Geosphere-Biosphere Programme Research Articles

Radiation exchanges above West African moist savannas: Seasonal patterns and comparison with a GCM simulation

During a field campaign of the Savannas on the Long Term (SALT) Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems/International Geosphere Biosphere Program dealing with the energy budget of a West African moist savanna, particular attention was paid to the radiation budget because it is the driving force for all other surface fluxes. All components of the radiation budget were measured on the ground during one and a half year on a test site in Ivory Coast. The seasonal variations of the observed radiation at the surface and satellite data were compared to the values simulated for the 1978–1988 period by a general circulation model coupled to a land surface parameterization scheme, both developed by the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD). Problems which appear when point observations of surface fluxes are compared with results from general circulation model simulations are addressed. Seasonal variations of the prescribed savanna albedo in the model differed significantly from the observed variations due to bush fire influence. However, the major discrepancy between model simulations and surface observations resulted from the overestimation of the incoming shortwave radiation at the surface. The major sources of discrepancy were found to be the simulated clear‐sky atmospheric absorption and/or scattering of the shortwave radiation and the simulation of cloud and/or cloud‐radiation interactions which lead to an overestimation of the absorbed energy at the surface by the model. It is concluded that improvement of the simulated energy budget in the humid tropics depends critically on a good simulation of the incoming shortwave radiation at the surface.

Data sets for global remote sensing: lessons learnt†

Abstract Developments in the use of high temporal, coarse spatial resolution satellite data have made a major contribution to land remote sensing. Global data sets from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) have provided the community with some preliminary tools to address global change research issues. They have also helped the research community to decide where new and improved instrumentation and processing techniques are needed. The authors have used their experience in developing the application of AVHRR data to land monitoring, their involvement in the development of the Moderate resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) instrument and their participation in the Earth Observing System (EOS) and the Data and Information System of the International Geosphere Biosphere Program (IGBP-DIS) to document some of the more important lessons which have been learnt and those which may have been forgotten. The discussion is arranged under the headings of instrument, data-handling and science issues.

The 1 km resolution global data set: needs of the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme†

Abstract Examination of the scientific priorities for the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP) reveals a requirement for global land data sets in several of its Core Projects. These data sets need to be at several space and time scales. Requirements are demonstrated for the regular acquisition of data at spatial resolutions of 1 km and finer and at high temporal frequencies. Global daily data at a resolution of approximately 1 km are sensed by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), but they have not been available in a single archive. It is proposed, that a global data set of the land surface is created from remotely sensed data from the AVHRR to support a number of IGBP's projects. This data set should have a spatial resolution of 1 km and should be generated at least once every 10 days for the entire globe. The minimum length of record should be a year, and ideally a system should be put in place which leads to the continuous acquisition of 1 km data to provide a base line data set prior to the Earth Observing System (EOS) towards the end of the decade. Because of the high cloud cover in many parts of the world, it is necessary to plan for the collection of data from every orbit. Substantial effort will be required in the preprocessing of the data set involving radiometric calibration, atmospheric correction, geometric correction and temporal compositing, to make it suitable for the extraction of information.

The 1 km AVHRR global land data set: first stages in implementation

Abstract The global land 1 km data set project represents an international effort to acquire, archive, process, and distribute 1 km AVHRR data of the entire global land surface in order to meet the needs of the international science community. A network of 26 high resolution picture transmission (HRPT) stations, along with data recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has been acquiring daily global land coverage since 1 April 1992. A data set of over 30000 AVHRR images has been archived and made available for distribution by the United States Geological Survey, EROS Data Center and the European Space Agency Under the guidance of the International Geosphere Biosphere programme, processing standards for the AVHRR data have been developed for calibration, atmospheric correction, geometric registration, and the production of global 10-day maximum normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) composites. The major uses of the composites are related to the study of surface vegeta...

Heads up

The International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP) has named Christopher G. Rapley as its new executive director. Rapley, a physicist with expertise in Earth observation, high energy astronomy, and solar physics, now heads the remote sensing program and is associate director of the Department of Space and Climate Physics at Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London.

