NOTES FROM THE NINTH FORMAL COORDINATED ENERGY AND WATER-CYCLE OBSERVATIONSPROJECT (CEOP) TELECONFERENCE SATELLITE DATA ISSUES HELD ON
15 JULY 2010
FINAL DRAFT, 13 August 2010
1.

INTRODUCTION

The Ninth CEOP Satellite Data Teleconference took place on Thursday 15 July 2010 at 13:00 UTC.
The issues that were brought up and discussed on the subject conference call included:
1. 10-year Dataset Development Activity
2. Satellite data formats and metadata
3. Satellite data providers reports
Participants
The participants were:
Toshio Koike
Kazuo Umezawa
Gang Ye
Michael Theobald
Bruce Vollmer
Steve Williams
Sam Benedict
Petra Koudelova

Japan, CEOP Co-Chair & Satellite Data WG ChairJapan, JAXA
USA, NASA MODIS Team
USA, NASA AIRS Team
USA, NASA AIRS Team
USA, CEOP Data Management
USA; CEOP International Coordination Function
Japan; CEOP International Coordination Function

Drs Peter van Oevelen (Rpresenting GEWEX Project Office), Christopher Lynnes (Representing NASA
AIRS team), John Bates (Representing NOAA NESDIS), Satoko Miura (Representing JAXA), Yoshiyuki
Kudo (JAXA/RESTEC), Einar-Arne Herland (Representing ESA Earth Science Division), Michael Teague(Representing, NASA MODIS Team), and Ed Kearns (Representing NOAA NESDIS) were not available forthis call.
2.

ACTION ITEMS

A set of action items were proposed and accepted at the call that include:
JAXA/CEOP teams:
A2.1 Must verify that it has received all of the EOP-3 and EOP-4 AIRS data and inform about the locationand possible access.
A2.2 Must specify the Calendar/Schedule of EOP-3 data requests needed from the NASA MODIS Teamconsidering step-wise approach, i.e. scheduling shorter (e.g. 1 month) periods for download andprocessing at one step followed by a control for missing data and other issues.
A2.3 Verify that the EOP-4 MODIS missing data has been provided and processed.
A2.4 Complete definition of new Metadata scheme and distribute to all Satellite Data Teams.
A2.5 Have conversion software for the Metadata available if requested by the Satellite Teams or establishthat the conversion can be done at the JAXA end.
A2.6 Updated draft of the 10-Year Dataset Whitepaper to be sent to the Satellite Data group.
AIRS Team:
A3.1 Process 2008-2009 data from the Asian Monsoon Region as the highest priority
A3.2 Evaluate the New Metadata scheme and determine if it can be adapted to current processing methods
or if it is preferable or not to have conversion software at their end or to have JAXA do the conversion
at their end.

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A3.3 Begin planning for involvement in the WCRP/GEWEX/CEOP 10 Year Dataset Project. Initially be
prepared to generated data for 15-20 sites geographically distributed around the globe for the years
that data are available beginning in 2002 and including data up to 2011 and have it available byMarch 2011.
MODIS Team:
A4.1 Process EOP-3 data in accordance with the Calendar provided by JAXA in item A2.2 above. Use the
LAADS capability to write the requests for CEOP and to submit them and arrange for them to bestaged for ingestion by JAXA from the LAADS portal.
A4.2 Evaluate the New Metadata scheme and determine if it can be adapted to current processing methods
or if it is preferable or not to have conversion software at their end or to have JAXA do the conversion
at their end.
A4.3 Begin planning for involvement in the WCRP/GEWEX/CEOP 10 Year Dataset Project. Initially be
prepared to generated data for 15-20 sites geographically distributed around the globe for the years
that data are available beginning in 2002 and including data up to 2011 and have it available byMarch 2011.
3.

NEXT CONFERENCE CALL

The next, 10th CEOP International Satellite Data Teleconference will be held on Tuesday 16
November 2010. Benedict and Koudelova have the action (A1) to inform the group of the details of thenext call nearer to the time of the call and to coordinate the origination of the call (action A1a).

4.

