International Polar Year Legacy and the Global Cryosphere Watch

1. International Polar Year Legacy and the Global Cryosphere Watch Vladimir Ryabinin (JPS for WCRP) on behalf of Ed Sarukhanian (IPY) and Barry Goodison (GCW) V. Ryabinin

4. Station Princess Elisabeth in Antarctica, 70oS, 23oE(Courtesy IPF, Belgium)

5. Expertise, equipment, logistics and funds have been contributed by Canada, Denmark, EU, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Poland, USA, Russia and the UK.

6. CASO Hydrographic Sections: foundation for SOOS

8. Increase in the number of reports on the GTS WWW monitoring from 1 to 15 July 2007 (comparison with the same period of 2006): in the Arctic:+ 8 synoptic stations reporting at 90-100% level on the coast and islands of the Euro-Asian sector; in the Antarctic:+ 2 synoptic stations and new upper-air station Concordia; in the Arctic Ocean:+ 1000 BUOY reports; in the Southern Ocean:18 000 (five times more) BUOY reports, & there is an increase in the number of TESAC reports (+39).

9. Advances in the establishment of an Arctic hydrological cycle observing system and advances in polar hydrology IPY Project 104: The Arctic Hydrological Cycle Monitoring, Modelling and Assessment Program (Arctic-HYDRA) Arctic-HYDRA promotes a fully pan-Arctic perspective for its IPY water studies http://www.arcticportal.org/arctichydra

10. A strong step forward in permafrost monitoring IPY Project 50: Thermal State of Permafrost (TSP) www.ipa-permafrost.org

11. Timeline of current and future satellites. The blue section highlights the interval of the International Polar Year 2007-2008.

12. First Virtual Satellite Constellation under the umbrella of the Global Interagency IPY Polar Snapshot Year (GIIPSY) proposed by CliC and the IGOS Theme on Cryosphere. It involves all major satellite agencies and has the emphasis on the Synthetic Aperture Radar sensors. http://bprc.osu.edu/rsl/GIIPSY/

13. Sub-Committee on IPY Observations has developed a draft roadmap towards IPY observing systems legacy.Main observing initiatives contributing to the creation of an IPY Legacy • Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON), with an Integrated Arctic Ocean Observing System (iAOOS), Arctic-HYCOS, and IntegratedAON • Pan-Antarctic Observing System (PAntOS), with a Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), • The Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW), • Polar Satellite Constellation, • Polar Regional Climate Outlook Forum (PCOF)

14. Contribution of the IPY legacy observing initiatives to WIGOS • Atmosphere: SAON, PAntOS, PCOF & Polar Satellite Constellation -> WWW/GOS, GCOS; • Hydrology: Arctic HYCOS -> WHYCOS, GCOS/GTOS • Ocean: iAOOS and SOOS -> polar GOOS; • Cryosphere: GCW and Polar Satellite Constellation -> GOOS (sea ice),GTOS (the hydrological cycle, permafrost, ice sheets, glaciers), and GCOS as a whole.

15. New coordination bodies able to contribute to the creation of IPY legacy: WMO EC Panel of Experts on Polar Observations, Research and Services Joint Bipolar Action Group of IASC and SCAR

16. International Polar Decade - an opportunity to secure IPY legacy WMO EC-LX (June 2008), - recognized the unique opportunity for WMO in consultation with ICSU and other international organizations to consider launch ofan International Polar Decade as long-term process of research and observations in Polar Regions to meet requirements of climate change studies and prediction to benefit societal needs.

17. IPY data management activities • One of the main problems in the IPY implementation is absence of a support system for quick, easy and reliable identification of and access to IPY data, as well as of a formal pathway for IPY scientists to archive their data and metadata for future studies. • The WMO EC-LX (June, 2008) expressed appreciation for the IPY Joint Committee’s proposal to use the Canadian ArcticNet portal and its associated searchable metadata engine as an IPY portal, with partial funding offered by Canada. The Council considered the IPY data portal as being relevant to WISand requested that it should be developed as a WIS pilot project fully compliant with the WIS standards.

18. Global Cryosphere Watch- A WMO Initiative “The 15th WMO Congress (May 2007) welcomed the proposal of Canada that WMO will create a Global Cryosphere Watch which would be an important component of the IPY legacy. Congress requested the WMO Inter-commission Task Group on IPY to establish an ad-hoc expert group to explore the possibility of creation of such global system and prepare recommendations for its development.” Legacy of CliC in the area of observations

19. Thecryosphere collectively describes elements of the earth system containingwater in its frozen state and includes: sea ice, icebergs, lake and river ice, snow cover, solid precipitation, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, permafrost and seasonally frozen ground. The cryosphere exists at all latitudes and in about one hundred countries. We do not consider ice phase in clouds.

20. Considerations • IPY 2007-2008 identified Shrinking Snow and Ice: Rapid Changes in Polar Regions as the first of four key issues requiring urgent attention of polar science community; • IPCC WG 1 and 2 reports highlighted for first time the importance of the cryosphere, large observed changes of some elements of global cryosphere and potential impacts on societies and countries; • ACIA and ICARPII identified the cryosphere as a critical element in monitoring and understanding changes in the Arctic System; • cryosphere is an integrative element within climate system and a sensitive and robust indicator of climate change; • 2004-2007: the development of the conceptual framework for the cryospheric observations through the IGOS Theme on Cryosphere (approved May 2007).

