Carla C. Sullivan NOAA Senior Policy Advisor Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere October 30, 2007 Carla C. Sullivan NOAA Senior Policy Advisor Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere October 30, 2007 Fourth Earth Observation Ministerial Summit USGEO Update Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology (OFCM)

2 “ President Bush and Prime Minister Abe agreed today that confronting the interlinked challenges of energy security, clean development, and climate change requires sustained and effective global action. The United States and Japan... will continue to exercise leadership in the development of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).” U.S. - Japan Joint Statement on Energy Security, Clean Development, and Climate Change, April 27, 2007 U.S. Commitment to GEOSS

3 Earth Observation Imperative Understanding the Earth system is fundamental for well informed economic decision making A global sustained approach to Earth observation is required The U.S. benefits from the Global Earth Observation System of System GEOSS

4 Earth Observation Summits Every 2 to 3 years GEO organizes a ministerial level Earth Observations Summit to: –Evaluate progress –Prioritize the next inter Summit period –Declare contributions to GEOSS The next Earth Observation Summit is in South Africa on November 30, 2007 EOS I EOS II EOS III

5 U.S. GEO Summit Representation GEO Nations Date U.S. Minister 1 34 July 30, 2003PowellDOS EvansDOC AbrahamDOE Norton DOI 2 43April 25, 2004LeavittEPA MarburgerOSTP 355February 16, 2005Gutierrez DOC 472November 30, 2007Kempthorne DOI

6 Anticipated Summit Outcomes Support of GEO progress since 2005 Agreement to GEO emerging priorities –Water Security –Changing landscapes, ecosystem health and biodiversity –Disaster mitigation and response –Climate Change and Sustainable Growth Agreement to GEO information tools –GEONETCAST –GEO Portal Endorsement of Cape Town Declaration –Continued support for GEO and GEOSS –Improved statement of full and open data policy –Support to Common Alerting Protocol –Support to use of spectrum for Earth observations

7 U.S. Priorities at the Summit Promote Global Drought Early Warning System Announce U.S. National Land Imaging Program, and promote applications of land imaging Recommend that GEO improve air quality forecasts through near real time air quality observations Support improved dissemination of information through GEONETCast and SERVIR models Strengthen the GEO full and open data policy Support the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

Indian Ocean DART Conceptual Design 2005 Deep-ocean Assessment & Reporting of Tsunami- an early GEO achievement Global DART Operational Network April 2007 DART II Buoy 8

U.S. benefits by the Global Partnering on Land Imaging Applications within GEO Landsat 5 MSS and Landsat 7 ETM+ images of agriculture development in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia from 1975 through

10 U.S. GEO Involvement: A National Integrated Drought Information System U.S. Western Governor’s Association –1996: Recommendation: U.S. to prepare for, respond to drought –2000: Creation of National Drought Policy Commission –2003: NOAA Partnership on drought monitoring & forecasting –2004: Formal document published recommending NIDIS Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction, President’s National Science & Technology Council –2005: Highlighted drought as one of the grand challenges in disaster reduction Proposed action: development of an implementation plan for NIDIS U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System –2005: NIDIS identified by USGEO as near term opportunity

11 Drought Early Warning System Proposed GEO Program The U.S. proposes the development of an International Drought Early Warning System that will: –Enable the production of a global drought monitor –Provide information for drought response, planning, mitigation, and recovery –Act as a data integrator to complement and support United Nations programs related to drought North American Drought Monitor Concept to be expanded internationally

12 Understanding and Adapting to Climate Variability and Change  USGEO recognizes that the need to monitor the Earth’s climate on an ongoing basis remains one of the highest priorities of the international community.  With a focus on integrating observing system data to useful and accessible information, the State of the Climate Report, developed by the US, the WMO and other international partners, serves as a hallmark achievement of GEOSS efforts to use integrated global Earth observations to monitor and enhance the understanding of climate variability and change.

13 USGEO Strategic Assessment Group Process Inform Stakeholders of Activity Collect Input from Stakeholders Data Collection Data Compilation Integration and recommendations

14 DESDynI Launch CLARREO Launch ACE Launch ASCENDS Launch ICESat-II Launch Societal Challenge: Climate Prediction Robust estimates of primary climate forcings for improvedclimate forecasts, including local predictions of the effects ofclimate change CO 2 measurements: Day/night, all seasons, all latitudes Connection between climate and CO 2 exchange Aerosol and cloud types and properties Changes in carbon storage in vegetation Estimate of flux of low- salinity ice out of Arctic basin Absolute spectrally resolved IR radiance Incident solar and spectrally resolved reflected irradiance GACM Launch Vertical profile of ozone and key ozone precursors GPSRO Launch Pressure/ temperature/ water vapor profiles Decadal Survey Recommendations

15 SMAP Launch ACE Launch GPSRO Launch D-Winds Launch PATH Launch XOVWM Launch Societal Challenge: Improved Weather Prediction Longer-term, more reliable weather forecasts Three dimensional tropospheric wind profiles Hurricane wind fields Sea surface temperature Temperature and humidity profiles High resolution ocean vector winds Pressure/ temperature/ water vapor profiles Cloud and aerosol height Linkage between terrestrial water, energy, and carbon cycle Decadal Survey Recommendations

16 Major Economies Meeting & GEOSS President Bush hosted a Major Economies Meeting recently to discuss a framework for a post 2012 climate initiative. –The President specifically stated: “By next summer, heads of state should convene to finalize a long-term goal for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and to establish strong and transparent systems for measuring progress.” Clearly the work we are doing through GEO will have a role in facilitating how we measure progress.

17 Major Economies Meeting & GEOSS In remarks at the UNGA High Level Event on Climate Technology Session. Secretary Rice acknowledged the contribution of GEOSS toward this effort. “Improved technology can play a key role in our efforts to build more resilient societies. One advancement in this area is the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, an important partnership we have advanced with more than 70 developing and developed countries to address the world's most pressing environmental and biological challenges.”

18 Preparation for Earth Observation Summit Secretary Kempthorne will lead U.S. Delegation USGEO coordinating Agency participation at Summit –Coordinating Summit and Plenary delegations –Preparing Summit and Plenary U.S. positions –Preparing National report for GEO Summit –Coordinating a common USGEO exhibit at the Summit –Coordinating pre Summit events in the U.S., eg Media Roundtable –Submitted 13 papers for GEO Early Achievements –Submitted 10 papers for GEO “Full Picture” USGEO lead shaping of the GEO Summit –GEO Progress Report –GEO Declaration –GEO Exhibits and Press

19 Summary Global environmental information is key to more informed socio-economic decision making in U.S. GEOSS is one the Administration’s key environmental priorities Next Earth Observation Summit will take significant steps in ensuring that GEO members cooperate on issues important to the U.S. such as climate, land imaging applications, drought, air quality and data sharing policy

Natural & Human Induced Disasters Human Health & Well-Being Energy Resources Climate Variability & Change Water Resources Weather Information, Forecasting & Warning Ecosystems Sustainable Agriculture & Desertification Oceans Benefits of Earth Observations 20