The Role of Satellite Data Within GCOS Switzerland

Gabriela Seiz,Marion Meier,Nando Foppa,Frank Paul

doi:10.3390/rs3040767

Abstract

The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) was established in 1992 to ensure that the observations necessary to address climate-related issues are defined, obtained and made available, to all potential users. The Swiss GCOS Office at the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss has the task of coordinating all climate relevant measurements in Switzerland (GCOS Switzerland). As such, the Swiss GCOS Office also fosters the exploration of new measurement techniques and methods, in particular through the use of satellite-based data, to complement the long-term in situ observations in Switzerland. In this paper, the role of satellites is presented for climatological studies of atmospheric and terrestrial Essential Climate Variables in Switzerland. For the atmospheric domain, the 10-year climatology March 2000–February 2010 of cloud cover from MODIS is shown for Switzerland, in low (1° × 1°) and high (0.05° × 0.05°) resolution, and compared to ground-based synop observations. For the terrestrial domain, the satellite-derived Swiss glacier inventory from 1998/99 and the new Alpine-wide inventory from 2003 is presented along with area changes derived from a comparison with previous inventories.

Highlights

In recent decades, observations of climate and climate change have become increasingly important.The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) was established in 1992 to ensure that the observations necessary to address climate-related issues are defined, obtained and made available to potential users [1]
The GCOS observations should assist Parties in meeting their responsibilities under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as well as provide the systematic observations needed by the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Satellites provide a vital means of obtaining observations of the climate system from a global perspective and comparing the state and development of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) in different parts of the globe [3]

Summary

Introduction

Observations of climate and climate change have become increasingly important. The Implementation Plan describes a feasible and cost-effective path toward an integrated observing system which depends on both in situ and satellite-based measurements. It includes the definition of a set of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) covering the entire climate system (subdivided into the atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial domain) and the establishment of the GCOS Climate Monitoring Principles (GCMPs) which provide basic guidance regarding the planning, operation, and management of observing networks and systems. The first complete inventory of Swiss climate measurement series, the National Climate Observing System (GCOS Switzerland), was compiled in. The two examples illustrate the valuable additional information provided from satellites for climate analysis in Switzerland, to complement the existing long-term, high-quality ground-based observations

Atmospheric Domain

Terrestrial Domain

Conclusions

CEOS Satellite Observation of the Climate System

Findings

CEOS 2010 Progress Report