21. Mission: implement the IGOS Cryosphere Theme (CryOS); support reliable, comprehensive observations of the elements of the cryosphere through an integrated observing approach on global and regional scales, in collaboration with relevant national and international programmes and agencies; provide the scientific community with the means to predict the future state of the cryosphere; facilitate assessment of changes in the cryosphere and their impact, and to use this information to aid the detection of climate change, support decision making and environmental policy development; provide authoritative information on the current state and projected fate of the cryosphere for use by the media, public, decision and policy makers. GLOBAL CRYOSPHERE WATCH:research, observation, monitoring, assessment, product development and prediction

22. Example: Snow Water Equivalent SWE derived from AMSR-E for Western Canada • Issues for GCW? • evaluation of the product • how consistent is the derived SWE • evaluation of the algorithms • transferability of algorithms • usefulness of the product • sustainability of product development and production • when will this product be ready to transfer from research to operations

23. Comparison of Arctic Sea-Ice Extent Sept 27 2008 NERSC (Arctic ROOS) vs NSIDC

24. Greenland Total Melt Area 1979-2007: 2007 value exceeds last maximum by 10 % GIIPSY Konrad Steffen and Russell Huff, CIRES, University of Colorado at Boulder

25. Cryospheric Sea Level Rise

26. Global Cryosphere Watch - Initial Concept • GCW will contribute to WMO’s integrated observing and information systems and to the Global Climate Observing System network (like GAW does). It is envisioned to include a network of stations, CryoNET, working on a coherent agreed program on monitoring of changes in all components of the cryosphere, producing valuable long-term records, covering key areas of the globe with cryospheric observations. • It will be an intergovernmental mechanism for supporting key cryospheric in-situ and remote-sensing observations - while implementing the recommendations of the IGOS Cryosphere Theme. • GCW will work with, and build on, existing programs such as the GTN-G, GTN-P, GTN-H, and work with external partners such as space agencies and World Data Centers for Glaciology. • GCW addresses virtually all of the 11 expected results of the WMO Strategic Plan and requires an input and synergistic work of most of the WMO Technical Commissions (e.g. CBS, CIMO, CHy, CCl, JCOMM) and several WMO Programmes, and could provide an ideal test-bed for a WIGOS/WIS pilot project. • Initially, GCW is to be located within the Research Department, similar to GAW, but with the clear understanding of working with the other departments.

27. A conceptual model of the elements of a Global Cryosphere Watch • public • education • science assessment • public security • impacts and adaptation • research • operations User Communities • GCW roles • Provide authoritative one-stop shop for real-time information on the state of the global cryosphere • Provide integrated assessment of climate-cryosphere change GCW Information Layer portal, anomaly tracking, hot-spots, variability and change (past, present, future), global and regional products • GCW roles • Determine key products and information • Validate products • Promote R&D transfer to operational centers • Science assessment GCW Regional Centers regional cryosphere products GCW Thematic Centers snow, sea ice, freshwater ice, frozen ground and permafrost, land ice • GCW roles • Enhance data sharing and coordination e.g. CryOS • Trouble shooter GCW Data Layers – IGOS satellite, in situ, operational products, reanalyses, research datasets…

28. Response has been enthusiastic to date and the need for an integrated view of the cryosphere has been emphasized, building on and integrating what may be done currently. It has also been noted that for GCW to be successful, countries and agencies must first demonstrate the importance of the cryosphere to national and/or regional issues, and then how it will contribute to our understanding at the global scale. Key North American cryosphere scientists from NMHS’s, academia and other agencies (users and providers of Cryospheric data and information) at the 2007 Joint Congress of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society/American Meteorological Society Polar Meteorology and Eastern Snow Conference GCOS Secretariat and Executive TOPC – endorse GCW WMO Secretariat from World Climate Program, World Climate Research Programme, Hydrology and Water Resources Department, Atmospheric Research and Environment Programme, CliC (Climate and Cryosphere) Science Steering Group CLIVAR Science Steering Group Sustained Arctic Observing Networks Workshop International Permafrost Association GEO Secretariat IPY Joint Committee Asia-CliC 2nd Conference US National Snow and Ice Data Center Polar CLIPS Canadian cryosphere community (Sep 30) GCOS-16 (October) International Ice Chart Working Group (October) Consultation

29. Dr. Barry Goodison has been seconded to WMO by the Environment Canada (1 Sep 2008 to mid-March 2009). Environment Canada has released some funds from a WMO Trust Fund to support GCW related travel and meetings. Consultation within and outside WMO has been initiated. An ad hoc expert team is being established to prepare a scoping document to define the feasibility of developing and implementing a Global Cryosphere Watch within WMO. Status of works

30. GCOS SC is invited to 1) note the major pan-Arctic, pan-Antarctic observing initiatives aimed at securing the legacy of IPY and endorse them as a contribution to GCOS. 2) support the idea of exploring an International Polar Decade as a means of facilitating more sustainable observations in Polar Regions. 3) express support to consideration of the development of an IPY data portal as a WIS pilot project. 4) note the establishment of the WMO EC Panel of Experts on Polar Observations, Research and Services, and, start identifying areas of cooperation and coordination between GCOS and Panel are required. 5) endorse GCW as the mechanism for integrating cryospheric observations drawing on the work of GTOS, GCOS and GOOS, and 6) identify an expert to join the ad-hoc expert team developing the scoping study for GCW. GCW GCW V. Ryabinin