140 likes | 317 Views
Upper-air observations for climate: Rationale, progress, and plans for the GCOS Reference Upper-Air Network (GRUAN) Dian Seidel, Howard Diamond, David Goodrich, NOAA Peter Thorne, Met Office. AMS 25th Conference on International Interactive Information and Processing Systems (IIPS)
E N D
Upper-air observations for climate: Rationale, progress, and plans for the GCOS Reference Upper-Air Network (GRUAN)Dian Seidel, Howard Diamond, David Goodrich, NOAAPeter Thorne, Met Office AMS 25th Conference on International Interactive Information and Processing Systems (IIPS) for Meteorology, Oceanography, and Hydrology --- J5.1 15 January 2009 – Phoenix, AZ
The who, what, where, when, why and how of GRUAN … in brief • Related article to appear in March 2009 BAMS • Contributions from many GRUAN colleagues • Take home message: After more than a decade of discussion, a GCOS Reference Upper Air Network, to provide climate-quality measurements of tropospheric and lower stratospheric variables, is starting to become a reality.
What is GRUAN? • An international reference observing network • Designed to meet unmet climate requirements • Measuring GCOS “Essential Climate Variables”
Why do we need GRUAN? • Provide long-term, high quality upper-air climate records, with complete estimates of measurement error • Fully characterize the properties of the atmospheric column and their changes • Constrain and adjust data from more spatially comprehensive global observing systems (including satellites and current radiosonde networks) • Ensure that potential gaps in satellite programs do not invalidate the long-term climate record
Who … the org. chart GCOS Steering Committee Chair: John Zillman • WMO • GCOS co-sponsor • Lead Centre designation Atmospheric Observation Panel for Climate (AOPC) Chair: Adrian Simmons • GCOS Secretariat • support to ARO, AOPC, GCOS Steering Comm. • connective tissue • Director: Alexander Karpov • Working Group on Atmospheric Reference Observation • guides development of GRUAN • recommends to AOPC • site selection • guidelines for observations, data diss. • Chair: Peter Thorne • GRUAN Lead Centre • making GRUAN happen • network management • Head: Holger Vömel
Who … key partners • National contributors (incl. US) • WCRP and the climate science community • Other monitoring networks, e.g. • Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change • Baseline Surface Radiation Network • Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System • WMO - CIMO and CBS; Observations Department • NMS international departments, development agencies
How will GRUAN observations be archived, disseminated, and used? • GRUAN Data Center • distributed functions • built on existing capabilities at DWD, NOAA, DOE • Ensure the early, ongoing and widespread use of GRUAN observations. • Focus efforts on • characterizing observational error • improving satellite data products • understanding climate variability and change.
When will GRUAN measurements end? • Continue as long as there is a need for in situ reference atmospheric profile observations for climate • Several decades, at least • Until satellite (or other) observations can be independently and unambiguously calibrated to international standards