GEO UIC Showcase

From Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP)
Revision as of 07:13, January 2, 2010 by Stefan Falke (Sfalke) (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Material submitted for the GEO showcase

Title: Collaborative Networking of Air Quality Information Systems

Description: An expanding subset of the air quality community has been collaborating on establishing an air quality community information infrastructure to complement the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI). This showcase will present the evolution and status of the air quality community infrastructure, how multiple air quality projects and systems are networked through it, and examples of its use in supporting GEOSS objectives.

Surface observations, satellite data products, emission inventories and forecast model results are made accessible through an Air Quality Community Catalog that is connected with the GCI Registry. The GCI Clearinghouses are used to find and access data relevant to visualization and analysis tools and decision support systems that provide the connection with end users.

The showcase will involve established and evolving collaborations among air quality projects and systems in various collaborative regional and global efforts, including the GEO Architecture Implementation Pilot, Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollutants (HTAP) Network, CEOS Atmospheric Composition Portal, the Community Initiative for Emissions Research and Applications, and others. The showcase is a follow-up to the air quality meeting at GEO-VI where a general commitment was made to interoperability among participating organizations.

Team: ESIP Air Quality Workgroup, Washington University/DataFed, EPA-OAR, NASA-Goddard/Giovanni, CEOS WGISS Atmospheric Composition Portal Team and others. Other team members are expected as the 3rd phase of the GEO Architecture Implementation Pilot makes progress between March and November 2010.

Add value of GEO in general: The newly forming GEO Air Quality Community of Practice is expected to provide a forum for international collaboration in establishing an interoperable network of air quality systems. The GEO Architecture Implementation Pilot is providing a focused collaborative environment through which multiple air quality projects and systems could come together to develop a shared information infrastructure. Meetings based on GEO themes are providing crucial interactions for promoting and developing a shared vision for air quality in GEOSS.

Add value of UIC: The UIC encouraged and helped realize the formation of a GEO Air Quality Community of Practice that has formed to help expand and advance a network of air quality information systems. UIC supported and coordinated GEO task US-09-01a: Earth Observation Priorities for Air Quality & Health. UIC organization of, and participation in, meetings and dialogues have been instrumental in ensuring user perspectives are appropriately addressed in the initial design and efforts of an interoperable network.

Summit Themes and Focus: The evolving air quality network is a relevant example of progress toward the GEOSS 10-year plan as it is working toward architectural implementations that address GEOSS objectives in the air quality domains. It is also associated with specific GEO tasks, including connections with:

  • HE-09-02b: AQ Observations, Forecasting & Public Info
  • DA-09-02d: Atmospheric Model Evaluation Network
  • US-09-01a: Earth Observation Priorities for Air Quality & Health
  • AR-09-02b: Atmospheric Composition Portal

and aspires to connect with other related GEO tasks including:

  • HE-09-02a: Aerosol Impacts on Health and Environment
  • HE-09-02c: Global Monitoring for Persistent Organic Pollutants
  • HE-09-02d: Global Monitoring for Atmospheric Mercury

Cape Town Declaration: The showcase addresses many of the shared views and objectives reaffirmed at the GEO Ministerial Summit, including the:

  • integration of surface, air-borne, and space-based observing networks
  • critical role of data interoperability in advancing observational and modelling capabilities
  • cooperation and dialogue in solidifying connections between GEOSS and informed decision making;
  • coordination, at national, regional and global levels, for building the capacity of individuals, institutions and systems, particularly in developing countries;

Global goals and assessments: The report developed as part of GEO task US-09-01a: Earth Observation Priorities for Air Quality & Health outlines global needs in air quality & health. The network of air quality systems can help address these needs by making existing earth observation data more available and by providing a framework for future earth observation data.

Filling gaps, ...: A primary objective of the showcase is to implement the GEOSS vision for the air quality domain. The network of air quality systems is intended to be persistent and adaptive so that other systems are encouraged to participate and that the requirements for participation are minimal.

Strong future GEOSS:The networked air quality information systems exemplify future demonstration of GEOSS principles because it includes multiple systems from multiple agencies and from multiple countries while providing making the range of air quality relevant earth observations and models meaningfully available to a variety of decision processes.

Link to high-profile issues: Networking air quality information systems has the potential to impact how data and information are analyzed and used for decision processes in local, regional and global air quality management and assessment contexts, including climate change related issues.

Cross-cutting nature:The efforts within the air quality community are establishing new connectivity among air quality systems within individual countries and across countries. The efforts include surface observation, satellite, aerial, and modeling systems. A core tenet is that the diverse and distributed sets of available data become more meaningfully available to a wide range research, management, policy and inter-disciplinary societal benefit areas.

Capacity building:The community building and collaborative efforts have facilitated global meetings, such as the air quality meeting during GEO-VI as well as companion efforts in other countries, such as India.