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INTEGRATED
STRATEGIC PLAN
FOR
THE GLOBAL OBSERVING SYSTEMS
(GCOS,
GOOS, GTOS)
DRAFT 2 - NOVEMBER 1997
Introduction
1. The three Global Observing
Systems, the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), the Global Ocean
Observing System (GOOS) and the Global Terrestrial Observing System
(GTOS) (collectively the G3OS), have been established by their sponsors
(FAO, ICSU, IOC, UNEP, UNESCO and WMO) to respond to particular requirements
for operational observations of different aspects or components of the
global environment. Each has found an institutional home in a different
host agency, and each is at a somewhat different stage of development.
Since they share many approaches, interfaces and common problems, it
has become increasingly apparent to the sponsors that their development
needs to be guided by a common strategic framework and close working
relationships.
2. At the same time, the
Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and the International
Group of Funding Agencies for global change research (IGFA) have similarly
seen the need for an Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) as
a joint product of all agencies involved in the collection and analysis
of both space-based and in-situ data. CEOS/IGFA have established a Strategic
Implementation Team which prepared a scoping paper "Towards an Integrated
Global Observing Strategy" in July 1997.
3. An Integrated Global Observing
Strategy will not be a new organization or structure, but will be a
framework encompassing integrated planning, linking research and operational
activities, and linking space and in situ observations. It is important
that such a strategy be, in reality, a strategic planning process, and
that it be seen as user driven and very concrete. It will be implemented
through a series of individual systems making up a greater whole, with
a process to help them join forces.
4. As a contribution to the
development of such a strategy, this document was initially prepared
by UNEP after the First Meeting of the Sponsors Group on the Global
Observing Systems (GCOS, GOOS, GTOS) in Geneva, 13-14 January 1997,
and was revised at the Second Meeting on 15-16 September 1997. It also
draws on some elements of the CEOS/IGFA Scoping Paper. It addresses
both specific strategic issues of the G3OS, and broader questions that
should contribute to the evolution of an Integrated Global Observing
Strategy among all of the nations, agencies and organizations involved
in the collection and analysis of data on the global environment. It
defines elements of the necessary ongoing strategic planning process.
It should be an evolving working document to be considered and updated
at each Sponsors Group meeting to reflect the present state of collaboration
between the global observing systems and within larger partnerships,
and to identify the contributions of the G3OS to an integrated global
observing strategy. The sponsors will draw on it as appropriate and
necessary to prepare documents for approval within their organizations
and by their governing bodies.
Integrated
objectives for global observing systems
5. Integrated objectives
for all the global observing systems and a global observing strategy
will need to be synthesized and generalized from those for each system.
The following are the goals and objectives as defined by each observing
system and by CEOS/IGFA:
6. The GCOS objectives
are to ensure the acquisition of the observations required to meet the
needs for:
(i) climate system monitoring, climate change detection, and response
monitoring, especially in terrestrial ecosystems;
(ii) data for application to national economic development; and
(iii) research towards improved understanding, modelling, and prediction
of the climate system.
7. The mission of GOOS
is to design and implement an integrated system of data collection and
distribution, through the global coordination and enhancement of national
ocean observing systems and the creation of specific data products,
with the following goals:
(i) To serve the marine data and information needs of humanity for the
efficient, safe, rational and responsible use and protection of the
marine environment, and for climate prediction and coastal management,
especially in matters requiring information beyond that which individual
national observation systems can efficiently provide, and which enable
smaller and less-developed nations to participate and gain benefit;
(ii) To establish GOOS and its regional sub-systems and associated systems
as the principal internationally recognised global systems for the gathering,
quality-control and distribution of observational marine data, with
a high level of cooperation and international coordination of marine
observing and analysis efforts of the individual participating nations.
8. The Objectives of GOOS
are:
(i) To specify and detail in terms of space, time, quality and other
relevant factors, the marine observational data needed on a continuing
basis to meet the common and identifiable requirements of the world
community of users of the oceanic environment and ocean knowledge.
(ii) To develop and implement an internationally coordinated strategy
for the gathering or acquisition of these data and synthesising them
for common use and practical application.
(iii) To facilitate the development of uses and products of these data,
and encourage and widen their application in the use and protection
of the marine environment.
(iv) To facilitate means by which less developed nations can increase
their capacity to acquire and use marine data using the GOOS framework.
(v) To coordinate the ongoing operation of GOOS and ensure its integration
within other and wider global observation and environmental management
strategies.
9. The GTOS objectives
are to provide an observational framework and data for:
(i) detection and understanding of the impacts of regional and global
change on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, including their biodiversity,
as well as responses of ecosystems to such change, and of their role
in causing change;
(ii) evaluation of the impacts and consequences of global change on
terrestrial ecosystems components and the environment (impacts of climate
change, cycling and long-range transport of pollutants, human population
dynamics in time and space, and other anthropogenic impacts);
(iii) forecasting, prediction and early warning of future terrestrial
changes and their impacts;
(iv) validation of global models of ecosystem processes and change;
(v) policy formulation and development planning.
