GCOS Implementation Plan - WMO

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Implementation Plan for the Global Observing System for Climate in Support of the UNFCCC (2010 Update) ATMOSPHERIC DOMAIN – COMPOSITION ECV Contributing Network(s) Status Contributing Satellite Data 69 Status Methane and other longlived greenhouse gases (cont’d) Airborne sampling (JAL, CARIBIC, MOZAIC). NDACC Limited operational aircraft vertical profiling initiated. Operational; Partial network; Operational data management Ozone WMO GAW GCOS Global Baseline Profile Ozone Network (GAW ozonesonde network, including NASA SHADOZ and NDACC). WMO GAW GCOS Global Baseline Total Ozone Network (GAW column ozone network (filter, Dobson and Brewer stations)). Mature operational balloon sonde network. Mature operational groundbased total column network. UV nadir and limb sounders IR nadir sounders ; IR and MW limb sounders Operational continuity for column ozone; No future operational or research high vertical resolution profiling currently planned after 2015. NDACC Operational; Partial network; Operational data management Precursors (supporting the Aerosol and Ozone ECVs) WMO GAW observing network for CO (continuous and flasks measurements) WMO GAW network for reactive nitrogen EMEP (GAW contributing network) Operational; Partial network; Operational data management Currently in the stage of establishment, several stations world-wide Nadir IR sounders Operational European network for monitoring of primary pollutants, Research programmes Sparse, research-oriented using MAXDOAS, SAOZ, FTIR and other techniques (for NO 2 ) UV/VIS/NIR/SWIR sounders Precursors are measured by research satellites and operational satellites in future. Information on high spatial and temporal resolution is limited. In situ network from environmental agencies Operational at national level Aircraft (IAGOS, CO) Limited operational aircraft vertical profiling initiated NDACC Operational, Partial network; Operational data management Aerosol Properties BSRN; WMO GAW and contributing networks (AERONET, GALION); backscatter lidar networks. Operational; Operational; Global coordination in progress. Solar occultation VIS/ IR imagers Lidar profiling UV nadir Polarimetry Multi-angular viewing Planned operational continuity for column products; No operational missions planned for aerosol type and aerosol size Research missions for profiling tropospheric aerosols; No plans for continuity of stratospheric profiling. 64
Implementation Plan for the Global Observing System for Climate in Support of the UNFCCC (2010 Update) Understanding the sources and sinks for CO 2 and CH 4 is crucial. One of the challenges is to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic sources, for which accurate global measurements are required. While the atmospheric burden of CO 2 is increasing quite steadily by about 0.5% per year, the rise in methane concentration levelled off during the last decade. However, from 2006 to 2007 methane increased by 6 ppb in the atmosphere, the largest rise since 1998, and there was a further increase from 2007 to 2008, although it is still too early to state with certainty that these increases represent the beginning of a new upward trend of methane. 72 There are large uncertainties in the budget of methane, and observations combined with modelling are needed for better understanding of the sources and sinks. N 2 O is a greenhouse gas which mainly originates from agriculture, but is also produced by natural sources, i.e., soils and ocean. These sources are diffusive and therefore it is not easy to obtain from inverse modelling. There is also a large variability in the stratosphere. Halocarbons are currently a minor contribution to GHGs but they are potent GHGs and represent a potential long-term threat. Some of them (chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)) are regulated by the Montreal Protocol, since they are also ozone depleting gases, but they might not be phased out before 2040 and may show increasing concentration before 2040. Others do not deplete ozone and are therefore not governed by the Montreal Protocol. Concentrations of some of them are increasing rapidly. Projections of a changing climate have added a new dimension to the issue of the stratospheric ozone layer and its recovery. New data and models show the interconnections between these two global environmental concerns, with varied impacts of stratospheric temperature change on ozone distributions. Ozone-depleting chemicals and ozone itself provide positive forcing of climate. The reduction of ozone-depleting substances not only helped the ozone layer but also lessened climate forcing. Because of the close interaction between climate and stratospheric processes there is a continuing need to monitor atmospheric composition throughout the troposphere and stratosphere. Being able to distinguish changes arising from a decrease in ozone-depleting substances from those due to other sources of climate forcing is essential for establishing climate policy. Changes in tropospheric composition have an impact on air quality as well as climate change. Several tropospheric trace gases and aerosols play key roles in both domains. Tropospheric ozone and aerosols are both radiatively active and air pollutants. Other trace gases, such as NO 2 , SO 2 , CO, and HCHO, are not directly active radiatively but are precursors for tropospheric ozone and secondary aerosols (i.e., aerosols that are formed in the atmosphere). Methane is a precursor for tropospheric ozone and stratospheric water vapour, as well as a GHG. Observations of precursors are needed for an emission-based view on the radiative forcing (due to both anthropogenic and natural sources) by tropospheric ozone and secondary aerosols. Estimates of the emissions of the precursors are still very uncertain and are mostly based on sometimes quite dated inventories compiled using socio-economic statistics. More accurate and more up-to-date knowledge of the emission sources is urgently needed as input to climate and air quality models, which are used both for climate monitoring via data assimilation and for climate prediction. High spatial and temporal resolution is needed for accurate emission estimates, especially for NO 2 and SO 2 . Recent studies, including some providing input to the IPCC process, have considered the coupling of air quality and climate change, not only by the direct link via tropospheric composition but also because climate change will lead to different air pollution levels, which in turn will lead to different regional forcings (e.g., by recurrent dust or biomass burning events) and impact on global change. Future implementations of air quality legislation will reduce emission sources of pollutants that are either directly radiatively active (e.g., aerosols) or precursors to tropospheric ozone and secondary aerosols. Atmospheric aerosols are minor constituents of the atmosphere by mass, but a critical component in terms of impacts on climate and especially climate change. Aerosols influence the global radiation balance directly by scattering and absorbing radiation and indirectly through influencing cloud 72 WMO (2009): The State of Greenhouse Gases in the Atmosphere Using Global Observations through 2008. WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin No. 5 (25 November 2009). http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/gaw/ghg/GHGbulletin.html 65
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WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION I
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FOREWORD This 2010 Update of the Im
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6. TERRESTRIAL CLIMATE OBSERVING SY
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Implementation Plan for the Global
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GCOS Implementation Plan - WMO

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