# Presentation: 713965

## G  E  O  S  SA Snapshot of Where We Are Today

- Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.)
- Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere
- NOAA Administrator
- January 22, 2008

**Notes:**
Thank you for that kind introduction. I appreciate the invitation to participate in this panel discussion.  AMS continues to be a great venue to bring academia, industry, and government together to enhance our ability to serve the nation.  I am happy to be here to discuss GEOSS and the critical role of earth observations. 

## GEOSSGlobal Earth Observation System of Systems

- GEOSSGlobal Earth Observation System of Systems

- GEO History & Progress
- 2007 Accomplishments
- Outcomes from 2007 GEO Ministerial Summit
- Future Outlook for U.S. IEOS
- The Return on GEOSS

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

## GEO History and Progress

- EOS I – July 2003, Washington
- 34 Members + 20 International Organizations
- EOS II – April 2004, Tokyo
- 47 Members + EC + 26 International Organizations
- EOS III – February 2005, Brussels
- Nearly 60 Members + EC + 34 International Organizations
- 10-Year Implementation Plan
- EOS IV – November 2007, Cape Town
- 73 Members + EC + 46 International Organizations
- Successfully implementing work plan

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

**Notes:**
Over the past few years, I have spoken to AMS about GEOSS as a concept to build a comprehensive, coordinated and sustained Global Earth Observation System of Systems.  
Comprehensive, by including observations and products gathered from all components required to serve the needs of participating members.  
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.  
And most importantly, sustained, by the collective and individual will and capacity of participating members.

As you may recall, The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is an international partnership leading a worldwide effort to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) over the next 10 years. 

History of GEO:
3 Earth Obs Summits at ministerial level – led to creation of Group on Earth Observations with Secretariat in Geneva (housed at WMO) and a 10-Year Implementation Plan for GEOSS.
Closed out a 2006 work plan at GEO 3 in Bonn, Germany in 2006 and accepted a new 2007-2009 Work Plan to take us through the first third of GEOSS implementation.  The current work plan is focused on the nine societal benefit area foci of GEO.
The 4th Earth Observation Summit was recently held the last week in November 2007 – it provided a forum to highlight the successes and the progress that has been made – as well as to gain support for the further work that needs to be done.

## GEOSS Links Global Benefits with an Integrated Observation Systems Approach

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

**Notes:**
The nine societal benefit areas, shown on this slide, are impacted by GEOSS. Specifically we are:

Improving our capacity to respond to the growing threat of drought through the North American Drought Monitor and National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS).

Helping provide better climate information to decision makers through tools like the State of the Climate Report. 

Providing real-time quality controlled data to the operational community within 24 hours of collection through the ARGO program and its deployment of 3,000 free drifting profiling floats. 

Supporting systems to disseminate environmental information in developing countries through SERVIR and GEONETCast. The functionality of the SERVIR system is expanding to provide support for decisions related to climate prediction, coral reef monitoring, biodiversity conservation, agricultural crop forecasting, and air quality monitoring.  GEONETCast is the tool that enables us to broadcast environmental data to the user community.

Improving access to air quality observations through AIRNow, a nationwide program featuring hourly data, hundreds of maps, forecasts and relevant information on air quality.  This enhances efforts to manage and forecast air pollution, which is responsible for more than 800,000 deaths per year and many billions of dollars in economic costs.   

## 2007 GEOSS Achievements

- GEOSS in the Americas Symposium
- Media Roundtable with Dr. Marburger, Sec. Kempthorne & Vice Admiral Lautenbacher
- USGEO & Panamanian Embassy SERVIR Event
- GEOSS Constituents Forum

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

**Notes:**
In 2007 GEOSS gained the increased political support needed to continue its momentum through several very successful high level events and notable recognition from US Leadership.

Events included:
GEOSS in the Americas Symposium
Media Roundtable with Dr. Marburger, Sec. Kempthorne & VADM Lautenbacher
USGEO & Panamanian Embassy SEVIR Event
GEOSS Constituents Forum

## 2007 GEOSS Achievements 

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

- “By next summer, heads of state should convene to finalize a long-term goal for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and to establish strong and transparent systems for measuring progress.”

