Earth Observations in the Americas Opportunities and Challenges Brigadier General John J. Kelly, Jr., (USAF, Ret.) Deputy Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere – NOAA Earth Observation Partnership of the Americas June 2, 2005

2 Growing Partnerships in Earth Observations EOS I July 31, 2003, Washington, D.C. 34 Countries + 20 International Organizations EOS II April 25, 2004, Tokyo, Japan 47 Countries + EC + 26 International Organizations EOS III February 2005, Brussels 60 Countries + EC and 34 International Organizations 10-Year Implementation Plan Commerce Secretary Gutierrez led the US delegation EOS III EOS II EOS I

3 The Premise Behind GEOSS

4 GEOSS Benefit Areas Natural & Human Induced Disasters Human Health & Well-Being Energy Resources Climate Variability & Change Water Resources Weather Information, Forecasting & Warning Terrestrial, Coastal & Marine Ecosystems Sustainable Agriculture & Desertification Biodiversity

5 The Political Process GEO I, Geneva, Switzerland First meeting of new GEO at WMO headquarters on May 3-4 GEO agreed to 12 member Executive Committee Africa (2), Americas (3), Asia and Oceania (3), Commonwealth of Independent States (1), Europe (3) Co-Chairs: US, EC (developed); China, South Africa (developing) First EXCOM Meeting: June 2005

AmericasEuropeAfricaAsia/Oceania Commonwealth of Independent States Brazil Honduras USA European Commission Italy Germany South Africa Morocco Russia China Japan Thailand GEO Executive Committee

7 U.S. Contribution to GEOSS An Interagency Effort

8 Other National Earth Observation Efforts Other countries are following the lead of the US and Europe in developing their own national integration structures: Canada China Japan Morocco South Africa

9 NOAA’s Contribution Applied Research Observing Systems Partnerships Environmental Services Data Assimilation & Modeling

10 NOAA Observations Systems Land- Based Air-Based Ocean-BasedSpace-Based

11 Earth Observations in the Americas Define User Needs – Meteorological and non- Meteorological Plan for Future Systems Enhance Capacity Building & Training Opportunities Build Partnerships as part of GEOSS