OVERVIEW OF THE PACIFIC ISLAND REGION GLOBAL CLIMATE OBSERVING SYSTEM (GCOS) PROGRAM

1. OVERVIEW OF THE PACIFIC ISLAND REGION GLOBAL CLIMATE OBSERVING SYSTEM (GCOS) PROGRAM Howard J. Diamond, NOAA/NESDIS, Office of the CIO, 1335 East-West Highway, Room 7214, Silver Spring, MD 20910, howard.diamond@noaa.gov and Mark L. Morrissey, EVAC, Univ. of Oklahoma, 3200 Marshall Ave., Suite 110, Norman, OK 73072-8032 Basic Elements of a Climate Watch • OBJECTIVES OF GCOS • To provide the data required to meet the needs for: • Climate system monitoring; Climate change detection and attribution; and Response monitoring, especially in terrestrial ecosystems and mean sea level • Research toward improved understanding, modeling, and prediction of the climate system • Application to National Economic Development • demonstrated benefits of climate forecasts in support of agriculture • advance forecasts of El Niño/La Niña events • improved tropical storm and extreme weather prediction • increased lead times for drought prediction • Pacific Island Region GCOS Activities • First Regional GCOS Workshop in Apia, Samoa – August 2000 • Several Accomplishments to Date • Partnership Established in SouthPacific Region; Partners: SPREP, SOPAC, Australia BoM, New Zealand NIWA, NOAA, and Regional Hydrology Community • Follow-up Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii – October 2001 • Action Plan Meeting at NIWA in Auckland, NZ – February 2002 • Implementation Plan Meeting in Nadi, Fiji – March 2002 • Ocean Observations User Conference in October 2002 in Nadi, Fiji • Concept of a Regional PI-GCOS Steering Committee Endorsed by the GCOS Steering Committee – April 2003 • Selection of a Regional PI-GCOS Program Officer – October 2003 • Data Management Workshop Planned in Dec 2003 – Auckland, NZ • New PI-GCOS Program Officer at SPREP – January 2004 • U.S. Partnering with Australia and New Zealand via Bi-Lateral Climate Partnerships Project to Fund Pacific GCOS Activities WMO GCOS Office Home Page http://www.wmo.ch/web/gcos/gcoshome.html

2. PI-GCOS Activities GCOS OBSERVING NETWORKS • Selection of GUAN and GSN Site Support Dependent on Inputs from AOPC, GCOS Secretariat, and Donors • These Site Selections are Outside the Scope of the PI-GCOS Regional Program and are Dependent Upon the Global Requirements for the GCOS Networks • GUAN Sites in PI-Region to be Updated w/FY03 Funds • Penrhyn Island, Cook Islands • Other GUAN Site Support for FY03 [Africa – 4; Indian Ocean – 1; South America - 1] • GUAN Sites in PI-Region Considered for FY04 Funding in Priority Order • Honiara, Solomon Islands • Christmas Island, Kiribati • Rarotonga, Cook Islands • GSN Sites in PI-Region for FY04 Funding – TBD • Use of AWS an Issue Being Explored (Maintenance and Continuity Issues) • Complementary Technology GCOS Surface Network (GSN) 989 Stations Keys to Regional GCOS Success GCOS Upper Air Network (GUAN) • Need to have a focused regional organization that is willing to take up the mantle of advancing GCOS in the region; a regional program officer is desired but not necessarily required. In the Pacific Region, SPREP was a natural for this. • Need a solid and consolidated planning mechanism to advance projects in the region • Need to identify partners and donors willing to participate in regional projects and/or contribute resources • Leveraging upon existing bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements that can incorporate GCOS projects is a key factor to consider (e.g., US/New Zealand Climate Change Partnership and new Group on Earth Observations) • Representation needs to consist of persons with interest in advancing GCOS in the region rather than being based upon national representation • Broad-based membership - Partners need to come from inside and outside the meteorological community; GCOS is more than a meteorological system • One key to success in the Pacific has been to advance PI-GCOS from the “grass-roots” • PI-GCOS Implementation • Regional GCOS Implementation Plan Developed • Prioritized list of 31 Projects in 5 Objective Areas Advocacy • Sustaining Operational Observing Networks • Managing and Exchanging Regional GCOS Data • Accessing and Developing Products and Services • Building Capacity for Long-Term PI-GCOS Sustainability • Selected Projects With Identified Funding • Regional GCOS Coordinator • Demonstration Project for the Development of Synoptic Climatologies • Expanding the Use of Climate Prediction • Data Rescue • Regional Maintenance and Logistics Support • Pacific Data Portal – [through the GOSIC] • Scope of the other 27 Pacific Island GCOS Projects is in the range of $24M (US) over the period from 2003 through 2008 150 Stations