Transcript Earth Observations: The View from Scripps Charles F. Kennel Director Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California, San Diego January 2005

Earth Observations:
The View from Scripps
Charles F. Kennel
Director
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego
January 2005
Humans have transformed the earth
in the last 50 years
City Lights from Space
Water, ozone, global air pollution, climate change,
ecosystems
Earth System Science
• In addition to dealing with eons past, earth
science has a new focus on the geological here
and now- predict the next hundred years.
• We are creating an interdisciplinary panorama
of the earth as it is today and as it will be
tomorrow.
• We are taking into account the human activities
that influence earth’s systems
• Earth system science can now make useful
forecasts in fields beyond weather
• The entire enterprise requires an earth
observing system of global scale
Global Earth
Observing System
•
•
•
•
Human Architecture
Multi-Sensor Networks
Cyber-Infrastructure
Decision-Support
Systems
Human Architecture:
International Framework
• Global Change Research Act of 1990
– Calls for “global measurements, establishing worldwide
observations necessary to understand the physical, chemical,
and biological processes responsible for changes in the Earth
system on all relevant spatial and time scales,” as well as
“documentation of global change, including the development
of mechanisms for recording changes that will actually occur
in the Earth system over the coming decades.”
• International Global Observing Strategy
(OSTP, July 17, 1995)
– “The Global Observing System would be an internationally
coordinated system of mutually funded experimental and
operational space-based and in situ data acquisition, archive,
and distribution systems and programs for earth observations
and environmental monitoring.”
Human Architecture - 2
G-8 Summit, Evian France, June 2, 2003
“ We will focus our efforts on three areas that present great
opportunities for progress: … close co-ordination of our respective
global observation strategies for the next ten years; identify new
observations to minimize data gaps; ...”
Declaration of the Earth Observation Summit
“We,
the participants in this Earth Observation Summit held in
Washington, DC, on July 31, 2003 … Affirm the need for timely,
quality, long-term, global information as a basis for sound decision
making.”
Ministers at the Earth Observation Summit III in Brussels,
February 2005, endodrsed the 10-Year Implementation Plan.
55 GEO members as of March 2005
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Belgium
Belize
Brazil
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Croatia
Cyprus
Denmark
Egypt
European Commission
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Guinea-Bissau
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Kazakhstan
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Mali
Mexico
Morocco
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Niger
Nigeria
Norway
Portugal
Republic of the Congo
Republic of Korea
Russian Federation
Slovak Federation
South Africa
Spain
Sudan
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Tunisia
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States
Uzbekistan
40 NGO Participants as of March 2005
African Association of Remote
Sensing of the Environment
Asia-Pacific Network for Global
Change Research
Association for the Development of
Environmental Information
(ADIE)
Central American Commission for
the Environment and
Development (SICA/CCAD)
Committee on Earth Observation
Satellites (CEOS)
EuroGeoSurveys
European Centre for Medium-Range
Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
European Environmental Agency
(EEA)
European Space Agency (ESA)
European Organization for the
Exploitation of Meteorological
Satellites (EUMETSAT)
European Sea Level Service
Federation of Digital Broad-Band
Seismograph Networks (FDSN)
Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations (FAO)
Global Climate Observing System
(GCOS)
Global Ocean Observing
System (GOOS)
Global Terrestrial Observing
System (GTOS)
Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (IEEE)
Integrated Global Observing
Strategy Partnership (IGOS-P)
Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC)
International Association of
Geodesy (IAG)
International Association of Geodesy
(IAG)
International Council for Science
(ICSU)
International Council on Systems
Engineering
International Geosphere-Biosphere
Program (IGBP)
International Group of Funding
Agencies for Global Change
Research (IGFA
)International Institute for Space Law
(IISL)
International Society for
Photogrammetry and Remote
Sensing
International Steering Committee for
Global Mappingﾊ (ISCGM)
International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (ISDR)
Open Geospatial Consortium
Partnership for Observation of the
Global Ocean (POGO)
The Network of European
Meteorological
Services/Composite Observing
System (EUMETNET/EUCOS)
United Nations Convention on
Biodiversity (UNCBD)
United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)
United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
United Nations Institute for Training and
Research
United Nations Office for Outer Space
Affairs (UNOOSA)
World Climate Research Programme
(WCRP)
World Meteorological Organization
(WMO)
Human Architecture - Summary
• The human architecture is developing, starting
with government organizations representing
producers of observing systems
• International framework for coordination is
being developed
• Main participants are national governments
supporting scientific programs
• Limited decision-support activities to date
• Participation of users at all levels will
eventually be required
Multi-Sensor Networks
Today
• Remotely sensed and in situ
• Spacecraft, aircraft, ships,
moorings, floats,
• Radars, lidars, physical,
chemical and biological
sensors…
• Oceans, atmosphere, land, ice
• Global to regional to local
Qu ickTime™ and a
No ne decompressor
are need ed to see this picture.