10. The CEOS/IGFA
proposals for an Integrated Global Observing strategy responded to three
principal needs:
(i) to establish a clear set of transnational requirements, assuming
that national requirements would then be taken into account. The role
of the G3OS would be important here;
(ii) to recognize the interdependence of measurements for meeting all
data requirements, in situ and space-based, across all countries and
data types. Since in situ data is not the remit of CEOS, partnerships
are required;
(iii) to take into account the way governments respond to requests for
funding. Governments are totally confused by multiple requests to fund
little bits of the whole. There is a need to provide a concerted focus
in the way governments are approached, in order to engineer government
support, and to improve our collective ability to get funding out of
the system.
11. The CEOS/IGFA
scoping paper identified several goals reflecting the value of an integrated
global observing strategy:
(i) provide a framework for a coherent set of user requirements so that
providers can respond to them,
(ii) reduce unnecessary duplication of observations,
(iii) assist in the improved allocation of resources between different
types of observation systems,
(iv) make possible the creation of improved higher level products by
facilitating the integration of multiple data sets from different agencies
and national and international organisations,
(v) provide a framework for decisions on continuity and spatial comprehensiveness
of key observations,
(vi) identify situations where existing international arrangements do
not exist for the management and distribution of key global observations
and products,
(vii) assist in the transitioning of systems from research to operational
status through improved international co-operation,
(viii) provide improved understanding for Governments on the need for
global observation through the presentation of an overarching view of
current system capabilities and limitations.
12. Additional objectives
that could be considered include:
- defining harmonization and quality control criteria;
- demonstrating the utility of databases for developing countries.
- organizing a systematic process to review observations initiated in
scientific research projects that have demonstrated their utility and
significance, and to ensure their integration into, and maintenance
by, operational programmes.
Strategy
for the development and implementation of the Global Observing Systems
13. As human impacts on the
global environment have become increasingly apparent, and the concerns
about global change have grown, it has become obvious that the existing
procedures for collecting basic data on the global environment largely
through research programmes of limited duration, national activities
of limited extent, and a few special purpose observing systems, are
inadequate to meet the pressing need for systematic, long-term, globally
comprehensive data flows necessary to identify global change, to determine
human causative factors, to guide response strategies and management
actions, and to determine their effectiveness.
14. The response of the concerned
United Nations organizations and the scientific community has been to
initiate the planning and development of global observing systems for
climate, the oceans and terrestrial areas. Each system has been planned
by groups of leading scientists and government and agency experts to
identify cost-effective, global, multidisciplinary approaches to operational
observation activities in response to key priority data needs. Each
system has defined its terms of reference, scope and strategies, and
is well on the way to establishing implementation plans and core data
set requirements. All have established secretariats, steering committees,
working groups and joint task forces preparing detailed plans for specific
areas or functions, and the first components are now ready for implementation.
The systems have adopted phased implementation strategies building on
the present observational activities of established operational and
research programmes. Existing activities and monitoring sites are being
assessed, and recommendations made for harmonization, enhancements or
new observations which should be done to meet broader integrated global
needs. One immediate challenge is the definition of core variables for
priority issues.
15. An integrated strategic
planning process complements the strategy of each global observing system,
providing a framework for joint activities and linking the three systems
into a larger institutional and operational context including international,
regional and national organizations with responsibilities for providing
in-situ observations, space agencies, science funding agencies, agencies
with operational responsibilities, global scientific research programmes,
and capacity building efforts in developing countries. These efforts
among the observing systems are contributing to the larger partnerships
among several other organizations and bodies, including the Committee
for Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and the International Group
of Funding Agencies (IGFA) in preparing in Integrated Global Observing
Strategy.
16. One dimension of the
strategy needs to address these larger partnerships. For example, the
space agencies in CEOS have in the past been driven largely by technological
developments, and they hope that the G3OS can help to provide a new
definition of user needs. The strategy should consider the imbalance
between the well-funded space agencies/funding agencies, and the ill-funded
group of global observing systems that are willing but not necessarily
able to respond to CEOS's requirements. This is related to the imbalance
in support available to space-based observations relative to in situ
observations. It will be necessary to invest heavily in in situ measuring
systems to restore the balance. There is also increasing difficulty
in maintaining continuity in space observations. The strategy needs
to argue in favour of all operational observations, even in such well-established
areas as meteorology.
17. In addition to the balance
between space-based and in situ observations, the strategy will need
to include the necessary balance between research and operational observations.
By demonstrating the utility of research results, it can encourage conversion
of research to operational programmes. The long-term dimension of the
observational strategy is particularly important.
18. The demand for coherence
among observing systems comes principally from developed countries;
developing countries have other needs and priorities to which the strategy
must also respond. There is strong pressure on the United Nations agencies
not to put their funds into rich country issues. Developing countries
should be seen as beneficiaries, through addressing such issues as seasonal
changes, land use changes, coastal protection and pollution. The focus
should be on delivering answers rather than data. The strategy should
also address such things as the need to groom people in developing countries
for more strategic roles such as those required to plan and implement
the G3OS. There is an international problem in translating political
statements into measurable objectives. The development of indicators
could provide such a link, and observing systems would be required to
generate the necessary data.
