GCOS Implementation Plan - WMO

Implementation Plan for the Global Observing System for Climate in Support of the UNFCCC
(2010 Update)
Permafrost System CD containing information and data acquired in the previous 5 years. The
establishment of permafrost national centres to collect and analyse data is recommended.
GTN-P currently involves 16 participating countries, with hundreds of active sites in the Circumpolar
Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) network and identified boreholes for monitoring permafrost thermal
states, Some of these need to reactivate their measurement campaigns, and soil vertical
displacement measurements and permafrost temperatures measurements should become a part of
active layer monitoring. GTN-P has also identified new borehole and active layer sites needed to
obtain representative coverage in the Europe/Nordic region, within the Russian Federation and within
Central Asia (Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and China); in the Southern Hemisphere (South America,
Antarctica); and in North American mountain ranges and lowlands. A few reference sites have been
recommended for development, and this would establish a baseline network of Thermal State of
Permafrost sites within the International Network of Permafrost Observatories (INPO).
Presently, GTN-P in situ data acquisition operates on a largely voluntary basis through individual
national and regionally-sponsored programmes. Regional projects support local networks and
observatories, such as the US Geological Survey Alaskan deep borehole network and the US
National Science Foundation-supported CALM sites, the Russian Academy of Sciences “Evolution of
Cryosphere” Program, Canadian transects, Permafrost and Climate in Europe activities, and GEF in
Mongolia, among others. Measurement and reporting standards are emerging, but further work is
needed to prepare and publish definitive reporting standards. Upscaling techniques for research sites
and permafrost networks, initially on upgraded reference sites, are required to complement active
layer and thermal observing networks with monitoring of active geological processes (e.g., slope
processes, thermokarst and lake development, coastal dynamics, and surface terrain stability).
Action T21 [IP-04 T15]
Action: Refine and implement international observing standards and practices for permafrost and
combine with environmental variable measurements; establish national data centres.
Who: Parties’ national services/research institutions and International Permafrost Association.
Time-Frame: Complete by 2010.
Performance Indicator: Implemented guidelines and establishment of national centres.
Annual Cost Implications: