A progress report of the development of GEO Water Strategy

1. A progress report of the development of GEO Water Strategy Osamu Ochiai and Rick LawfordJAXA, CEOS Water SBA CoordinatorCEOS SIT-28 Meeting Hampton , Virginia, USAMarch 14, 2013

2. The GEO Water Strategy Report • Purpose of the report: • To update and synthesize the available information about the status of water cycle observations and information systems on the basis of the IGWCO report of 2004. • To describe a strategy for water cycle observations and information that will enable the short- term GEO objectives and the long-term community goals to be achieved. • To provide CEOS, GEO, WMO and other agencies with guidance about strategies for water cycle observations, information systems, interoperability, capacity building, etc. • To propose major initiatives that will advance this overall concept.

3. The GEO Water Strategy Report Scope of the report: The revised report will cover the contributions of satellite data, in-situ data, modeling capabilities and the interpretation of data to meet the needs of users. Who will read the report: The report is being written for GEO members, CEOS and the space agencies, national agencies responsible for in-situ data, producers and users of water information, and the water cycle scientific community, Changes since 2004: In 2005, many IGOS-P water cycle theme activities Became part of the GEO water task. The current water task is directed at the following target: By 2015, produce comprehensive sets of data and information products to support decision-making for efficient management of the world's water resources, based on coordinated, sustained observations of the water cycle on multiple scales.

4. CHAPTER1: The Proposed Objectives for the Strategy • Provide a framework for guiding decisions regarding priorities and strategies for the maintenance and enhancement of water cycle observations.   • Enable improved water management based on a better quantification of fluxes and stores in the global water cycle. • Promote strategies that will facilitate the acquisition, processing, and distribution of data products needed for effective management of the world’s water resources. • Provide expertise, information systems, and datasets to the global, regional, and national water communities through support to UN Water and its programmes, ICSU Future Earth Projects, non-governmental water programmes, and regional and national water and Earth Observation programmes. • Increase availability and use of data and information of quality of inland and near-coastal waters to support an operational water quality decision-making system.

5. CHAPTER2: Why water information is important • Improves the welfare of the poor in developing countries through more effective water management. • Addresses the Water-Energy-Food Security issue. • Supports the climate change adaptation agenda. • Provides warning systems for hydrometeorologicalhazards. • Enhances human and environmental resilience • Supports human and environmental health

6. CHAPTER3: User needs and User engagement A GEO assessment of user needs identified the requirements for water Cycle data. Based on that assessment; Precipitation is the variable most commonly used. Other popular variables include soil moisture and evapotranspiration • Approaches to user engagement should include: • Reverse engineering to develop views on tailored products. • Assessments of the ways in which users make decisions should be carried out and the role of Earth Observations in those processes should be documented.

7. CHAPTER4: Description of the roles of the primary implementation partners for the water strategy (CEOS and WMO (GTN-H) CEOS WMO (GTN-H)

8. CHAPTER5: Water Cycle Variables Water Cycle Variables: Clouds and Water Vapour Runoff and discharge Precipitation Surface Water Storage Soil moisture Sub-surface water storage Evapotranspiration Cryospheric Variables Each variable is considered on the basis of: 1. Its Role 2. Status of Observations 3. Shortcomings in the current system 4. Recommendations

9. CHAPTER6: Water Quality • Goal: • A global-scale coordinated effort is needed to advance the use of satellite remote sensing for water quality applications. • Issues include: • Continuity of existing satellites, improved sensor/platform technology, algorithm development and support for calibration/validation activities • Unified data repository, • Standard measurements for in-situ campaigns. • Protocols for biogeochemical properties, • Links with of freshwater quality with coastal issues and societal considerations. • Strengthened capacity building.

10. CHAPTER7: Data Issues • Inventory of data services supporting GEO water activities. • Assessment of the effectiveness of WMO regulations on data exchange. • Workshops for a broad cross-section of users of water products to better define the needs for water cycle data archiving and distribution centers. • Telecommunications infrastructure needed for the transmission of high-volume satellite data sets during the coming decades. • Need for plans to rescue historical and local records. • Promotion of the free and open exchange of streamflow, precipitation and other in-situ water cycle data.

11. CHAPTER8: Water Cycle Integration and Interoperability • Types of Integration being considered: • Data Integration: integrating different data types • Data-Model Integration • Model Integration • Solution Integration • Interpersonal Integration:Network building • Science-management Integration: Incorporatingscience and information directly into decision making. • Issues: • current funded efforts promoting interoperability need strong support • users and dataset developers need flexible, low-burden inter-operability standards • user support at the science/parameter level by individual dataset producers • user approaches to coping with errors and uncertainties in data products need to be studied

12. CHAPTER9: Capacity Building Capacity Building efforts on three main areas but will add others as opportunity arises. AWCI AfWCCI CIEHLYC Issues include: Obtaining ODA funds to support demonstration and operationalization projects. Increased sharing of technologies, protocols, expertise, capabilities and training materials between the focus areas

13. CHAPTER10: Linkages In order to accomplish these goals the GEO Water Strategy will have to give more attention to building partnerships with a variety of agencies and programmes. This will require an assessment of the most beneficial collaborations and the development of a strategy for engaging these partners in GEO Water initiatives. International Linkages National Linkages UN Water IAHS NASA JAXA UNEP GOS NOAA ESA CEOS GTN-H USGS EUMETSAT UNEP UNESCO European Commission World Bank/GEF US Water Partnership WCRP/GEWEX ICSU Future Earth (Chapters 11 and 12 are still under development)

14. The Schedule (1) The Past: 2012: Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 – North American Workshop. December 3, 5: AGU Science session and town hall meeting dealing with the North American Workshop on the GEO Water Strategy December 31: Revised draft distributed. 2013: February 23: Draft report distributed to the writing team February 26 – Water Strategy Session at the Asia-Pacific GEO Symposium in Ahmedabad.

15. The Schedule (2) The Future 2013: March – Presentation and summary document sent to CEOS SIT and GEO Executive April 11, 2013: EGU Town Hall on the GEO Water Strategy April 17, 18, 2013: European GEO Water Strategy Workshop – Barcelona, Spain May 15 – Revised draft document circulated to CEOS and GEO members for comment July 1 – Document revised August 31 – Final thorough technical edit of the report completed September 1 - Interaction with the agency printing the report would begin November 15 – copies of the report would be available 2014: January – copies of the report distributed at the GEO Summit

16. Way Forward • GEO expects: • After the GEO Water Strategy report is adopted by the Group on Earth Observations as a basis for its post-2015 water activities, GEO will request CEOS (satellites) and WMO (in-situ) to develop action plans for how they will contribute to the new water programme. A structured report consolidating these and possibly other commitments will serve as the new GEO Water Implementation plan and the basis for the post-2015 GEO water task. The completion of CEOS action items will be used an important metric for tracking the progress of post-2015 GEO water activities. • CEOS to consider: • CEOS recognize the progress that has been made in developing the GEO Water Strategy • CEOS members provide feedback and comments on both approach and each chapter content (to assure content completeness; see Appendix 2 in the written report) and guidance on the formulation of the recommendations (see Appendix 3 in the written report). • Consider how CEOS could respond to the document (e.g., same process with CEOS response to the GCOS IP or CEOS Strategy to the GEO Carbon Strategy Report)

17. Thank you

18. Some Water Cycle Issues in C5 • Evapotranspiration: • More use of flux tower data in cal/val • Continuity in provide thermal band • imaging sensors on satellites • - Prediction tools and user outreach • Runoff and surface water store • Improve in-situ networks • Develop and implement SWOT • Groundwater • - Support GRACE follow-on with higher res. • - Develop a global hydrogeodetic repository • Clouds and Water Vapour: • - Inadequate radiosonde network • GPS networks unconsolidated • More vertical resolution needed for • water vapour and cloud • microphysical observations Precipitation: - Operationalize space-borne radar - Strengthen national gauge networks - Apply modern open-data stewardship standards - User outreach • Cryospheric: • Develop sensors and techniques to • estimate Snow Water Equivalent • Undertake a field project to obtain • essential cal/val data. • Soil Moisture • Upgrade in-situ soil moisture network • to provide more consistent data • Accelerate development of radiative • transfer models

19. Priorities for Post-2015 GEO 1: Address urgent global Challenges (such as Extremes) 2. Support for Sustainable Development Rio+20" Outcome Document recognized the role to be played by GEOSS in sustainable development 3. Build on Accomplishments of GEO

20. How GEO helps the Water Task: Coordinated access to information from various sources through the GCI Broker strategy and interoperability arrangements • Data Sharing Principles: • - Full and open data exchange, • Minimum time delay • Free or cost of reproduction Interactions between Societal Benefit Areas