19. A principal question
is how to articulate the links between the partners, and to define the
roles of each in such a strategy. How can we become more integrated,
and within what time frame? The strategy must counter the impression
that it is driven by the space agencies, and demonstrate the coherence
of its different components. Another question is how to put the programmes
to governments. It is essential that all the partners communicate
the same broad message.
20. The essence of an integrated
strategy is to recognize that what is needed is more a process than
a plan. Any comprehensive plan would quickly go out of date as new discoveries
and methodologies, rapidly evolving technologies, shifting priorities
and emerging issues, change the requirements for global observations.
Nor will a monolithic coordinating structure be adequate to the task
of bringing coherence across so many institutional, geographic and disciplinary
dimensions. What is needed is more organic. The strategy should aim
to ensure that networks of decentralized relations exist at the various
levels where collaboration, coordination, joint planning and decision-making
are required, and that information on what each component is doing flows
effectively to those who need to take it into account in their own planning,
without creating unbearable burdens of meetings and communications at
any level. Most importantly, the articulation between data users and
decision-makers on the one hand, and data producers and processors,
on the other, must work efficiently across several intermediary levels,
so that the whole process remains user driven and focussed cost-effectively
on the highest priorities. Regular processes of review and renewal are
required to ensure that any structures established remain efficient
and responsive. The GOS-Net initiative being led by GTOS may provide
a model for this kind of networking.
21. While, for historical,
institutional and substantive reasons, creating a single global observing
system is not a practical possibility, more integration is needed, and
the G3OS Sponsors are strongly supporting integrated strategic planning
in order to avoid gaps and overlaps. Integration, collaboration and
simplification of the systems has already begun at several levels. At
the conceptual level, system objectives and strategies are being harmonized.
At the technical level, the secretariats are working more closely together,
and working groups are being rationalized within and between programmes
on functional issues such as space-based observations, in situ observations,
data management and telecommunications. At the political level of the
sponsors and governments, the creation of the Sponsors Group is an important
first step. Issues requiring further collaboration and integration include
political (national government) support, and fund-raising.
22. Both the G3OS and the
CEOS/IGFA Strategic Implementation Team have decided to proceed with
pilot or prototype projects to demonstrate the utility of integrated
global observations and to work out, at a reasonable scale, the many
practical difficulties in putting such systems into operation. The organization
of, and fund-raising for, these demonstration projects has high priority
and is now moving ahead. The success of the demonstration activities
should help to leverage broader support for global observation activities.
23. One further step now
will be to assemble the plans produced by the observing systems into
more coherent packages, relating objectives, activities and deliverables.
A further focus is needed on user benefits, including developing the
relationship with international assessment processes like the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and multilateral environmental agreements
and conventions such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(FCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the UN Convention
on Combatting Desertification (CCD). It is a challenge to develop the
interface between observational field activities and global planning.
Where it may prove difficult to create much interest in long-term data
sets and processes, a more immediate pay-off may be possible from short-term
products such as climate prediction. The users need to develop a sense
of ownership of the observational activities producing the flows of
data that they require for decision-making.
24. It will ultimately be
important to meet the observational requirements defined by the full
range of user communities, and strategic planning should aim for this.
A number of common issues represent themes for integration across the
systems in various directions. These include topical issues such as
climate change, biodiversity and desertification for which there are
already international conventions; persistent organic pollutants, forests,
and land-based activities affecting the marine and aquatic environments,
for which conventions are possible; and more general issues such as
coastal zone management, freshwater, socio-economic implications, food
security, ecosystem productivity and the problems of megacities.
25. All the programmes have
started by building on existing systems, and preparing plans for implementation
largely at the national level. However, even once existing observational
activities and networks are incorporated, there will remain significant
gaps to be filled. Operational observations are well-developed in some
fields and embryonic or non-existent in others. Building new institutional
mechanisms may be required, both nationally and internationally. There
are also significant parts of the developing world where there is little
or no monitoring activity and where international assistance and capacity
building will be required. The roles and functions of the Global Observing
Systems in catalyzing these developments still need to be defined, and
may require kinds of expertise and approaches quite different from what
has been required for planning.
26. Special attention is
needed to the procedures for pursuing the implementation of the plans
prepared by the G3OS. Even where much of the intended planning has been
completed, the systems do not have the access to governments necessary
to deliver the plans and to discuss implementation. A major effort will
be required to build relationships and involve governments and national
institutions more directly in implementation.