- President Bush hosted a Major Economies Meeting recently to discuss a framework for a post 2012 climate initiative.

- White House Photo: Chris Greenberg

- White House Photo: Chris Greenberg

**Notes:**
The President himself noted the importance of being able to establish baselines for measuring progress.

At the recent ExCom in Geneva, there was consensus around the table that the tools we are developing and integrating through GEO will provide an important mechanism for measuring how we are doing.

## Climate Adaptation & GEOSS

- In remarks at the UNGA High Level Event on Climate Technology Session. Secretary Rice acknowledged the contribution of GEOSS toward this effort.

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

- “Improved technology can play a key role in our efforts to build more resilient societies. One advancement in this area is the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, an important partnership we have advanced with more than 70 developing and developed countries to address the world's most pressing environmental and biological challenges.”

- State Dept. Photo: Michael Gross

**Notes:**

This quote is from Secretary of State Rice’s remarks to the UN General Assembly High-Level Event on Climate, where she mentioned the importance of partnerships in addressing global environmental challenges, and specifically highlighted GEOSS as one example.

Secretary Rice concluded her remarks by expressing the US commitment to climate adaptation.... She specifically said: [Improved technology can play a key role in our efforts to build more resilient societies. One advancement in this area is the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, an important partnership we have advanced with more than 70 developing and developed countries to address the world's most pressing environmental and biological challenges.”]

## 2007 GEO Ministerial Summit Outcomes 

- Secretary of Interior, Dirk Kempthorne led US Delegation:
- OSTP & 8 Federal agencies
- NSF, EPA, State, NOAA, NASA, USAID, Smithsonian, USGS
- Cape Town Declaration
- Emphasized Data Sharing
- Approves GEO Work Plan
- New GEO Executive Committee Members
- IGOS Partnership folded into GEO structure-science themes preserved

- GEO Progress Report approved including emerging themes:
- Climate Change
- Water Security
- Changing Landscapes, Ecosystem Health and Biodiversity
- Disaster Mitigation and Response
- Global Drought Warning System task initiated
- Air Quality monitoring system for GEO initiated
- Next Plenary:  Nov. 2008 in Beijing; Next Summit:  By end of 2010

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

**Notes:**
Many positive outcomes resulted from the 2007 GEO Ministerial Summit:

GEO membership increased to 73 Members and 52 Participating organizations including International Public Health Service
New co chairs for User and Science and Technology Committees were chosen
Japan announced open access to 30-m ASTER Digital Elevation Model (DEM) product
USAID  announced extension of SERVIR model to Africa 
China/Brazil announced free CBERS data to African ground station
New IEEE Journal on Earth Science Applications
GEO Members from the Americas Caucus discussed enhancing regional communication and cooperation for implementation of GEOSS in the Americas

## Future Outlook for U.S. Integrated Earth Observations System

- Enhance links between USGEO & Intergovernmental GEO Activities
- Strengthen USGEO governance structure
- Strengthen private sector partnerships

- Forge successful federal collaborations
- Facilitate stronger linkages between *In Situ* & Remote Sensing observations
- Promote agency collaboration for effective data management

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

**Notes:**
Integrated earth observations have gained great ground among the scientific community, industry, and government.  Successful collaboration among Federal agencies has positioned us to move beyond the promotion and planning stages and begin the difficult work of integration.

US representatives serving on the Architecture & Data management, User Interface, Capacity Building and Science & Technology Committees help to track progress and ensure accomplishment of tasks led by the US.

Improved observations is a top priority for nearly every sector of the environmental research community.  USGEO is committed to establishing a tighter governance and building stronger linkages to the academic and industrial sectors by creating formal processes for obtaining private sector input.  This effort is well under way with the creation of the USGEO Partnership, Outreach & Communications group.  

USGEO recognizes the need for stronger links between In Situ and remote sensing observations.  Thus, the coordination efforts with 17 federal agencies to optimize these linkages in order to achieve credible forecasting and prediction benefiting all of society. 

## The Return on GEOSS

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

- Provide the right information,
- in the right format,
- at the right time,
- to the right people,
- to make the right decisions.

**Notes:**
In conclusion:

Our goal is not just integration for the sake of integration – but integration where it will provide the right information – right format – right time – right people – right decisions.

We have to remember – this is about bringing the benefits of technology to global citizens.  Not the platforms, not the science, not the money, but how, together, we can use observations to bring benefits to society and provide the public, governments, organizations, and industry better information products for decision making.

As Secretary Kempthorne stated at the Ministerial in Capetown, “We must embrace the idea of science without borders”.  And in order to achieve this goal, we MUST continue to promote the ideals and goals of GEOSS.

## earthobservations.orgusgeo.gov

**Notes:**
The ultimate success of GEOSS depends on input from not only federal sources, but also state and local governments, industry, academia and non-government organizations who, in the end, will play a major role in the leveraging of these observation systems for social and economic benefit.

## NIDIS Portal

- 1. Current Drought	4. Planning
- 2. Forecasts	5. Education
- 3. Impacts	6. Research

- 1

- 2

- 3

- 4

- 5

- 6

- Key Themes

**Notes:**
The NIDIS Drought Portal is a one-stop shop for drought information, forecasts, impacts, planning tools, educational and research items. The NIDIS Portal went live Nationwide in November, 2007 – AHEAD OF SCHEDULE. 
The Power of the Portal is providing customized user experiences for the varied “communities of interest” in the drought issue. 
The six highlighted areas correspond to the most important of these communities. 
The Planning Portal can aid Citizens, Organizations and agencies on all levels to:
Anticipate drought
Act ahead of time to reduce vulnerability 
Implement long-term strategies that improve resilience to drought. 
Traditionally people have viewed drought as an act of nature that must be endured and cannot be anticipated. Although it is certainly true that drought is a normal, recurring feature of most climates, people do not need to be passive victims.  The U.S. Drought Portal will provide information and resources to better understand and cope with drought on an end-to-end basis. The portal is the “front-door” for NIDIS, an interagency activity.  A key feature of the portal is providing easy-to-use tools for converting observations and impacts reporting into meaningful guidance for decisions related to vulnerability assessment and mitigation steps. 

## GEONetCast & SERVIR

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

- Current GEONetCast Coverage

- SERVIR Project

- SERVIR Viz (IAGT ©)

- GEONETCast and SERVIR address key issues -- data access and utilization – which are critical to every member of GEO

**Notes:**
Data access and utilization are key issues to every Member of GEO.   Without improved access, delivery, and sharing of Earth observation data and products, the intended applications for enhanced benefits to society will not materialize, particularly in developing countries.  

GEONETCast has significant potential to enhance access to a wide range of information to users, who may not have previously had access to such resources -- both from the diversity of data perspective, as it will deliver information on all nine societal benefit areas of GEO, and from the technical disparities perspective, as GEONETCast will be able to reach developing country users with limited or no access to high speed Internet. 

The SERVIR system provides a platform to address the problem of data availability, accessibility, interoperability, and application to decision making by supporting the development of “geospatial one-stop shops” around the world. Based on the operational model in Central America, expansion to other regions of such one-stop shops will accelerate the process of data dissemination, sharing, and integration by forming spatial data networks that link data producers and users, and encourage standardization of disparate data sets. 

## Argo Floats Reach 3000

- GEOSS: A Snapshot of Where We Are Today

**Notes:**
Argo is an international program that calls for the deployment of 3,000 free drifting profiling floats, distributed over the global oceans, which measures the temperature and salinity in the upper 2,000 m of the ocean providing 100,000 T/S profiles and reference velocity measurements per year.  This allows continuous monitoring of the climate state of the ocean, with all data being relayed and made publicly available within hours after collection.   Argo is an element of:   Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), Climate Variability and Predictability Experiment (CLIVAR), and Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE). 

Official versions of Argo data lie on the Global Data Centers (GODAE and IFREMER) and the Argo Information Centre is the official site for information about the Argo program. 

Specific objectives of the Argo Data Center are to:
Make real-time quality controlled data available to the operational community within 24 hours of collection.  A 24 hour, 7 day a week fully automated operation is provided. 
Achieve a higher level of quality control, including expert inspection of profiles, applied to the data within 3 months. 
Provide continuous open access to the data after the real-time quality control. 
Perform continuous evaluation of the network to ensure that design requirements are satisfied. 
Generate data products to increase the usefulness of data and for further quality assessment. 

## DART II Status39 Deployed Buoys By March 2008

- NOAA & Systems Integration

- DART II Buoy—Thailand

**Notes:**
The DARTTM network is an essential component in the provision of timely warnings to coastal communities. DARTTM data support the NOAA Tsunami Program observation requirements for Tsunami Offshore Real-Time and Post-event observations, as well as Global Water Level Observations.  DARTTM stations are sited to provide in situ tsunami detection and water-level observations for NOAA’s tsunami forecast, warning, and mitigation responsibilities.  Currently 34 DART Stations are deployed and active in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.  The array of 39 Stations will be completed by March 2008. Each DARTTM station consists of an anchored seafloor Bottom Pressure Recorder (BPR) acoustically coupled to a moored surface buoy. Iridium transceivers and the acoustic modems provide real-time communication between each DARTTM system and the Tsunami Warning Centers (TWC) in Ewa Beach, Hawai`i and Palmer, Alaska
Investments in health and economic stability strengthen our global community, but they must be supported by our continued efforts to protect the world’s people from Tsunami’s and other natural hazards through end to end warning systems and public awareness.
GEOSS works because of the combined efforts of member countries and participating organizations.  As an example, in the last several years we have made mutual investments in building and integrating the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System.  The many pieces of this critical warning system represent another step toward realizing GEOSS.
NOAA joined the Government of Thailand in deploying the first Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) buoy station in the Indian Ocean in December, 2006.  Its data is now available to all countries through GTS.  Also, tide gauge stations and GTS systems have been upgraded in the region by IOC member states, WMO and NOAA in order to provide users with near real time data.  Radio and interNET (RANET) community information centers have been established that are capable of transmitting critical warning information to rural communities.
Training has taken place.  A Community Tsunami Inundation Model is available on the internet for hazards identification and vulnerability analysis, and Coastal Resilient Communities workshops were held, their best practice guidelines finalized and plans for pilot projects are in the works.  A Tsunami Institute is being planned at the University of Washington to ensure that technical knowledge in end-to-end early warning systems is shared.  And importantly, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center operations were expanded to provide 24/7 notification of tsunami-relevant information to Indian Ocean countries until the regional system is fully established.  
It is possible to integrate these diverse components in a region-wide, end-to-end tsunami early warning system because countries maintain the real time observing networks coordinated by IOC and WMO. The good news is collectively we have begun the development of a warning system in the Indian Ocean that can serve as a key step to building a global system. 

## GOES-10 RepositionedGEOSS in the Americas

- GOES-10 RepositionedGEOSS in the Americas

**Notes:**
GEOSS has not been limited to tsunami early warning.  Countries in WMO Regions III and IV worked hard to implement “GEOSS in the Americas”.  GEOSS-related activities in the Americas aim to improve the utilization of Earth observations by facilitating partnerships, encouraging the use and exchange of data, and coordinating and leveraging regional assets and resources.

Responding to requests from the region, NOAA determined that it was possible to move the GOES-10 space craft to a new position in order to ensure data continuity for our users in the region, particularly those in South America below the equator.  GOES-10 arrived at its new location at 60° West on December 4, 2006.  Coverage from the space craft will be continuous – it will not be interrupted by hurricanes and other severe weather events in the U.S. as has occurred in the past.  The shift will help protect lives and livelihoods in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Many countries are participating in making this a successful international cooperation.  I especially want to acknowledge the contributions of Brazil and Argentina.  Both countries are receiving and processing data from GOES-10, archiving the data and products, and making them available to other users throughout the region.  Already the new satellite coverage is contributing to fire detection in the Amazon rainforest of northern Brazil, and flood warnings and forecasts in Argentina.  Countries in the Western Hemisphere are also working together to ensure that the satellite data is disseminated and training is available to enable full use of the new information.  As you can see, through this collaborative effort we were able to leverage a highly successful program into something even more useful to a greater number of countries-- this is the core of GEOSS.