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CONTENTSREPORT ON THE 11TH CEOS PLENARY
News From the Working Group on Information Systems and Services
CEOS Working Group on Calibration and Validation
IGOS Strategic Implementation Team - Progress Report
The Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment
The Upper Air Measurements
Long-Term Continuity of Ozone Measurements ---This page
Ocean Biology
Global Observation of Forest Cover
Disaster Management Support
The Global Terrestrial Observing System
ISRO takes over CEOS Chair for 1998
Long-Term Continuity of Ozone Measurements
Jack. A. Kaye, NASA Chris. Readings, ESA/STESTECAs part of the CEOS Analysis group meeting, which was held in Tokyo in July 1997, the CEOS subgroup on "Long-Term Continuity of Stratospheric Ozone Measurements" met and discussed the construction of a long-term plan for ozone measurements.
- It is hoped that this plan will be completed by the summer of 1998
and published in final form by the fall of 1998. Preliminary results of
this meeting were presented during the CEOS Analysis Group meeting in Silver
Spring, MD, USA, in early September, 1997, and again at the CEOS Strategic
Implementation Team meeting in Oxford, UK in late September, 1997.
- For ozone itself all relevant observational techniques, including space-based measurements of total column ozone and vertical profile of ozone, ozonesondes, and ground-based measurements (notably Dobson, Umkehr, microwave and lidar techniques) must be considered. Where measurement objectives extend beyond ozone itself (see below), again both ground-and space-based measurements must be included. Suggested space-based measurement programmes range from long-term monitoring to continuing series of sporadic measurements.
- The emphasis of the report should be on requirements associated with studies of ozone distribution as needed for long-term trend studies applied to predictions of climate change and levels of surface ultraviolet radiation. Uses of ozone data for other applications, such in meteorological forecasts or regional air quality models, may be also be considered but will not viewed as primary requirements.
- Since ozone observations cannot be properly interpreted in isolation, monitoring requirements for other quantities, including meteorological parameters, solar forcing, aerosols and other atmospheric trace constituents must also be defined. It is likely that monitoring requirements for meteorological quantities in the region of the tropopause to come from the ozone group will be more exacting than from the upper air group. Close coordination between the two groups will be essential to ensure that the rationale underlying the two sets of requirements is understood properly and that the origins of differences are adequately explained.
- There must be a strong focus on calibration and data quality in the report. The consideration of the validation of space-based measurements through use of ground-and balloon-based measurements, as well as the use of space-based measurements to help in the intercomparison of ground-based measurements, must all be addressed in some depth. The importance of a broad and long-term approach to the validation of space-based measurements is clear; the report will detail what this means for future programs.
- In its later stages, the group will concentrate on the formulation of concrete recommendations to space agencies and other bodies concerning their plans for space-based ozone and atmospheric chemistry measurements. Such recommendations can only be made following completion of the draft report and extensive consultation with the atmospheric chemistry community.
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- User Requirements
- Available and Planned Measurements
- Harmonization of Provisions and Requirements
- Validation
- Recommendations and Conclusions
Participation at the Tokyo meeting included not only scientists associated with several of the major ozone measurement programs (both space-and ground-based) >from around the world, but in addition those with particular interest in the area of calibration. User groups were represented through the participation of the co-chair of the Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC) subgroup of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). A close tie with the Global Atmospheric Watch of the World Meteorological Organization was ensured through the participation of key personnel from that network.
During this meeting the Group reached several important decisions:
It is envisaged that the report will be of the following form:
It is hoped to have a full draft of the report available early in the winter of 1998. A workshop, involving a broad cross section of the atmospheric chemistry community, may be organised in the spring of 1998 to consolidate the drafting of initial sections and the content of the rest of the report, including the recommendations.
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