Integration
across priority issues
-
climate change
27. One of the major concerns
relative to global environmental change is the risk of human-induced
climate change, through the anthropogenic production of greenhouse gases
and other mechanisms, with significant potential effects on the environment
and human health. For instance, the increased rain in Colombia during
El Nino events raises the incidence of malaria, and underlines the complex
relationship between the oceans, climate, and disease vectors. The Global
Climate Observing System (GCOS) has been created specifically to establish
operational observation programmes to build the long-term data series
necessary to detect such climate change. As such it is already an issue-oriented
integrated programme across all environmental media and kinds of observations,
drawing on significant inputs from GOOS and GTOS. Because the ocean
is a major driver of climate change, there is a very close relationship
between GOOS and GCOS, with the climate module of GOOS being the ocean
component of GCOS. The two are linked threough the activities of the
Ocean Observing Panel for Climate (OOPC). As the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change implements concrete and often costly measures to address
this problem, the need for an adequate base of global observations to
monitor climate trends and determine the effectiveness of such measures
will become increasingly evident.
- forecasting
season to interannual variability
28. The growing capacity
of regional and global observing networks linked to computer models
to identify and predict seasonal and interannual variability in weather
patterns, rainfall and extreme meteorological events, such as those
related to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, are making it possible
to anticipate and to take preventive action to reduce the human, social
and economic impacts of the related droughts, floods, cyclonic storms.
This is one of the best opportunities to demonstrate the relevance and
cost-effectiveness of well-planned and coordinated global observation
and assessment programmes, with significant benefits in such areas as
food security and human safety reaching even to the rural poor of developing
countries. The nature of the interlinked atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial
processes and impacts involved requires coherent planning for precise
outputs across all the observing systems.
- freshwater
29. Freshwater is one of
the most essential resources for human well-being, for which the quantity
and quality available are increasingly becoming limiting factors to
development in many regions. The nature of the hydrological cycle, joining
the oceanic, atmospheric and terrestrial compartments, means that a
complete understanding of the processes and fluxes necessary to develop,
maintain and manage freshwater resources can only come from coordinated
observations from all the G3OS.
- biodiversity
30. The diverse biological
resources of the planet have generated and maintain the conditions necessary
for all life, and are essential for human survival and progress. Any
reduction in the genetic, species and ecosystem diversity that has evolved
over millions of years will constrain the possibilities of future generations
and could well reduce the carrying capacity of the Earth to support
human life. The biosphere includes the terrestrial, oceanic and atmospheric
envelopes of the planet, so any observations of the status of and trends
in biological diversity fall within the scope of both GTOS and GOOS.
Any significant climate change will have major impacts on biodiversity,
so GCOS is also extremely relevant to this issue. All the observing
systems should develop specific outputs relevant to this key aspect
of global sustainability, particularly with respect to information needs
under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
- desertification
31. Desertification and the
deterioration of drylands are another area where an international environmental
convention has been adopted. Given the natural variability in such areas,
only widespread and long-term as well as locally-responsive observations
can help to improve the scientific basis for management action. While
GTOS has the major responsibilities in this area, the obvious role of
climate requires coordinated inputs from GCOS, and a better understanding
of the linked ocean-atmosphere systems that may contribute to desertification.
- persistent
organic pollutants, chemical toxicity
32. The accumulation of various
toxic and damaging chemicals, including persistent organic pollutants
(POPs) in the environment is one of the greatest enviromental threats
from modern civilization. These chemicals accumulate in and are transmitted
through all the environmental media, and any understanding of their
amounts, pathways, degradation processes and sinks requires coordinated
observations on land, in the oceans and atmosphere, and of human activities.
GTOS and GOOS will need to link with the Global Atmosphere Watch and
other activities to contribute to an integrated picture of the trends
and risks associated with such chemicals. International conventions
are now being prepared on toxic chemicals that will certainly create
new demands for long-time-series observations to monitor chemicals in
the environment.
- forests
33. While no decision has
yet been taken on the need for a global convention on forests, there
is widespread recognition of the global dimensions of forest issues,
which are a major theme being addressed by the UN system and the Commission
on Sustainable Development. Forest and other vegetation observations
are a core element of GTOS. However, the relevance of climate change
to forest, as illustrated for instance by the major forest fires in
South-East Asia and other regions linked to climate variability, and
the dual role of mangrove forests in both the terrestrial and marine
environments, show the importance of integrating aspects of GCOS and
GOOS in addressing forest issues.
- land-based
activities affecting the marine and aquatic environments
34. The Global Programme
of Action on the Effects on the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities,
adopted at Washington in 1995, calls for integrated approaches to address
and control terrestrial activities that have their ultimate impact on
marine and coastal areas and resources, often through pollutants transported
via water-borne or atmospheric pathways. The trend to a relative increase
in the population of the coastal zone, exacerbated by the absolute growth
in population, is increasing pressure on this fragile environment. Changes
on land, in the ocean and in the climate all interact here, requiring
input from GOOS, GTOS and GCOS for sustainable development, as called
for in Agenda 21. GTOS and GOOS, in particular, should address the need
for operational observation programmes integrated across terrestrial,
freshwater, coastal and marine environments to identify and monitor
relevant problems and to measure the effectiveness of the Global Programme
of Action in encouraging and facilitating solutions.
