Terrestrial ECVs for Canada Richard Fernandes, NRCan

GCOS Status 49 confirmed + 8 new ECVs Some are duplicated for regional adaptation vs global modelling so actually 42 + 8 Formal quantities that are principle components Majority have international standards for measurements in-situ and/or validation Some have international standards for production Not much in the way of standards for dissemination, user interfaces, documentation except for some of the WMO quantities

Summary ECV Category Number of ECVs River Discharge 4 Groundwater 5 Lakes Soil Moisture Ice sheets and ice shelves 3 Snow 6 Permafrost 2 FAPAR LAI Albedo Land surface temperature 1 Above ground biomass Land cover Soil Carbon Fire Anthropogenic Water Use Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas Fluxes Latent and Sensible Heat fluxes

Survey for This Meeting Input from survey 25 responses covering 19 ECVs + 5 additional quantities My informal assessment indicates in Canada there is evidence of 39 of the ECVs that are or have been produced at the Federal level Limited compliance with GCOS requirements (maybe that is not so important) Relevance to “climate” monitoring is not always clear in terms of standards or sustainability Some ECVs not reported as yet E.g. water survey discharge volume and stage but not flow velocity and cross sectional area Did not survey provincial level!

Questions we need to Answer Are we missing essential variables for Canada not on the GCOS list Can we confirm or fill in reporting gaps (or at least as an homework exercise) How many of these Canadian sources of ECVs are Operational Functional and compliant with international specifications Technically feasible but not functional Is there an international alternative for an ECV Is it accessible Does it meet specifications What are the observational requirements? What must be sustained. What should we enhance. What new observations/research are required.

Important Issues Many terrestrial ECVs do not have explicit stability or homogeneity requirements. How can we use them for climate studies. Interoperability (e.g. land cover vs. burnt area) Derived products (e.g wetlands) How do we integrate observations with modelled ECVs at the user level.