Howard J. Diamond

A Comprehensive Data Portal for Global Climate Information

The Global Observing Systems Information Center (GOSIC), initiated in 1997 at the request of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Steering Committee (see http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/gcos/ Publications/gcos-39.pdf), responds to a need identified by the global climate observing community for easier and more effective access to observational climate data and information. GOSIC manages an online portal providing an entry point for users of climate-related global observing systems data and information systems. n nFollowing its initial development and implementation at the University of Delaware from 1997 to 2006, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) assumed operational responsibility for GOSIC on behalf of the international climate observing and data user communities. The goal of GOSIC is to provide basic user services, including a description of the systems and their data as well as a tailored search capability that facilitates access to a worldwide set of observations and derived products. GOSICs unique value is its ability to quickly link users, via a consistent and user-friendly interface, to a wide range of data sets that reside at multiple data centers; the GOSIC portal (http://GOSIC.org) provides users with links to data, metadata, other search tools, and related climate-observing information.

GCOS reference upper air network (GRUAN): Steps towards assuring future climate records

The observational climate record is a cornerstone of our scientific understanding of climate changes and their potential causes. Existing observing networks have been designed largely in support of operational weather forecasting and continue to be run in this mode. Coverage and timeliness are often higher priorities than absolute traceability and accuracy. Changes in instrumentation used in the observing system, as well as in operating procedures, are frequent, rarely adequately documented and their impacts poorly quantified. For monitoring changes in upper-air climate, which is achieved through in-situ soundings and more recently satellites and ground-based remote sensing, the net result has been trend uncertainties as large as, or larger than, the expected emergent signals of climate change. This is more than simply academic with the tropospheric temperature trends issue having been the subject of intense debate, two international assessment reports and several US congressional hearings. For more than a decade the international climate science community has been calling for the instigation of a network of reference quality measurements to reduce uncertainty in our climate monitoring capabilities. This paper provides a brief history of GRUAN developments to date and outlines future plans. Such reference networks can only be achieved and maintained with strong continuing input from the global metrological community.

Combining Tropical Cyclone Data Sets Worldwide: International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) Workshop; Asheville, North Carolina, 5–7 May 2009

At the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) workshop in North Carolina, experts from the World Meteorological Organizations (WMO) officially recognized tropical cyclone tracking and forecasting agencies met to discuss ways to accurately combine the disparate tropical cyclone (TC) best track data to better understand their global climatology. Representatives from each participating agency provided an overview of their agencys operating procedures and how those procedures have changed over time. Breakout sessions addressed many issues, including wind-pressure relationships and their use, converting between wind speed averaging periods, and other differences between best track data sets.

State of the climate in 2012 - eScholarship

Special supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society vol.94, No. 8, August 2013

Southern Hemisphere Meteorology and Oceanography

wHat: nearly 500 scientists and researchers from around the world gathered to focus on and discuss the weather, climate, and ocean processes of the ocean-dominated Southern hemisphere. wHen: 9–13 February 2009 wHere: melbourne, Victoria, australia ince 1983, and approximately every three years since, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Committee on Meteorology and Oceanography of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) has planned and staged an international conference focusing on the unique aspects of atmospheric and oceanic science in the SH. Scientific inquiry in SH meteorology and oceanography has expanded considerably over the past 50 yr, beginning with the International Geophysical Year of 1957/58 and continuing into the International Polar Year of 2007/08. A number of factors have driven this progress: 1) increasing numbers of observations of the SH, particularly in the ocean (e.g., Argo floats, moored arrays in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and Southern Ocean monitoring); 2) the importance of the generally data-sparse SH to global climate and meteorological knowledge has been underscored by recent increases in oceanobserving systems coupled with recent advances in ocean modeling; 3) the increased availability of remotely observed data by satellite; and 4) operational implementation of improved numerical weather prediction models that has resulted in better forecasts in both hemispheres. The opportunities provided by these advances have both increased understanding and appreciation of the role of the SH and elevated the importance of the International Conference on SH Meteorology and Oceanography (ICSHMO). The ninth in the conference series (9ICSHMO), the culmination of more than two years of planning and coordination, was a joint venture by the AMS and the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS). On many levels, the conference was a great success, despite the travel difficulties and expense of getting to Australia (coupled with the global financial crisis), a record-breaking heat wave, and bushfires nearby. There were 471 registered attendees from 27 countries, which was the second greatest attendance ever for an ICSHMO conference. Attracting both students and scientists from developing countries has always been a priority for AFFILIATIONS: diamond—noaa/national climatic data center, Silver Spring, maryland; Plummer—australian Bureau of meteorology, melbourne, Victoria, australia; walsH—university of melbourne, melbourne, Victoria, australia CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: howard diamond, noaa/ national climatic data center, 1100 Wayne avenue, Suite 1202, Silver Spring, md 20910 e-mail: howard.diamond@noaa.gov

The Pacific Islands Regional Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) program

The U.S. GCOS Program [http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/usgcos/index.htm htm] at NOAAs National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) [http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov] is involved in working to implement a sustainable and robust GCOS observing network for international atmospheric, oceanographic, and terrestrial climate observing. The U.S. GCOS support philosophy is based upon a three-tiered approach involving a series of international, regional, and bi-lateral project efforts. One of the most active and important areas of involvement is in the Pacific Ocean region where we leverage support for this via formal climate bilateral agreements that the U.S. has with both Australia and New Zealand. NCDC and the U.S. GCOS Program Manager serve as the NOAA and U.S. lead on these bilateral climate agreements. This paper will describe the efforts undertaken in the Pacific region towards developing a more sustainable and robust GCOS observing ground-based network for atmospheric, oceanographic, and terrestrial climate observing in the region. The paper will describe the actions to date, plans for the future, and how the efforts to date such as the establishment of a virtual Regional Climate Center for the region in order to, among other things, work towards improving data availability and access for and from the nations in the region in order to improve climate services across the region. NCDC is also interested in developing partnerships for installing U.S. Climate Reference Network [see http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/crn] equipment to be part of a global long-term climate reference network for improving climate information from more data sparse tropical and high-elevation areas. In order to properly document this, a full description of the overall climate observations program in the U.S. is required.