Recent trends in balloon flights from TIFR'S national balloon facility, hyderabad

The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bombay established the TIFR National Balloon Facility (TNBF) at Hyderabad near geomagnetic equator, in 1969. The TNBF undertakes design/fabrication of stratospheric balloons and is also responsible for balloon launch, tracking, data retrieval and recovery of scientific payload after the flight. It provides radio telemetry, telecommand, tracking and undertakes mechanical and electrical integration and test of the scientific payloads. The TNBF has also its own R&D programme in balloon engineering and support instrumentation. To-date 419 balloon flights have been carried out for space astronomy (x-ray, gamma-ray, infrared) and atmospheric sciences (ozone, aerosol, electric field and conductivity). In future several balloon flights are planned for the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and for the space astronomy programme.

Prospects of Köprülü Kanyon National Park for meeting both conservation targets and people's need for development

Köprülü Kanyon National Park is one of the largest National Parks in Turkey. Besides Olympos and Termessos National Park which are not documented at all with a distinct scientific resolution, the reference area is the only park in the East Mediterranean. Through the activities of the UNESCO concept for biosphere reserves it might be possible to match the world interest with local peoples needs. The Köprülü Kanyon National Park comprises the whole range of vegetational zones from thermo-Mediterranean to alpine environments; it also includes a well balanced proportion of natural and manmade ecosystem fragments with transient gradients, i.e. a variety of agro-silvo-pastoral subsystems. The paper discusses options for development of the area focussing on different scales, interests and addresses. Worldwide interest is to be expected for the idea of making Köprülü Kanyon National Park part of a biosphere reserve network along a transect from the Mediterranean to Inner Anatolia which necessarily must have impact on the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme and on the International Sustainable Biosphere Initiative, as it would be difficult to find better reference areas than here. Furthermore local and regional development concepts are discussed which include a local horticulture industry, a regional botanic garden, medicinal plants production and a regional research centre. All these options are intended to give prospects for those people living in the National Park and those living in the developed world heavily depending on the bioresources of the lesser developed world though this relation is only occasionally realised as such.

Human biology in international research programmes.

This lecture draws to the attention of human biologists the opportunities that are available for their participation in international research programmes. Relevant past and present research programmes of the International Union of Biological Sciences are described, together with the larger programmes of the human genome initiative, and the international geosphere biosphere programme on global change of the International Council of Scientific Unions; and the smaller programmes of the World Health Organization and the Council of the European Community. Human biologists have much to contribute to such programmes, but, to do so, personal interests need to be tailored to the requirements of each specific programme.

Post-deforestation Amazonian climate: Anglo-Brazilian research to improve prediction

This paper reviews the experimental activity and primary results of the Amazon Region Micrometeorology Experiment (ARME), and the subsequent impact of these data in improving the prediction of post-deforestation Amazonian climate using general circulation models. It previews the new 5 year programme of collaborative Anglo-Brazilian research which will extend these studies by providing calibration of the land-atmosphere interaction for cleared forest areas, and measurements of the comparative near-surface climatology for large clearings and adjacent areas of undisturbed natural forest. Finally it overviews preliminary plans for a major international study in Amazonia under the World Climate Research Programme and the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme.

Emergence of the Study of Global Ecology: Is Terrestrial Ecology an Impediment to Progress?

The emergence of the study of how the earth system operates and is responding to global change has seen the development of large-scale cross-disciplinary research efforts in addition to progress in traditional single-discipline, single-investigator approaches. Although terrestrial (I use this word in the broad sense to include continental systems encompassing terrestrial, wetland, lake, and river ecosystems) ecology is a central area of research for understanding earth system functioning, this field has not engaged in, nor has it the mechanisms for, strategic research planning, and thus it has not provided the momentum apparent in the allied earth sciences. The development and execution of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program provides one forum for more integrated research planning by ecologists, as well as research opportunities along the entire spectrum of concern of this discipline. However, there needs to be a national focal point for continuing strategic planning for research in terrestrial ecology.

Remote Sensing of Biosphere Functioning

Harold A. Mooney and Richard Hobbs At present there is enormous concern about the changes that are occurring on the surface of the earth and in the earth's atmosphere, primarily as a result of human activities. These changes, particularly in the atmosphere, have the potential for altering the earth's habitability. International pro grams unprecedented in scope, including the International Geosphere Biosphere Program, have been initiated to describe and understand these changes. The global change program will call for coordinated measure ments on a global scale of those interactive physical and biological pro cesses that regulate the earth system. The program will rely heavily on the emerging technology of remote sensing from airborne vehicles, particularly satellites. Satellites offer the potential of continuously viewing large seg ments of the earth's surface, thus documenting the changes that are occur ring. The task, however, is not only to document global change, which will be an enormous job, but also to understand the significance of these changes to the biosphere. Effects on the biosphere may cover all spatial scales from global to local. The possibility of measuring biosphere function remot ly and continuously from satellite imagery must be explored quickly and thoroughly in order to meet the challenge of understanding the con sequences of global change. Initial guidelines and approaches are currently being formulated (Dyer and Crossley, 1986; JOI, 1984; NAS, 1986; Rasool, 1987). There are many conceptual and technical issues that must be resolved H. A. Mooney and R. J.