SATELLITE DATA GROUP GENERAL ISSUES

4.1 WCRP and GEWEX related issues(4.1a) Benedict welcomed participants on the call and appreciated the work that the satellite data teams
had undertaken in response to the action items from the last call.
(4.1b) Koike reiterated that a 10-Year Dataset project had been initiated in response to the climate
modeling community need of a high quality observation data of a sufficient length for evaluation ofclimate models under the CMIP5 project and quantification of model projections uncertainties. This activity
was proposed by the WCRP Observation and Assimilation Panel (WOAP) and is compliant with the CEOPrdcommitment taken at the 3 Annual CEOP Meeting in Melbourne in August 2009 to develop the CEOP 10year
dataset
as
well
as
with
the
GEWEX
post
2013
Imperatives(http://www.gewex.org/2010pangewex/Draft_Imperatives.pdf). The WOAP suggested activity, coordinatedby CEOP (T. Koike) and CMIP5 (Carl Taylor), is envisioned as a collaborative effort of a broader
observation and climate modeling communities including GEWEX/CEOP, LandFlux-EVAL, GSWP, AsiaFlux,
from the observation side. The targeted dataset will consists of in-situ as well as satellite observations
from multiple providers including CEOP, FLUXNET, AsiaFlux, iLEAPS.
Koike reported that the 10-Year Dataset project had been discussed with the LandFlux-EVAL,FLUXNET, AsiaFlux, and GSWP representatives at the occasion of the HESSS2 Meeting in Tokyo in Juneand it was agreed that a Whitepaper would have been developed and submitted for discussion at the PanGEWEX meeting in August. The Whitepaper development is underway and it was agreed that the next
version of its draft would be provided to the Satellite data group (action item A2.6 for Koudelova).
It was emphasized that the satellite data were essential for this dataset and the JAXA, NASA
MODIS, and NASA AIRS teams were asked for their kind cooperation on this task (actions A3.3 and A4.3
above). The schedule for providing additional satellite datasets for this activity (beyond the CEOP set ofreference sites and CEOP period) will be confirmed at the Pan-GEWEX meeting in August (see 4.1c below)
and the CEOP satellite data providers including JAXA, NASA, ESA, and NOAA teams will be informed duly.
Nevertheless, the final target is beginning of the year 2012 because the due date for submitting CMIP5
contributions to the IPCC AR5 is around April 2012.

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Koike also explained that the 10-year period had been decided with respect to the CMIP5 plannedexperiments that include a near term projection (30 years) and also a time-slice experiment that will cover a
few years but with high spatial and temporal resolution. For these experiments, the proposed 10-year
dataset of observational data is critical. Nevertheless, considering a large amount of satellite data that will
result from the 10-year period and the tight schedule, it was mentioned that even a partial fulfillment would
be very valuable, e.g. 3 additional years after the end of the EOP-4 would make a 5-year dataset. The
details the satellite data provision scheme will be discussed and confirmed at the Pan-GEWEX meeting.
(4.1c) Benedict reiterated that the 2nd Pan-GEWEX meeting would take place in Seattle, USA, 23 – 27
August 2010 (http://www.gewex.org/2010pangewex/home.html). The Pan-GEWEX meeting will address
how the GEWEX panels and their projects and working groups will continue to work over the next 2 years toachieve their short-term goals, and how they will evolve to accomplish post 2013 Imperatives. This process
will include determining what enabling infrastructure is necessary and developing a strategy for dealing with
the GEWEX and WCRP cross cutting or overarching themes.
According to the updated Pan-GEWEX agenda, each panel (including CEOP, GRP, and GMPP) will havethth
one and a half day (Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 morning) of separate sessions dedicated to its own
issues. A CEOP evening session on Thursday 26th August has been added on the CEOP request. In
addition, a half day for panel interaction is scheduled on Wednesday 25th afternoon. Further information
including logistics details can be found at the meeting website.
4.2 Data format and metadata issues(4.2a) Koike reiterated that the JAXA team had developed a new metadata design because a certain
problems had been found in the previous metadata format. The team has been working on converting theold version metadata to the new one for all the JAXA and NASA MODIS as well as AIRS data alreadyavailable in the Tokyo archive.
Koike further voiced that the JAXA and UT teams would appreciate if the NASA teams could
incorporate the new metadata generation subroutine to their data processing systems in order to generate
the data with correct metadata files in future. Both the AIRS and MODIS teams took action (A3.2, A4.2,
resp.) to evaluate the New Metadata scheme and determine if it can be adapted to current processing
methods or if it is preferable or not to have conversion software at their end or to have JAXA do theconversion at their end.
(4.2b) It was also reiterated that a document metadata registration system had been developed and wasavailable as part of the Japanese DIAS services that enables an easy on-line input of metadata using auser-friendly interface. The input items/information of meta-data registration system which was developed
under the framework of Data Integration and Analysis System (DIAS) consists of six mandatory items andsix other items as noted in Appendix A.
4.3 JAXA CEOS/WGISS Test Facilities (WTF) for CEOP
(4.3a) It was reiterated that the JAXA/RESTEC team was working on expansion of their Distributed Data
Integration system’s capabilities and inclusion of the CEOP Phase 2 data. The upgraded System will
include more data from more data centers and will target a broader group of users including operational
users, scientists, as well as policy and decision makers. Accordingly, more intuitive and efficient search
schemes are being developed in cooperation with representatives of user communities, e.g. the CEOP
Model group. The first phase of this task focused on fundamental features and CEOP Phase 2 data should
be completed by the end of 2010. The activity will continue with the second phase targeting further
development of additional features and including additional data on the system.
5.