- food
security
35. As the human population
continues to grow and consumption levels rise, food security is becoming
a major worry. The agricultural productive capacity of many areas is
impacted by land degradation, land use changes, pests and diseases,
the effects of globalization and trade, climate variability and other
factors. In world fisheries, so important as a protein source for many
people, capacity is stretched to the limit, even where fish stocks have
not actually collapsed. The collapse of fish stocks is complicated by
the interaction between the effects of overfishing on the one hand and
climate change, which causes fish populations to change or migrate,
on the other hand. Only careful observations will enable the determination
of cause and effect that is necessary to guide policy making. The increasing
development of toxic algal blooms in coastal waters may be driven by
increased runoff of nutrients from land and poses a chronic problem
to human health through ingestion of contaminated fish and shellfish.
This problem becomes acute where coastal aquaculture is being developed
to replace collapsing fish stocks as a source of protein. Observations
of all the environmental parameters related to food security are becoming
critical to prevent or at least anticipate and respond to catastrophic
food shortages. This is another critical human issue where the G3OS
can plan targetted outputs from their observation networks to respond
to an immediate need for reliable information, with respect both to
short-term early warning of food crises, and to longer-term trends that
may change the food supply and demand situation.
- ecosystem
productivity
36. Scientists have recently
begun warning that the scale of human activities is now affecting and
capturing the benefits of a significant proportion of the total ecosystem
productivity of major parts of the planet. Since human impacts tend
more often to reduce or degrade natural productivity levels, the risks
for global biogeochemical cycles need to be examined carefully, and
early warning of any threats to planetary productivity be provided,
commensurate with the natural inertia and time-lags in the systems concerned.
Only an integration of elements of all the observing systems will make
it possible to assemble the necessary global scale data sets that would
make possible more precise estimates of the risks.
- megacity
problems
37. As the proportion of
the population crowding into megacities rises, the impact on their surrounding
environment grows, and the challenges of meeting their resource requirements
and disposing of their wastes while preserving a liveable environment
increase. The global observing systems need to consider their potential
to contribute to the operational data and information requirements on
which urban management decisions must be based, and to develop specific
information products needed by urban planners and decision-makers.
Operational
collaboration between the systems
- meeting
organization and attendance
38. There is such a multiplication
of meetings that it is no longer possible to attend all of them. Processes
should be simplified, and cooperative forward planning used to reduce
the number of meetings to the minimum needed, combining the efforts
of all interested organizations wherever possible. The Sponsors Group
could help to identify who might speak for all the sponsors and even
all the observing systems at particular meetings.
- inter-secretariat
collaboration
39. The three G3OS Directors
should maintain their own close working relationships, with at least
two meetings a year, including the day before the Sponsors Group meeting,
so as to be fully informed, discuss joint concerns and frame future
directions. At the level of the Steering Committees (scientific and
technical committees), each committee should regularly invite the other
two to be represented by an observer. Other possible mechanisms for
information exchange and joint planning on an occasional basis could
include joint meetings of the chairs of groups and the Directors of
the secretariats, and possibly joint meetings between Steering Committees.
40. The coordination of joint
proposals for outside funding should be done by the Directors consulting
directly with all those concerned, on a case by case basis. Information
on fund-raising initiatives and project submissions should be shared
to avoid duplication, and care should be taken so that one proposal
does not undercut another one. Unilateral action without consultation
should be avoided.
41. The three Global Observing
Systems can help to communicate the integration and coherence of the
three systems by harmonizing terminologies and organizational structures
to the extent possible. Secretariats and their host organizations are
collaborating to develop uniform structures and terminology.
42. With the increasing number
of publications and reports being generated by the Observing Systems,
more attention is being given to their coherent appearance and distribution,
including publication formats, layouts, logos and graphic designs. Public
information materials should make cross-references to all the systems.
43. For the distribution
of documents, each system should determine the major part of its own
distribution, and also call on the cooperation of the Sponsors. Further
consideration needed to be given to the best way to reach the appropriate
levels in governments.
- roles
of the sponsors
44. The Sponsors Group meetings
facilitate information exchange between the systems and with the sponsors.
They provide a practical mechanism for programme and administrative
reviews such as the review of Memoranda of Understanding, benefiting
from the experience of all three systems, and harmonizing structures
and terminologies. They also can help in rationalizing the number of
meetings and reduce the need for cross-attendance at those meetings.
For the immediate future, two meetings of the Sponsors Group per year
may be necessary. This simple mechanism may be sufficient at the sponsors'
level.
45. It is desirable in principle
for all the sponsors to co-sponsor all three Observing Systems. In the
meantime, the secretariats and sponsors should share information with
all of the members of the Sponsors Group regardless of whether they
are formally a sponsor of the system in question.
46. There will need to be
a gradual approach to developing support for an integrated global observing
strategy up through each organization's hierarchy. Each organization
could prepare a time scale for building the necessary institutional
support.
47. The sponsors should draw
on their breadth of knowledge of existing activities to review programmes
which may fit into the global observing system frameworks, and to work
for their greater involvement in G3OS activities. They also should use
links with such activities to increase the visibility of and build support
for the observing systems.