Planning for chemical air‐sea exchange research

The International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Programme has been created in response to growing international concern about rapid atmospheric chemical changes and their impact on mankind. This program, while emphasizing atmospheric composition and chemistry, recognizes that the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, land, and biota form an interacting system that collectively determine the global environment and its susceptibility to change. The IGAC Programme is intended to be a vital contributor to the broader interdisciplinary program of the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP), providing the important atmospheric chemistry component and recognizing its linkages with the biosphere and human activities. The IGAC Programme is building on existing national programs by providing the international cooperation whereby essential scientific endeavors can be accomplished, even though they involve large demands for man power, technology, geographic coverage, or monetary resources beyond the capability of a single nation.

U.S. JGOFS 1990 research

The U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study, moving toward a fully operational phase in the 1990s, announces an opportunity to participate in global ocean flux research. Other announcements were reported in Eos, October 3 (p. 885), and November 28 (p. 1515), 1989, and a fourth, for research in the central equatorial Pacific, will be made soon.U.S. JGOFS is a component of the U.S. Global Change Research Program and is the U.S. component of JGOFS as sponsored by the Scientific Committee for Ocean Research. It is a Core Project of the International Geosphere Biosphere Program.

Science in Antarctica – a matter of quality

Antarctic research has progressed steadily from the era of reconnaissance studies into a period of problem-oriented scientific investigation. The International Geophysical Year and the intensive work of the 1960s and 1970s have established fundamental knowledge of Antarctic environmental systems on which present and future activities can be planned. Antarctic scientists of all nationalities are now eager to accept and exploit the challenges presented by global change programmes. At its XXth meeting in Hobart in September 1988, SCAR proposed an Antarctic component for inclusion in the ICSU International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme. Antarctic science thus considers itself sufficiently mature to be able to contribute effectively to programmes of world scope. Indeed, involvement in such activities may be seen as mandatory in order to continue to underscore the credibility and mainstream relevance of Antarctic scientific endeavours.

Biota and palaeoatmospheres

A meeting on Biota and palaeoatrnospheres was held at the Geological Society’s apartmenfs at Burlington House on 19 December 1987. It was a joint Ordinary Meeting with the Linnean Society and the Palaeontological Association. This symposium formed part of the celebrations of the Linnean Societ of London, and was held on the eve of its bicentenary year of 1988. The Linnean Society had elected to hold a series of joint meetings with other Societies with allied or overlapping interests, and the Geological Society was an obvious choice. The two societies have been linked physically, by occupying adjoining premises in Burlington House, but more importantly by shared Fellowship, from the earliest days of their co-existence in the present rooms. The principal common ground of the two Societies lies largely in palaeontology and so it was appropriate that plans for a joint meeting should also have involved the Palaeontological Association, which in turn shares membership with both the Geological Society and the Linnean Society. It was, in this way, that the three bodies came to convene a symposium which was to reflect some aspect of their common interests. The organizers decided to try to avoid any of the aspects of conventional palaeontology, but rather sought out a topic which would bring together biologists and geologists on less well-worn ground. The theme of the interaction of the atmosphere and biota through time was chosen as one which fulfilled this aim, but one which was also topical. The recently initiated International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme has

Global change: Geographical approaches (A Review)

The International Geosphere Biosphere Program sponsored by the International Council of Scientific Unions is directing attention to geophysical and biological change as influenced by human modifications in global energy and mass exchanges. Geographers in the Soviet Union and the United States have joined in critical appraisal of their experience in studying environmental change. This initial report is on some promising approaches, such as the reconstruction of earlier landscape processes, modeling of the dynamics of present-day landscapes, analysis of causes and consequences of anthropogenic changes in specified regions, appraisal of social response to change, and enhanced geographic information systems supported by detailed site studies.