The Role of Science and Technology in GEOSS
- Paper number
IAC-08.B1.6.3
- Author
Dr. David Halpern, NASA HQ, United States
- Coauthor
Dr. Udo Gaertner, Germany
- Coauthor
Ms. Pontsho Maruping, Department of Science and Technology, South Africa
- Coauthor
Dr. Gilles Ollier, European Commission, Belgium
- Year
2008
- Abstract
Government ministers and other senior officials representing 58 (now 72) countries and the European Commission established the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) in February 2005 to achieve a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) of coordinated, comprehensive and sustained observations and information for the benefit of humankind. GEOSS will improve the monitoring of the changes of the global and regional environment, increase the understanding of the global integrated Earth system and the interconnectivities within it, and enhance the prediction of components of the global integrated Earth system. Satellites – geostationary and polar-orbiting – have become indispensable platforms that yield an unprecedented volume of data to achieve GEOSS. GEOSS will itself be a driver for further advances in satellite technology, which together with in-situ observations, will lead to scientific discoveries, enhanced predictability and societal benefits. GEOSS occurs in a changing environment. The scientific and technological design of GEOSS is a dynamic and challenging task because past realizations of average environmental conditions are no longer applicable. Examples of dramatic changes are the more rapid than expected depletion of Arctic sea ice in September, the slower than expected recovery of stratosphere ozone over Antarctica, and the faster than anticipated global mean sea level rise. Many GEOSS societal benefit areas (SBAs), such as climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, require sustained, high accuracy, stable global observations with high resolutions in space and time. This is the greatest challenge facing GEO Members and Participating Organizations. To support its work, the GEO established the GEO Science and Technology Committee (STC) in November 2005 to strengthen the role of science and technology in advancing GEOSS. This paper will describe the structure and goals of the STC: recent report on the role of science and technology in GEOSS; coordination of 19 GEO Tasks covering all nine interconnected SBAs in order to enhance interdisciplinary partnerships; and, contribution to the development of GEO Data Sharing Principles. The GEOSS represents imagination-to-reality opportunities for society to benefit from science and technology.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)