1. Terrestrial ECVs for Canada
Richard Fernandes, NRCan

2. GCOS Status 49 confirmed + 8 new ECVs
Some are duplicated for regional adaptation vs global modelling so actually
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

3. 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

4. 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!

5. 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.

6. 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.