Figure 1. The mapping of interfaces for improved interaction between the SST-VC and the GHRSST Standing Technical Advisory Groups (TAG) and task oriented Working Groups (WG). CEOS Agencies will benefit from better connectivity to the long-standing international activities embodied within the GHRSST teams and their associated processes. 2012 The twelve key actions and activities described in the SST-VC CEOS endorsed Full Proposal [RD-1] provide the backbone of the SST-VC implementation framework. These are described in Table 1 together with specific target activities for 2012 and long-term strategic targets (2-5 year horizon). For each action a specific measure is defined that shall be used to monitor the progress of the SST-VC. All activities will be reviewed and consolidated at the first SST-VC meeting planned in June 2012. Table 1 Planned activities for the SST-VC in 2012 Action Activity Measure Milestone Responsibility Resources in place? Output status Year 1 = 2012 1 Implement and Manage the CEOS SST-VC 1.1 Select and appoint SST-VC Members and officers Officers and members appointed June 2012 SST-VC Chairs and Members From CEOS Agencies Year 1: Co-Chairs appointed. Membership to be completed in coming months Year 2+: Maintain commitments 1.2 Hold annual plenary Meeting held June 2012 SST-VC Chairs and Members Support from JAXA for 2012 meeting Year 1: Meeting Arranged and invitations sent out Year 2+: To be planned at 1st meeting 1.3 Develop a CEOS SST-VC Portal (in line with other CEOS VC). Implement Portal V1 Portal ready by May 2012 SST-VC members Plan to use GHRSST (ESA funded) and CEOS web pages Year 1: V1 web presence to be set up on GHRSST and CEOS Web contend incrementally added action Regular update of web content End 2012+ SST-VC members Yes (members time) Year 1: Web contend incrementally added Year 2+: Web contend incrementally 1.4 Maintain a close dialogue between GHRSST and CEOS agencies by reporting GHRSST, GEO and Report to SIT-27 La Jolla, California on March 27 and 28 2012. March 2012 SST-VC Chairs Travel funds not in place. Issue: Co-Chairs not likely to attend the meeting in person. Alternates shall be appointed.
CEOS activities regularly to CEOS-SIT. Report to CEOS Plenary 2012 SST-VC-Chairs Travel funds not in place. Issue: Discussions on funding options to attend meetings on-going 1.5 Solicit and arrange adequate resources to execute the CEOS Resources for travel, meeting and implementation secured 2012 SST-VC members Not all resources are available (travel costs are particularly difficult) Year 1 and 2+: Funding of member activities on a basis 1.6 Appoint SST-VC members to monitor and participate in CEOS WG as appropriate Nominate reps. For WGCV, WGClimate, WGEdu, WGISS 2012 SST-VC members Not all resources are available (travel costs are particularly difficult) Year 1: Appoint members to represent Attend meetings and circulate results to SST-VC members Year 2+ Attend meetings Review SST-VC appointments circulate results to SST-VC members 1.7 Review annually SST-VC IP status Conduct review and issue report to SST-VC members 2012 SST-VC Chairs and Secretary Yes (members’ time) Year 1 and 2+: Conduct reviews as defined by teleconference 1.8 Ensure that each CEOS Agency having an SST capability (on-orbit or planned) has a representative member on the SST-VC SST-VC Membership includes all SST capable Agencies June 2012 SST-VC Chairs and Secretary Not all Agencies have committed yet Year 1: Solicit Agency member appointments and invite representatives to 1st meeting in 2012 Year 2+: Review SST-VC appointments 1.9 Maintain list of SST missions Review and revise annually the CEOS MIM 2012 SST-VC members Yes (members’ time) Year 1: Review the MIM content and feedback to CEOS Year 2+: Review the MIM content and feedback to CEOS
1.10 Respond to outcomes of the CEOS Self (CSS) Asses and implement CSS recommendations applicable to the SST-VC 2012 SST-VC members Yes (members’ time) Year 1: Review the CSS recommendations Plan activities to address CSS Year 2+: Monitor and implement CSS outcomes within the SST-VC 2 Minimise duplication of existing activities. Act as a conduit for feedback between CEOS and the international SST science and operational community at all levels by formal reporting of activities to CEOS SIT. 2.1 Participation on Annual GHRSST Science Team meetings. SST-VC membership participation on GHRSST ST annual meetings. GHRSST XII June 2012 SST-VC members Travel funds not secured Year 1: Joint SST-VC and GHRSST meeting planned in tokyo Year 2+: Continue to work with GHRSST for co-located meetings 2.2 Agree representation and feedback mechanisms between GHRSST and SST-VC Appoint members of SST-VC to