- relationships
with governing bodies of sponsors
48. Special attention is
needed to build support for the Global Observing Systems in the governing
bodies of each sponsor, where there is competition for shrinking funds
and a focus on limited priorities. The support of governments is needed
to maintain the observing systems in the sponsors' work programmes and
budgets, as this is essential to the healthy development of the secretariats.
The sponsors should assist each other in bringing the global observing
systems to the attention of their governing bodies. Similar efforts
are needed in inter-governmental fora such as the Commission on Sustainable
Development, where the sponsors who are Task Managers should include
the observing systems in their statements and reports. The value of
data from systematic observations in supporting indicators for decision-making
is one theme to emphasize.
- fund-raising
49. The preparation of coordinated
or joint approaches to fund-raising is a major continuing task for the
Sponsors Group. A coherent strategy, with defined roles and responsibilities
for sponsors, secretariats and other partners, will need to be developed,
without constraining the opportunistic nature of much fund-raising.
At the project level, each system should make its own direct approaches,
following the procedures of its host organization. At an intermediate
level, some cooperation would be useful. A major pledging conference
for governments should be a joint activity for all three systems. Any
information on countries or organizations that might be receptive should
be shared and incorporated in the strategy.
-
implementation mechanisms
50. Implementation of integrated
global observation systems requires a close continuing working relationship
with several key groups: the designers and operators of space-based
observational platforms represented by CEOS; the operators of in situ
ecological and monitoring sites, systems and networks; and governments
coordinating, supporting and using national observational programmes.
The relationship with CEOS is being developed. GTOS is taking the lead
in establishing GOS-Net, a network of existing in situ observation networks
that focuses on issues of common interest to scientists and policy-makers,
and that measures variables in a harmonized way. It is intended that
GOS-Net be extended as appropriate to all the observing systems. GOOS
and GCOS also have implementation activities, with an emphasis on regional
programmes and pilot projects.
51. Some coordinating mechanisms
already exist. The G3OS sponsors participate as affiliates in the CEOS
annual meeting in mid-November each year. The Sponsors Group has recommended
that each CEOS affiliate sponsor should follow the WMO example and designate
a key person to provide an active working-level linkage with CEOS activities.
The Sponsors Group will also be an effective mechanism to consider an
integrated global observing strategy on a continuing basis. It has decided
to allocate a half day at each meeting to this subject and to invite
CEOS and IGFA observers to join it for this discussion, so that it can
serve as a working group for an effective articulation with CEOS and
IGFA. It also agreed to collaboration between the G3OS Secretariats
and CEOS.
52. Joint pilot projects
for the implementation of some relevant G3OS activities in developing
countries have been developed, including one in South-East Asia by the
GCOS Planning Office on behalf of GCOS/GOOS/GTOS, and another in several
countries prepared by FAO and submitted to Norway for funding. The secretariats
and the Sponsors Group should explore opportunities for the further
development of such joint activities.
53. GOOS has been developing
implementation projects on a regional basis, including EuroGOOS for
Europe and NEAR-GOOS in the North-East Asia region. GTOS is preparing
a demonstration project to estimate global terrestrial ecosystem productivity.
54. The CEOS/IGFA Strategic
Implementation Team has developed six international prototype projects
to demonstrate the value of working within an integrated strategy framework.
These are a Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment, Upper Air Measurements,
Long-term Continuity of Ozone Measurements, Global Observations of Forest
Cover, Long-term Ocean Biology Measurements, and Disaster Management
Support. These projects represent a pragmatic approach to building support
for global observations by demonstrating the rapid delivery of useful
products. New project proposals could also be considered. FAO has suggested
additional projects on land, such as one on desertification. GTOS and
FAO should cooperate with the forest cover project to reinforce existing
activities. The ocean biology project also needs GOOS collaboration
through its living marine resources component. It is important that
new projects should be initiated from the programme side.
- relations
with governments and intergovernmental collaboration
55. The strategy should include
a concerted approach to building a commitment for implementation and
funding of the observing systems at the national level, including steps
to bring together, at the national level, agencies and ministries with
responsibilities for components of the systems.
56. At present, only a few
countries show much understanding of and support for the global observing
systems. Now that plans are being completed and are ready for implementation,
attracting national support and participation is a major challenge.
The respective roles of the sponsors and secretariats in this are being
defined. Past efforts to use intergovernmental meetings to build support
have not proven very successful, and many approaches will probably be
necessary.
57. Each system has been
discussing ways to encourage government support and participation. A
first meeting to report to governments, with the aim of getting their
endorsement and support, is being organized by GOOS in mid-1998. Governmental
meetings on the G3OS should be planned and conducted in a concerted
way. The Directors should cooperate in preparing these meetings, with
each meeting reflecting the linkages between the three systems. It is
essential that all the meetings be presented as part of a coherent strategy
to build government support. It would also be useful to sound out governments
as to the kind of mechanism they want to interface with the global observing
systems. Consideration could be given to a broad mechanism for government
participation covering all three systems.
58. There will also need
to be different approaches to building the cooperation of developing
countries, since they will generally require outside assistance to build
their capacity for observation programmes. Support from the Global Environment
Facility is only provided in response to country proposals, so assistance
to countries in preparing such proposals may be required, and special
funding is available for this.
- integrated
approaches at the national level
59. There is also a need
for integrated approaches at the national level, where fragmented agencies
and programmes make it difficult to articulate national activities with
integrated multidisciplinary global programmes.
60. A few governments have
expressed a preference for a single national body to deal with all three
observing systems. For this, they will have to develop some integrating
mechanism at the national level. Otherwise, it is not evident to identify
who in a government would be the appropriate national counterparts for
all three systems, and who to invite to intergovernmental meetings.
Functional
integration of the systems
61. Inter-system cooperation
in each area of common interest should be extended to all areas where
it is appropriate. Responsibility of the systems for joint panels, such
as those on space-based observations and on data management, should
rotate among the G3OS secretariats to the extent possible. Membership
should be designated with attention to balance among land, ocean and
climate aspects, preferably by joint selection of panel members by the
three systems.
62. It will be important
to maintain the simplest possible structure of working groups across
all the systems. Standing panels should only be established where they
are clearly justified, as they are in rapidly evolving fields such as
space observations and data management. Wherever possible working groups
should be given specific mandates and time frames to deliver a defined
product before disbanding. With the pressure to reduce the number of
meetings, the Steering Committees and the Sponsors Group should regularly
assess the continuing need for each panel and working group.
- space-based
observations
63. The joint Space-based
Observations panel is established, and provides a mechanism to simplify
and make more efficient the contacts between the space agencies and
the sponsors and other parts of the user community. A database has been
developed making it possible to match data requirements and the technical
capacities of space-based instruments. There is already a list of about
180 parameters prepared in cooperation with CEOS and WMO, from which
each user can define its set of requirements. Effort should be shifted
from the multiple ad hoc contacts of the past to these new integrated
mechanisms for matching demand and supply. The space panel is not looking
at real-time operational requirements or experimental research sensors,
but concentrating on the repeated measurements required to build time
series data for monitoring and detecting change.
64. The space-based observations
panel provides a mechanism for coordination of technical inputs to the
Committee for Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) representing most
of the space agencies. At a higher policy-making level, the Sponsors
Group and CEOS/IGFA have agreed to regular half-day discussions as part
of each Sponsors Group meeting.
- in
situ observations
65. There may be a need for
an in situ observations panel to balance the space-based observations
panel. It is critical, particularly for terrestrial and coastal observations,
to know what data are being collected and where. Programmes can only
be built on existing activities if those activities are known. This
will require inventories of on-going measurements. However this is a
complex task, often specific to each type of measurement, and beyond
the capacities of the observing systems. The TEMS database in GTOS is
a start, but resources are required to maintain it. Governments should
be encouraged to make national inventories, and perhaps to take on the
responsibility of establishing regional or international data centres
as contributions to the global programmes. This is an area of critical
concern that can only be developed gradually, starting with the improved
sharing of existing data. The GTOS Working Group on site criteria, and
the coastal panel, might maintain a watching brief on possibilities
to improve the geographic organization, and eventually co-location,
of in situ observations.
- data
management and telecommunications
66. The Data Management panel
faces a more difficult challenge, since there is such a broad range
of data requirements that it is impossible to get down to the same level
of detail. It may still be necessary to have some data groups within
each observing system, while the joint panel will provide an umbrella
framework for larger scale harmonization and joint services. The sponsors
should indicate to the Data Management panel the relevant activities
in their own organizations.
67. There is a particular
need for clearly defined data policies that articulate the Global Observing
Systems' view regarding the availability of data and the timeliness
with which data should be made available, as well as the development
of set standards for meta data (information about data sets).
Interfaces
between the systems
- ocean
inputs to the climate system
68. The GCOS/GOOS/WCRP Ocean
Observations Panel for Climate (OOPC), administered by GOOS, is developing
the ocean climate module. It is addressing implementation in cooperation
with existing programmes and bodies (e.g. IGOSS, CMM, DBCP, etc.).
- terrestrial
observations for climate
69. The GCOS/GTOS Terrestrial
Observation Panel for Climate (TOPC) has made good progress, completing
the second version of its plan which was now ready for implementation.
- coastal
zones (land-ocean interface)
70. The coastal module is
given high priority as an element of GOOS by governments and agencies,
and a GOOS coastal panel is being established to work on a Coastal Seas
module, following a meeting in Miami, 24-28 February 1997. GTOS also
has a coastal working group. Because of their different priorities and
stages of development, it is premature to conside a joint activity,
but interlinkages are important. The coastal dimensions of GOOS and
GTOS could contribute to implementation of the Global Programme of Action
for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities.
The sponsors recognize that the coastal area is an interface between
the three observing systems, and they must work together in a coordinated
way. There should also be links to the activity on run-off and coastal
pollution, and to the development of operational hydrology.
- freshwater/hydrology
71. All three systems need
observations across the water cycle, which is an important integrative
component, requiring the establishment of a hydrological network. There
has been progress through the development of the World Hydrological
Cycle Observing System (WHYCOS) and other data projects, but the work
of the hydrological community has not yet been linked effectively to
the much broader importance of water in biogeochemical cycles and other
global processes. Except for the climate requirements outlined by the
TOPC, the observing systems have yet to define their other needs for
hydrological data. There are also problems of access to hydrological
data at the national level which still need to be overcome. GTOS is
encouraged to take the lead in this area, and should invite the cooperation
of GCOS and GOOS in a joint activity.
- socio-economic
implications
72. A panel on socio-economic
benefits from the observing systems is another priority need. All the
systems recognize that a clear definition of the societal benefits from
their observations will help to build and maintain support, yet all
are weak in expertise in this area. There are also socio-economic parameters
that are required to interpret issues of global change, and ways in
which natural resources data from the observing systems could be used
in socio-economic accounting.
73. GTOS has established
a group to look at socio-economic issues, and should perhaps take the
lead in this area, inviting GCOS and GOOS to participate in the group,
in the hope that it will evolve into a joint activity. GCOS and GOOS
have done considerable work in this area, which should be shared with
the GTOS group. It would be good to establish links with other relevant
activities of the sponsors, such as work done under the UNESCO MAB programme
and UNEP's work on natural resources accounting.
74. The International Human
Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (IHDP), now jointly
sponsored by the International Social Science Council and ICSU, should
be invited to form a partnership with a joint socio-economic panel,
and perhaps even take the lead in organizing a joint activity.
Delivery
to users
75. The global observing
systems must be practical and user oriented. The data generated should
be packaged into multiple information products responding to a variety
of user needs. Some of the principal user groups are mentioned below.
- national
governments
76. National governments
will always be the most important participants in and supporters of
the G3OS, and their needs for information should be a high priority.
Within governments there will be a range of information users from technical
services and research centres through decision-makers and school curruculum
developers. The specific information needs of each group should be identified
and responded to.
- decision-makers
77. The needs of decision-makers,
ranging from local government leaders to intergovernmental bodies, are
generally for brief summary information with clear indicators and policy
implications. More detailed supporting information should be available
for technical staff and policy advisers. This type of information output
can help to increase the visibility and demonstrate the relevance of
the G3OS.
- convention
secretariats, subsidiary mechanisms, and conferences of parties
78. The international environmental
conventions on climate change, ozone, biological diversity and desertification,
among others, should become important users of observational data to
monitor the trends in their respective problem areas and to determine
whether the measures adopted under the conventions are having the desired
effect. However they will only become ready to consider the data issue
at a particular point in their political development. The strategy should
identify the data required for the proper implementation of the conventions
and define what the observing systems could offer. There were concrete
needs for inventories and national reporting to support the decisions
of the Conferences of the Parties. It might help to develop a flow chart
of links to the conventions with deliverables.
79. The sponsors' observers
at the meetings of the conferences of the parties and of the subsidiary
bodies should be briefed on the Global Observing Systems, and should
be ready to point out to the conventions the services that the systems
can perform. They also should keep the G3OS secretariats informed of
any opportunities to submit information on their work to the conventions
and to strengthen their working relationships with the convention machinery.
- international
organizations
80. International organizations
require extensive data from global observations as a basis for the environmental
assessments and reports to intergovernmental bodies that they are mandated
to prepare in their different areas of interest. The data will also
support their own operational, research and development assistance activities.
They can help to generate value added information products for their
own sectoral constituencies.
81. The work on developing
indicators of sustainable development under the Commission on Sustainable
Development and elsewhere will generate a need for new flows of data
to calculate the indicators, to which the observing systems should respond.
This could become a major future use of G3OS data outputs.
- scientific
community
82. The scientific research
community has always been one of the driving forces behind the development
of the observing systems both to meet their own needs for research data
at scales and over periods that they cannot easily collect through research
programme, and to convert to an operational basis observation systems
and methodologies that have proven their value through research programmes.
They are the one user group that can use G3OS outputs with minimal processing
or interpretation.
- private
sector
83. Businesses in the private
sector may well be interested in some specific data products. Many companies
in the service sector will add value to G3OS data and information by
converting it into a multiplicity of products and services for the benefit
of a wide range of users in the commercial and public sector, as is
the case in meteorology today. Businesses are also the one group that
may be able to pay full commercial rates for information that can increase
their profitability.
- non-governmental
organizations
84. The wide range of non-governmental
organizations could become useful partners in disseminating the results
of operational observation programmes. They can reach strata of society
that could not easily be reached directly, and can often help to repackage
and add value to data products.
- grass-roots
users and major groups
85. Delivery
of useful information to developing countries will be an important selling
point, including the possibility of delivering imagery and information
at the grass-roots level where many resource management decisions are
taken. For instance, agricultural users are more interested in variations
in seasonality rather than in climate change, and outputs could respond
to this immediate need. It might even be possible to encourage a new
type of small scale information entrepreneurship, generating locally
adapted information products for masses of individual users.
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