THE AGENCY REPORTS/ISSUES

5.1 JAXA(5.1a) Umezawa reported that the JAXA team has completed the JAXA microwave product for 2009 and
10 new target areas were identified for the ALOS products for CEOP.
(5.1b) The team has begun to use the updated metadata generation scheme and they plan to reproduce
metadata files for all the datasets already stored in the CEOP archive including JAXA, NASA MODIS andNASA AIRS data in the near future. In terms of the new MODIS and AIRS datasets, the JAXA team would

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appreciate if the MODIS and AIRS teams could incorporate the new metadata generation subroutine to theirdata processing systems in order to generate the data with correct metadata files in future as mentioned in
the section (4.2a) above.
(5.1c) Umezawa further reported that the MODIS Terra and Aqua data for EOP-4 period had been almost
completed. A list of Aqua-EOP4 missing data has been provided to the MODIS team who is currently
working on this issue. The JAXA team has been examining the MODIS L1 and Atmospheres Archive andDistribution System (LAADS) and considering its use for the Terra and Aqua EOP-3 data processing. The
discussion on this issue is summarized in the section 5.2b below.
5.2 NASA MODIS(5.2a) Ye reported that the MODIS team had completed the Aqua and Terra EOP-4 data processing andthese had been transferred to JAXA. They have been working on the reported missing data and part ofthese has been already available on the FTP server for download.
(5.2b) Ye further explained that they would prefer a different approach for processing the EOP-3 data
since when they use their operational system (as it was the case of the EOP-4 data), they must process awhole requested period at once and then remove the data to make the system available for other projects
and thus it causes additional load of work when missing data are identified after the whole period
processing is completed. This is the current situation with the Aqua EOP-4 data and in order to avoid similar
issues in future, the MODIS team recommends their LAADS system is used for further CEOP dataprocessing. The procedure on the LAADS system is the same in terms that the data are first processed andthen subsetted but the difference is that the whole requested period can be processed in a step-wisemanner for smaller volumes of data that can be checked for missing items while the next processing ispending until the completion of the previous volume is confirmed. In this manner, the whole process will be
more effective and excessive delays may be avoided.
Ye also mentioned that the data download interface would remain the same as the processed data
would be uploaded on the same FTP server as before. It was agreed that the requests to the LAADS
system would be made by the MODIS team, while JAXA would prepare and provide to the MODIS team aschedule for the EOP-3 considering smaller volumes of data, e.g. monthly periods, to be processed at onceand subsequently checked for missing data and other issues (see action item A2.2 above).
5.3 NASA AIRS
(5.3a) Theobald reported that the AIRS team had completed the EOP-3 and EOP-4 data and asked the
JAXA/UT for a confirmation that the data had been archived and where they were located and could beaccessed. Koike took action (A2.1) to provide this information to the AIRS team.
(5.3b) With regards to the new metadata scheme, Theobald mentioned that they would need to evaluate
the scheme and additional workload and resources the implementation of the new scheme would require(see action item A3.2 above). He also voiced that if the metadata conversion software existed, it might beeasier to maintain the current metadata generation scheme and convert the metadata files to the desired
format than to incorporate the new scheme in their data processing system. Koike took action A2.5 to findout if such conversion software was available and could be provided to the NASA teams.
(5.3c) Koike clarified the special request for the AIRS team to process the data for the Asian Monsoon
Region for the period January 2008 – December 2009 with highest priority because these data are crucial
for research work of the Asian Monsoon Year related activities including CEOP studies over the Tibetan
Plateau. Theobald mentioned that they would initiate this task (action item A3.1) after the full completion of
the EOP-3 and EOP-4 dataset transfer and archiving has been confirmed and they can remove thesedatasets from their site.

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APPENDIX A:
The input items/information of meta-data registration system which developed under the framework of Data
Integration and Analysis System (DIAS), consists of six mandatory items and six other items.
The mandatory items are as follows;
1. Title- Name- Edition- Abbrevation
2. Contact- Contact Person name- Contact Person Organization- Address- Tel, Fax, E-mail3. Document Authors- Name- Organization- E-mail
4. Dataset Creators- Name- Organization- E-mail
5. Date of Dataset- Event- Date6. Dataset Overview- Topic Category- Abstract- Temporal Extent- Geographic Bounding Box- Grid- Geographic Description- Dataset Keywords- Online Resource
The other items are;
7. Data Environmental Information
8. Distribution Information
9. Data Processing
10. Data Remarks
11. Use Constraints
12. References
The document metadata registration system can support to input this kind of information very easily and cancreate a metadata document (dataset documentation) with common format and based on ISO standard.

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