# Presentation: 193737

## GEOSS

- VADM Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr. US Navy (Ret.)
- Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and AtmosphereNOAA Administrator
- June 21 2005

- Global Earth Observing System of Systems

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

- SCIENCESERVINGSOCIETY

**Notes:**
The Global Earth Observation System of Systems, or GEOSS, is an environmental priority at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, within our U.S. interagency community, and within the international community because it has enormous potential benefits for the entire world.  
GEOSS is an excellent example of science serving society.  The focus of GEOSS is producing societal benefits through more coordinated observations, better data management, and increased data sharing.  Over time, GEOSS will provide an important scientific basis for sound policy and decision making in every sector of our society including energy, public health, agriculture, transportation and numerous other areas that shape the quality of everyday life.  In addition, it will enhance our capability to address natural disasters throughout the world.  
In less than two years, since the United States hosted the first-ever Earth Observation Summit in July 2003, the number of participating countries has nearly doubled, and interest has grown since the recent tsunami tragedy.  The Group on Earth Observations, GEO, now brings nearly sixty nations and over 40 participating organizations to the table.  One of the defining characteristics of GEO is that membership is open to any country that expresses an interest, designates a point of contact and endorses the 10-year Plan for GEOSS.  Participating countries are not bound by geographic characteristics, population, or wealth – only by a desire to be a part of the future.  In addition, the governing bodies of the UN Specialized Agencies and Programs, as well as other relevant international and regional organizations, are invited to endorse the implementation of GEOSS and assist GEO in its work.  
The GEOSS initiative seeks to build on existing systems, by focusing the attention of world leaders on relevant existing and developing capabilities of GEO members and participating organizations, and on identifying and filling capability gaps.  Existing programs and initiatives will thus become critical components of the GEOSS, while GEOSS helps to move them from serving scientists to serving society.  Further, GEO broadens this effort across disciplines, which is necessary just as the Earth’s systems are interlinked.  GEOSS will link our growing understanding of the oceans, atmosphere and land.  
It has been my pleasure and privilege to co-chair both the ad hoc GEO and, now, the permanent GEO.  GEO has come far over the last two years.  Its origins can be traced to both the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) event in Johannesburg and the June 2003 G8 Summit in Evian, France.
At WSSD, the developing countries that participated strongly endorsed the value of Earth observing information as essential to planning and building a better social and economic infrastructure, in key areas ranging from energy to water to agriculture.  The final declaration from the WSSD contains numerous statements of the need for data and for scientific understanding that can only result from cooperation and coordination among observing systems and research programs for integrated global observations.  
In the following year, the G8 ministers at Evian issued a Science and Technology Action Plan calling on the nations of the G8 to strengthen cooperation on global observations. 

## GEOSS History

- EOS I
- July 31, 2003, Washington, D.C.
- 34 Countries + 20 International Organizations
- EOS II
- April 25, 2004, Tokyo, Japan
- 47 Countries + EC + 26 International Organizations
- EOS III February 2005, Brussels
- Nearly 60 Countries + EC and 34 International Organizations
- 10-Year Implementation Plan
- Commerce Secretary Gutierrez led the US delegation

- EOS III

- EOS II

- EOS I

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
Heeding that call, in July 2003, the United States hosted the first-ever Earth Observation Summit in Washington, D.C.  The heads of national delegations participating in the summit adopted a declaration that announced their commitment to developing a comprehensive, coordinated Earth observation system built on existing systems.  This declaration reaffirmed the need for Earth systems data and information for sound decision-making, set forth principles for long-term cooperation, and committed participants to improving Earth observation systems and scientific support in developing countries.  
Subsequent Earth Observation Summits were hosted by Japan in Tokyo in 2004, and by the European Commission in Brussels in 2005.  Additionally, the ad hoc GEO worked diligently between summits to lay groundwork.
The GEOSS Framework document was adopted at the Tokyo Summit.  It focuses on the benefits of a global system, noting key areas for observations and pointing out shortcomings of existing systems.  The Framework also offers a vision for what GEOSS will look like. 

## What is GEOSS?

- Comprehensive
- Coordinated
- Sustained
- An end-to-end system of existing systems (both in situ and remote sensing observation platforms)linked with new systems

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
GEOSS will be comprehensive, by including observations and products gathered from all components required to serve the needs of participating members.  GEOSS will be coordinated, in terms of leveraging resources of individual contributing members to accomplish this system, whose total capacity is greater than the sum of its parts.  GEO will also be sustained, by the collective and individual will and capacity of participating members.
The Framework declares that GEOSS will be a distributed system of systems, addressing data utilization challenges, as well as facilitating current and new capacity building efforts. 

## Societal Benefits of GEOSS

- Natural & Human Induced Disasters

- Human Health & Well-Being

- Energy Resources

- Climate Variability & Change

- Water Resources

- Weather Information, Forecasting & Warning

- Terrestrial, Coastal & Marine Ecosystems

- Sustainable Agriculture & Desertification

- Biodiversity

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
Specific outcomes of an operational GEOSS are identified in the Framework including enabling global, multi-system information capabilities for nine societal benefit areas: 
• Reducing loss of life and property from natural and human-induced disasters; 
• Understanding environmental factors affecting human health and well being; 
• Improving management of energy resources; 
• Understanding, assessing, predicting, mitigating, and adapting to climate variability and change; 
• Improving water resource management through better understanding of the water cycle; 
• Improving weather information, forecasting, and warning; 
• Improving the management and protection of terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecosystems; 
• Supporting sustainable agriculture and combating desertification; 
• Understanding, monitoring, and conserving biodiversity. 
The nations of the world have generated a great deal of political will in support of GEOSS, and it is imperative to this process that we maintain it.  Highlighting the human dimension and the benefits to society from a comprehensive system has been, and will continue to be, the key to successfully establishing the GEOSS.  Here are a few examples: 

## Earth Observations Value: Agriculture

- Earth Observations Value: Agriculture

- Drought costs in U.S. = $6-8B annually

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
A comprehensive system of Earth observations will supply critical information, allowing us to predict and plan for droughts and other phenomena affecting our agricultural outputs. Estimates of costs associated with drought in the United States alone range from $6 to $8 billion annually.  However, if we knew years in advance that these patterns would be occurring, we could take necessary precautions such as crop planting decisions, seed selection, and fertilizer application to mitigate the impacts. 

## Earth Observations Value: Health

- Earth Observations Value: Health

- Malaria killed est. 1M people in 2004

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
The health of our citizens will also benefit from an integrated system of observations that will be used for novel applications such as disease tracking and prediction.  Although still in their infancy, these projects are already underway. 
Malaria killed more than one million people last year, primarily in the developing world. Weather patterns – temperature, soil moisture and rainfall patterns – often set the stage for optimal conditions for the spread of diseases like malaria.  By combining information such as soil-type and recurring standing puddles, as well as satellite-based information such as temperature and rainfall, a computer simulation may be used to estimate the risk of disease outbreak, helping us predict, and possibly control or prevent its occurrence. 

## Earth Observations Value: Energy

- Earth Observations Value: Energy

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
Utility companies typically use weather forecasts to determine the mix of coal, hydroelectric, nuclear, wind, natural gas and oil plants that will be used to meet consumer needs.  In June 2001, the USA Today newspaper reported that annual costs of electricity could decrease by an estimated $1 billion if we could improve the accuracy of weather forecasts by one degree Fahrenheit.  This difference in just one degree of accuracy could impact the decision a utility company will make in determining whether to buy electricity from the wholesale market or fire-up an expensive natural gas facility to meet increased demand. 
From an energy exploration perspective, Earth observations are also playing innovative roles. New techniques allow us to get a better picture of what is beneath the sea floor.  By the introduction of three-dimensional seismic data, we can better understand whether an area has potential for energy resources.  Better evaluations result in cost-savings and the prevention of wasteful drilling and mining.  Directed drilling and mining efforts would reduce strain on the oceanic environment and ecosystems. 