NSF
Ocean Observatory
Networks
NOAA/DOD/NASA
National Polar Orbiting Operational
Environmental Satellite System
(NPOESS)
EUMETSAT/NOAA
Metop
Multi-Sensor Networks
Tomorrow
• Today’s sensors and platforms
require substantial infrastructure
for power and communications
• Eventually, there will be hundreds
of millions of “nano-sensors on
cell-phones”
Cyber-Infrastructure
Information management and architecture
Modeling
Computing
Communications
Visualization
The Internet:
An Evolutionary Tale
• Phase 1: Early Internet (1970s)
– Big servers and small number of clients
– Government funded and controlled
• Phase 2: (late 1980s)
– Distributed international network of largely
scientific users
• Phase 3: Internet today
–
–
–
–
Hundreds of millions of users
Peer-to-peer
No centralized control
Use of a few powerful standards
Similar path for GEO?
• Phase 1: government operated networks
between major installations
• Phase 2: distributed high-performance
research network being established now
• Phase 3: work on miniaturization of sensors
and distributed (Grid) computing; evolving to
massive numbers of individual nodes
Growing Fiber Infrastructure - Future Backbone for GEO?
From Shared Internet to Dedicated Lightpipes
Beyond Indicators
to Decision-Support Tools
If we connect GEO
to effective decision
support systems,
then it will become a
principal tool for
achieving
sustainability on a
global scale.
Photo credit: Global Spatial
Data Infrastructure Project
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Photo credit: New York Times
Global Observations are needed for
Global and Local Decisions
GEO Societal Benefit Areas
• Disasters
• Health
• Energy
• Climate
• Water
• Weather
• Ecosystems
• Agriculture/Desertification
• Biodiversity
Local Issues (examples)
• Health and safety from severe
natural events
• Risk management
• Infrastructure planning
• Facility design, landscaping,
maintenance
• Travel and recreation
• Emergency preparedness
Climate variations affect energy
supply and demand and therefore
decisions
El Nino
North Pacific Oscillation (NPO)
Decision support examples
Offshore Hydrocarbon Exploration:
Where to invest
Illustration: Free air gravity anomaly map of
the Gulf of Mexico produced using ERS data
(Courtesy: Satellite Observing Systems)
Fisheries Productivity:
How to manage coastal resources
Warming Waters Identified as Cause of
Marine Life Depletions off California
Evolving Role of the Science
Community
Originating science, creating models, & developing observing technologies
Designing observing strategies and systems
Transferring designs, technologies,
models, and tested systems to the public
and private sectors
Partnering in the governance and
management of long-term observing and
decision support systems
Infusing new objectives and technologies
into on-going systems
Linking new capabilities to new users
Research community is becoming more multidisciplinary and service-oriented
Human Architecture Needs to Evolve
• For the full array of environmental information
– Phase 1: Government agencies in charge
• E.g., weather satellites, global weather models
– Phase 2: Large sophisticated scientific and
technology users engaged
• Regional forecast centers tied to universities looking at
climate as well as weather
– Phase 3: Broad user base with information
products tailored to their needs and presented in
their language
• Wide network of commercial value-added industries
providing local forecasts for specific clients (frost
warnings for citrus growers; snow forecasts for ski
resorts; beach conditions, etc.)
New Management Concepts
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System of systems
Multi-sector consortia
Standards
Interoperability
Open communication
Evolving, adaptive
Education and outreach
Center for Earth Observations and
Applications
UCSD’s Contribution to GEOSS
Vision: to establish international leadership in
education, research, technology development,
observation, and information management for
Earth observations.
– Headed by SIO/John Orcutt
UCSD may be unique in its ability to work end-toend on all aspects of global observing.
CEOA Mission
• To develop, deploy, operate, and use observing
platforms and sensors for the land, oceans, and
atmosphere
• To collect and integrate observational data from
a global network of multidisciplinary sources
• To develop technologies and decision-support
tools that promote a balance between the natural
environment and human activities
• To participate in GEOSS
CEOA Approach:
Internal “Venture Capital” Group
Promote major interdisciplinary scientific and
technical programs that cross Division, Department,
and School boundaries
Substantially increase funding available for interdisciplinary
programs
Assist teams in writing major proposals & providing
matching funds. If necessary, assist when needed in
program operation. Assist in hiring where needed.
Provide a coherent and comprehensive interface to the
external community on behalf of the extensive UCSD
capabilities and programs.
The Grand Convergence
The convergence of earth science and
information technology will lead to
continuous awareness of earth’s systems
and their interactions with human
activities.
We will use continuous awareness to
manage our resources and environment,
and our response to disasters
Continuous awareness will promote
integrated responses to emerging global
environmental challenges
Conclusion
As civilization becomes
increasingly global and
technologically
sophisticated, our need
for a global observing
capability will grow.
We are beginning an
endeavor that will evolve
over the entire 21st
century and endure as
long as we have an
advanced civilization.