizations currently represented Four Intergovernmental Chairs:  Mr. Akio Yuki, Japan  Mr. Achilleas Mitsos, European Commission  Dr. Rob Adam, South Africa  VADM Conrad Lautenbacher, USN (Ret.), United States

13. 13 GEO 1-4 Established 5 Subgroups  Architecture  Capacity Building  Data Utilization  International Cooperation  User Requirements & Outreach Societal Benefits Focus Established Implementation Plan Task Team (IPTT) David Williams, EUMETSAT Toshio Koike, Tokyo University Robert Scholes, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Ivan DeLoatch, United States Geological Survey Finalized Framework & Communiqué  Discussion on Post-GEO Governance Washington, DC Baveno, Italy Cape Town, South Africa Tokyo, Japan

14. 14 Post-GEO Governance Structure Countries submitting comments by August 1  High level  Government primacy, with open participation by organizations  Membership open to all countries  Regular meetings at senior official level, with periodic ministerial meeting  Coordinate, not duplicate work of existing mechanisms  Draw fully on international scientific community  No new international organization, but clearly defined terms of reference  Should evolve incrementally, following Framework guidelines  Form of a governance approach should follow the functions that the governance model should carry out Special Session on Governance in Brussels in September 2004

15. 15 GEO 5 November ’04, Ottawa, Canada Aggressive pace thus far; much to do To complete at GEO 5  10 Year Implementation Plan (negotiated)  Technical Blueprint (not negotiated)  Communiqué of EOS-III (negotiated) GEO 5 meeting critical to progress  Only 75 days between GEO5 and Earth Observation Summit III to be held in Brussels, Belgium, February 2005

16. 16 G8 Science Ministers meeting April 2004 G8 Science Ministers met in Washington, DC for planning meeting Discussed specific partnerships and cooperation efforts for the three action areas identified at Evian:  Energy Technologies  Agriculture & Biodiversity  Global Observations

17. 17 US Discussion Papers G8 Sea Level Rise Pointed out the following needs that could be addressed by G8 and its partners:  About 170 tidal gauges, reporting hourly data in real time, and with co-located GPS receivers to measure the vertical movement of land  At least three decades of coverage by satellite altimetry  Continuing observations of the upper-ocean temperature and salinity structure by a global array of 3,000 Argo profiling floats  Improved understanding of the re-distribution of water mass on the surface of the Earth

18. 18 G8 S&T for Sustainability Action Plan / Progress Report  Meeting in Sea Island, Georgia in June  Noted actions taken over the past year to implement the Evian S&T Action Plan: “Held First and Second Earth Observation Summits (EOS) and adopted a Framework document on a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Planning to adopt a final 10-year strategic implementation plan on GEOSS at Third EOS in 2005 and working to identify the international mechanism to provide coordination and oversight for GEOSS.”

19. 19 Developing the Us Plan for Integrated Earth Observations OSTP/OMB Budget Directives Memo “A key goal of the Administration’s R&D investments is to enhance capabilities to assess and predict key environmental systems. “Assessment and prediction are important to improving our understanding of and ability to model climate change, but they also affect many other aspects of society, such as health, resource management, weather prediction, sustainable development, and economic prosperity. “To this end, integrated, comprehensive, global observation systems are required for understanding, monitoring, and predicting changes to the Earth system (atmosphere, land, freshwater, ocean and ecosystems.)”

20. 20 Developing the Us Plan for Integrated Earth Observations OSTP/OMB Budget Directives Memo, cont. “Through the NSTC, the responsible agencies will develop and implement a coordinated, multi-year plan to enhance data time series, minimize data gaps, and maximize the quality, integrity, and utility of the data for short-term and long-term applications.”

21. 21 Interagency Working Group On Earth Observations Established under the NSTC Committee on Environment & Natural Resources (CENR) with dual functions and goals: “to develop and begin implementation of the U.S. framework and 10 year plan for an integrated, comprehensive Earth observation system to answer environmental and societal needs, including a U.S. assessment of current observational capabilities, evaluation of requirements to sustain and evolve these capabilities considering both remote and in situ instruments, assessment of how to integrate current observational capabilities across scales, and evaluation and addressing of data gaps;” “to formulate the U.S. position and input to the international ad hoc Group of Earth Observations (GEO) as formed at the Earth Observation Summit on July 31, 2003.”

22. 22 Interagency Working Group on Earth Observations Mirrors International process – societal benefits  Benefits as drivers of process  5 teams – provide inputs into the US and intergovernmental technical reports which serve as the foundation for the plans Public Meeting held in June ’04 for technical review / comments on technical activity reports July 30 (anniversary of Earth Observation Summit I) scheduled release of first draft of US plan  Public comment period  Release of final US Plan by year’s end

23. 23 For More Information… Intergovernmental ad hoc Group on Earth Observations http://earthobservations.org Interagency Working Group on Earth Observations http://iwgeo.ssc.nasa.gov

24. Backup Slides

25. 25 Earth Observation Summit Declaration Linked to WSSD & G8 outcomes Affirmed need for:  Comprehensive, coordinated, sustained Earth observation system or systems;  Coordinated effort to address capacity-building needs related to Earth observations;  Exchange of observations in a full & open manner with minimum time delay & minimum cost; and  Preparing a 10-year Implementation Plan, building on existing systems & initiatives

26. 26 GEO AlgeriaEuropean CommissionJapanRussian Federation ArgentinaFinlandKazakhstanSouth Africa AustraliaFranceMexicoSpain BelgiumGabonMoroccoSudan BelizeGermanyMozambiqueSweden BrazilGhanaNepalSwitzerland CameroonGreeceNetherlandsThailand CanadaIndonesiaNew ZealandUkraine ChileIndiaNigeriaUnited Kingdom ChinaIranNorwayUnited States CyprusIrelandPortugalUzbekistan DenmarkIsraelRepublic of Congo EgyptItalyRepublic of Korea http://earthobservations.org

27. 27 Participating Organizations Association for the Development of Environmental Information (ADIE) Central American Commission for the Environment and Development (SICA/CCAD) Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) European Environmental Agency (EEA) European Space Agency (ESA) European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS) Integrated Global Observing Strategy Partnership (IGOS-P) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commissions (IOC)

28. 28 Participating Organizations (Contd.) International Council for Science (ICSU) International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research (IGFA) International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) Network of European Meteorological Services/Composite Observing System (EUMETNET/EUCOS) Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) World Bank (IBRD) World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

29. 29 GEOSS Architecture Earth System Models Oceans Ice Land Atmosphere Solid Earth Biosphere Earth Observation Systems Remotely-sensed In situ High Performance Computing, Communication, & Visualization Standards & Interoperability Observations Predictions Decision Support Assessments Decision Support Systems Policy Decisions Management Decisions Societal Benefits DATA Ongoing feedback to optimize value & reduce gaps GEOSS common approachesSystems within their mandates