## Earth Observations Value: Disaster Mitigation

- FLOATS

- GAUGES

- BUOYS

- Better ocean observations = more accurate forecasts & effective warnings

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
Disaster mitigation is another focus area for GEOSS.  Better ocean observations—tide gauges, buoys, sensors—will allow us to forecast with more accuracy and issue more effective warnings to coastal communities.  
Of course, the recent tsunami in the Indian Ocean highlighted the importance of not just observations but of a warning system.  The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, IOC, has paved the way through its efforts towards tsunami mitigation in general, and specifically, for a warning system in the Indian Ocean.  It is imperative that we move forward on tsunami issues while they still hold the world’s attention.  UNESCO Director General Matsuura has expressed his support for developing a global tsunami warning system within the GEOSS framework.  And as UNEP Executive Director Toepfer has highlighted, an early warning system must include all hazards, not just tsunami.  At the Brussels Summit, GEO participants adopted a “Communique Relating to Support for Tsunami and Multi-Hazard Warning Systems within the Context of GEOSS,” which included a request that GEO “support the coordinating activities of the UNESCO IOC and related national and regional initiatives to realize effective tsunami warning systems in the Indian Ocean and other regions of the world, as an integral part of a multi-hazard approach supported by GEOSS.”  The benefit of GEO is that it facilitates the kind of coordination among nations that will enable us to build a multi-hazard warning system, as well as other systems that will benefit society. 

## GEOSS Implementation

- Data Management Needs
- New systems mean 100-fold increase in data
- Current systems already face challenges
- Development of browser and visualization systems— underpinned by core geospatial technologies
- Interoperability through protocols and standards

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
Implementation is the key to GEO’s success.  An all-hazards warning system, based on the immense benefits it would offer the world, is one of GEO’s first real challenges.  Another near-term challenge is the development of plans for better management of Earth observation data.  Our individual agencies’ current data management systems are already challenged to process current data streams.  New observation systems will lead to a 100-fold increase in Earth observation data.  The 10-Year Implementation Plan adopted at the Brussels Summit noted that GEOSS “will facilitate, within 2 years, the development and availability of shared data, metadata, and products commonly required across diverse societal benefit areas.”  Only by viewing observations as part of an end-to-end process will we fully maximize their utility.  There are other nations that support the goals of GEO, yet have restrictive policies when it comes to sharing their own data.  The societal benefits of GEOSS will not stop at national borders, so the data should not either.
Data systems architects have discovered that when a few things -- the right few things -- are compatible, everything else can be different, and a system still runs smoothly.
This approach goes to the heart of GEOSS, both in the way we can build our data- and other information-sharing capabilities, and in the way we are creating the political will to support GEOSS.
Our aim in building GEOSS is not to change the excellent technology and cultural and political approaches that are providing such a rich foundation on which to grow a dynamic global network, but to identify and implement the few right things that will make GEOSS emerge in a manner that is as interrelated as the planet we aim to observe, predict and protect 

## Interoperability

- Specialized
- Formats

- Proprietary Systems

- Non-Standard Metadata

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
This leads to the idea of interoperability, and the recognition that no matter how effective and efficient all of our single-purpose systems may be, their value will be much greater when they can work together – when they are interoperable.

Right now many thousands of separate data systems are in constant use, distilling information from raw observations and predicting outcomes using models of Earth systems.  Decision-makers and users at many levels -- developing and developed nations battling disease and drought, companies evaluating prospective sites, farmers making planting choices, emergency managers making evacuation decisions, parents checking daily weather reports -- all take advantage of data from satellite remote sensing, aerial surveys, ground-based monitoring systems, and a wealth of socio-economic data. 

## Interoperability

- Standardized
- Formats

- Open Systems

- Standard Metadata

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
While effective systems must be built to serve particular needs, these systems can also be designed for integrated data-sharing.  The long and successful record of sharing weather data across borders is an outstanding example of how productive international data-sharing can be.

I hope we will go upstream in our planning process and seek out collaborative opportunities to make existing systems interoperable and to build interoperability into the design of new systems.  Having the capability to correlate different sets of data is an essential building block of GEOSS.  Leveraging each others' investments will increase the value of each set.
Whenever possible, data-sharing agreements will be based on non-proprietary standards. 
Fewer agreements covering many systems will be preferred over many agreements covering fewer systems. Instead of defining new specifications, standard specifications will be adopted, agreed to voluntarily, and by consensus. Preference will also be given to formal international standards, such as those of the International Organization for Standardizations.
In order to build an interoperable system of systems on an existing foundation, connections that translate between specialized protocols and standards will be required in the intermediate-term.  As these connections improve, they will preserve metadata and information content, as well as the data themselves.  NOAA will support these middleware approaches as we migrate our foundation data and information systems towards international standards.
By recognizing and respecting the integrity of different systems, I am convinced that, through GEOSS, we can build compatible global architecture that will open vast new worlds of data and other information. 