appropriate working groups within GHRSST and have overlap of membership to facilitate feedback and communication between CEOS and GHRSST. GHRSST XIII, June 2012 All SST-VC members GHRSST Yes (members’ time) Travel funds not secured Year 1: Agree cross representation at 1st SST-VC/GHRSST meeting Participate in GHRSST activities as required Year 2+: Review SST-VC appointments Participate in GHRSST activities as required 3 Development and optimization of the SST constellation Advocate and promote the development and optimization 3.1 Develop a paper describing an optimised constellation for SST building on the feedback from the GHRSST Regional/Global task Sharing (R/GTS), Users and Agencies. Peer reviewed journal paper prepared Draft paper submitted to journal by end of 2013 All SST-VC members Members’ time secured Publication costs not secured Year 1 and 2: Build on the SST/GHRSST Ocean Obs 09 White Paper. Finish draft and circulate for review Submit to Journal Arrange publication costs if any Close action
(reduced redundancy and improved continuity and overlap among missions) of a virtual constellation of satellites (defined in Table 2) that satisfy key GEOSS and GCOS requirements for SST measurements based on international consensus that shall build on the strengths of each CEOS Agency to sustain an effective constellation 3.2 Contribute to the CEOS response to the 2010 GCOS Implementation Plan. Prepare response to GCOS IP in collaboration with CEOS Provide inputs to as required. All SST-VC members Members’ time Year 1: Work with CEOS bodies Work with GHRSST CDR-TAG Year 2+: Continue to provide inputs 4 Develop and implement metrics for SST services, products and users. Develop and implement processes, based on an agreed set of metrics, that ensure the SST Constellation will satisfy the relevant community needs making full use of existing statements of requirements. 4.1 Monitor International SST User Requirements Provide CEOS inputs to the GHRSST URD. Annual review conducted for 2012 All SST-VC members GHRSST Members’ time Year 1: Obtain new inputs for URD from CEOS Year 2+: Continue to monitor SST User Requirements Annual review of SST User requirements 4.2 Establish a process paper for defining appropriate metrics for an SST constellation Develop a draft process paper together with GHRSST End of 2012 All SST-VC members GHRSST Members’ time Year 1: Develop a list of metrics together with GHRSST Develop draft working paper Year 2+: Deploy metrics to GHRSST web site and begin reporting to CEOS
5 Coordinate consensus SST reference documents. 5.1 Review and endorse the GHRSST GDS documentation for the benefit of CEOS agencies. Conduct review following established GHRSST revision cycles. Annual review conducted for 2012. All SST-VC members GHRSST Members’ time Year 1 and 2+: Obtain new inputs for GDS from SST-VC members Conduct annual review of GHRSST GDS Pass feedback to GHRSST Endorse GDS for CEOS agencies 5.2 Coordinate and provide CEOS SST requirements to the GHRSST community. Document and deliver CEOS requirements to GHRSST. Complete as part of annual review process All SST-VC members Members’ time Year 1 and 2+: Complete relevant SST-VC actions and provide CEOS requirements to GHRSST 6 Encourage timely access to products. Foster and encourage timely access to CEOS agency satellite SST data products. 6.1 Foster better participation of CEOS Agencies within GHRSST activities. Help develop new collaborations with CEOS agencies under the GHRSST R/GTS Develop a Brochure explaining how the GHRSST R/GTS works and circulate to CEOS members All SST-VC members GHRSST Members’ time Travel resources are not secured. Year 1 and 2+: Provide CEOS requirements to GHRSST working in partnership with GHRSST ST Chair, GPO, TAG and WG Complete brochure Monitor collaborations 6.2 Identify current barriers to product access and application. Develop recommendations to CEOS Agencies to address current barriers Report to CEOS SIT All SST-VC members GHRSST Members’ time Travel resources are not secured. Year 1 and 2+: Complete review of barriers to product access and applications Report to CEOS-SIT
Surface 7 Develop and improve satellite SST Essential Climate Variable. Foster the development, improvement, production and wide application of CEOS agency satellite SST Essential Climate Variable (ECV) satellite data products for climate applications and services. 7.1 Develop requirements for producing, maintaining/sustaining and managing an ensemble of SST ECVs. (e.g. WG-Climate, NOAA, NASA, JAXA, EUMETSAT and ESA CCI, activities, GCOS SST/SI Working group, GOOS, OOPC and Essential Ocean Variable concept) to minimise duplication and maximise international partnerships. Work with GHRSST and other relevant groups to develop the SST ECV Data Processing Framework (DPF) Conduct survey of SST climate activities All SST-VC members GHRSST Members’ time Year 1 and 2+: Solicit requirements form CEOS WG-Climate Work with GHRSST and to define the most appropriate implementation framework. Collect a list of relevant SST climate activities at the ISSI sponsored Science Team workshop “Generation of Climate Data Records of Temperature from current and future satellite radiometers” Work with the GCOS SST/SI WG Work with the ESA SST_cci project Work with the NASA “Converting NASA Satellite Datasets for the CMIP5/IPCC Assessment” activity 7.2 Coordinate CEOS implementation actions through GCOS Action O7 [IP-04 O9]: “provision of best possible SST fields”. Monitor SST-CDR activities with WG-Climate Catalogue of activities All SST-VC members and GHRSST Members’ time. activities not secured. Year 1 and 2+: Ensure CEOS requirements are properly articulated Liaise with GHRSST for implementation Work with Agency activities (e.g. SST_cci) Produce a catalogue of SST CDR activities. 7.3 Work closely with CEOS WG-Climate as a demonstration CEOS VC Work towards implementation of CEOS framework Provide input to SST-VC representation to WG-Climate Travel not secured Year 1 and 2+: Coordinate with WG-Climate and other groups Work with GHRSST CDR-TAG and other relevant groups to develop the SST ECV Data Processing Framework (DPF) Climate Climate
8 Improve SST calibration, inter-calibration and validation. 8.1 Work with GHRSST and the CEOS WGCV to educate and inform the GHRSST community on the benefits of the QA4EO process. Improve QA4EO processes into GHRSST R/GTS and products. Review QA4EO processes within GHRSST and ensure GDS is linked to QA4EO SST-VC members and GHRSST Resources to travel not in place Year 1: Review QA4EO expectations Develop SST requirements to implement QA4 EO Develop strategy and plan to address QA4EO requirements Initiate discussions with GHRSST to review QA4EO issues and implementation Year 2+: Implement QA4EO within SST activities. Review status of implementation 8.2 Work with to maintain in situ validation reference measurements of climate quality Organise and run an in situ radiometer and reference round-robin inter-comparison Organise exercise SST-VC and GHRSST ISSI sponsored Science Team workshop “Generation of Climate Data Records of Temperature from current and future satellite radiometers” Year 1: Plan inter-comparison activity at ISSI workshop in April 2012 Year2+: Run inter-comparison activity 9 Improve user feedback to CEOS Agencies. In partnership with data providers, coordinate SST user feedback for the benefit of CEOS Agencies 9.1 Actively seek user feedback and report to CEOS Conduct an annual user assessment for SST products at the GHRSST Science Team Meeting and prepare report on user feedback to SST-VC GHRSST XIII SST-VC members and GHRSST Funds to travel to GHRSST not secured Year 1: SST-VC and GHRSST meeting are co-located Write short report to CEOS Year2+: Maintain SST-VC attendance at GHRSST meetings
10 Develop training activities for satellite SST practitioners. Develop and implement specific development and training activities to foster a next generation of satellite SST practitioners 10.1 Document existing training materials and identify gaps Working together with GHRSST, develop training materials inventory and publish on web pages Review and update annually SST-VC members and GHRSST Members’ time Year 1: Review and catalogue available training resources on SST-VC web pages Identify gaps and define requirements to fill training gaps Year 2+: Perform annual review of training resources and update web pages 10.2 Develop training materials to fill identified gaps Develop any required training materials and publish to web pages As required SST-VC members and GHRSST Members’ time Year 1: Draft materials published Year 2+: Materials finalized and updated annually as required 10.3 Support training in satellite SST Support international workshops (e.g., ESA Summer schools, GHRSST training workshop) using existing tools and products to promote a new generation of SST practitioners As required SST-VC members and GHRSST Various resources and funds in place. E.g. ESA LearnEO! Project and others Year 1 and 2+: Support SST training activities 11 Liaise with the other Virtual Constellations Liaise with the other Virtual 11.1 Attend relevant VC meetings to better coordinate activities and synergies Establish collaborations as appropriate Attend relevant CEOS VC meetings in 2012 SST-VC members Funding to attend meetings not secured Year 1 and 2+: Attend other VC meetings as required