## GEO IGeneva, Switzerland

- First meeting of new GEO at WMO headquarters in early May
- Iceland recognized as newest member of growing effort
- GEO agreed to 12 member Executive Committee
- Africa (2), Americas (3), Asia and Oceania (3), Commonwealth of Independent States (1), Europe (3)
- Co-Chairs: US, EC (developed); China, South Africa (developing)
- Tsunami Update – IOC

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
The GEO structure is evolving to take on these challenges.  The inaugural meeting of the new, standing intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations took place in Geneva in May.  The newly-elected Executive Committee had its first meeting just after the GEO I meeting, and met again earlier this month to focus on selecting a director for the secretariat and building a committee structure to begin the task of implementation of the 10-Year Plan.  The Executive Committee welcomes the leadership of Japan on the Architecture and Data Committee, and the United States will work actively with our partners on the committee to identify systems for inclusion in GEOSS implementation, and to ease barriers and limits to Earth observation data exchange.

## GEO Executive Committee

- 3

- 2

- 3

- 1

- 3

- Americas

- Europe

- Africa

- Asia/Oceania

- Commonwealth of Independent States

- Brazil
- Honduras
- USA

- European Commission
- Italy
- Germany

- South Africa
- Morocco

- Russia

- China
- Japan
- Thailand

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
The GEO Executive Committee recognizes that without the strong involvement of the non-governmental community, the GEOSS initiative will not be able to grow and build on the successes of existing initiatives.  Participating organizations such as IEEE are GEO’s key source of scientific and technical expertise.  As the permanent GEO moves forward, the Executive Committee will ensure that mechanisms are in place to give research communities formal and ongoing input into setting GEO’s direction.  The Implementation Plan contains hundreds of not just ten-year and six-year goals, but two-year goals that we will work aggressively to meet.  In addition to the Architecture and Data Committee, there are committees on Science and Technology, Capacity Building and Outreach, as well as a Tsunami Working Group. These new committees will report to GEO at its second full meeting in December. 

## U.S. Contribution to GEOSSAn Interagency Effort

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
Of course, successful implementation requires not just international collaboration among the many stakeholders, but also internal, interagency collaboration in each nation.  In the United States, we have created a U.S. Group on Earth Observations to coordinate Earth observation activities and policies across over 15 government agencies and 3 White House offices.  One early outcome of the U.S. interagency effort is the recently published Strategic Plan for the U.S. Integrated Earth Observing System.  U.S. GEO will periodically assess the multi-year U.S. plan, and continue to formulate U.S. positions and inputs into the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, taking into account the full range of U.S. policies and interests.

## IEOS and GEOSSA System of Systems

- U.S. IEOS

- U.S. IOOS

- GOOS

- Ocean Component of U.S. IEOS

- Ocean Component of GOOS

- U.S. Component

- U.S. Component

- GEOSS

- IEOS and GEOSSA System of Systems

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
This strategic plan builds on other interagency coordination efforts, such as the plan for a U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).  IOOS is both the ocean component of the U.S. Integrated Earth Observing Plan and the U.S. component of GOOS – and it all comes together in GEOSS.  This degree of coordination presents many challenges, but it is necessary for our efforts to be effective. 

## Other National Earth Observation Efforts

- Other countries are following the lead of the US and Europe in developing their own national integration structures:
- Canada
- China
- Japan
- Morocco
- South Africa

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
Canada, China, Japan, Morocco and South Africa are just the countries that I am aware of that have undertaken similar internal coordination initiatives, but I have urged all nations participating in GEO to explore the development of their own national programs. 

## Thanks for your efforts!

- IEEE Symposium—“From Local to Global: Data Interoperability”

**Notes:**
GEO would not exist today without the high-level political commitment of all of the participating nations.  For those of you who have been involved, I thank you and commend you for your efforts.  For those who have not, I encourage you to get involved in helping us address the ongoing challenges.  For years, our science and technical communities have discussed and understood that we must link our individual observation systems in order to understand Earth's complex processes.  We can and already have begun to make our machines and computers talk to each other.  GEO’s real challenge has been beginning to overcome the political boundaries that our Earth systems do not recognize.  
Over the next decade, I believe we will look back at this period and recognize what an enormous turning point it represents in the scientific understanding of our planet.  The goal of every country participating in GEOSS is to ensure that this understanding leads to improved operational capabilities that will be put to work for the benefit of people throughout the world and the economies on which they depend.  That is what is unique about the GEOSS initiative – it will better empower science to serve society.