News

The 2022 GCOS Implementation Plan

These supplements to the 2022 GCOS Implementation Plan extract those activities for which the following partners have been identified as key implementers:

GCOS at COP26: The GCOS Status Report 2021 presented

The new Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Status Report on the state of global climate observations was presented during a hybrid meeting at COP26 in Glasgow, on November 1st at the WMO/IPCC/UK MetOffice Science Pavilion.

The event included:

Where does the heat go?

The Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI), the difference between the amount of energy from the sun arriving at the Earth and the amount returning to space, serves as a fundamental metric to allow the scientific community and the public to assess how well the world responds to the task of bringing climate change under control.

River discharge data are now available online

The Global Runoff Database of quality controlled “historical” mean daily and monthly discharge data has developed into the most comprehensive global river discharge data archive supporting climate-related programs and projects of the United Nations and their special organizations and the scientific and research communities at large.

First Chairman of GCOS Joint Scientific and Technical Committee died April 15 - Sir John Houghton

Sir John noted at its second session in 1993, that “… it will be necessary for GCOS programme to include many nations and international organizations to participate in building a coherent earth observing and forecasting system for the climate, a clear plan describing what observations are needed and how to obtain them is required. Thus, the development of an initial draft plan should be the central activity of the meeting. …”

GCOS Certificate of Recognition

At a recent WMO meeting for recognising long-term observing stations (November 2019), the opportunity was taken to present a GCOS Certificate of Recognition to Mr CM Shun, Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, for the ongoing operations of the King's Park Upper Air Meteorological Station in Kowloon in support of the GCOS Networks.

GRUAN ICM-11 Meeting

At the GRUAN ICM-11, a GCOS Certificate of Recognition was presented to Ms Wong Chin Ling, Director general of the Meteorological Service Singapore, for the ongoing operations of the Singapore Upper-Air station in support of the GCOS network.

GCOS Certificate of Recognition

At a recent meeting of the EUMETNET Working Group on Radiosonde (May 2019), the opportunity was taken to present a GCOS Certificate of Recognition to Mr Juhana Hyrkkanen, Head of the Operation Services, Finnish Meteorological Institute, for the ongoing operations of the Sodankyla Upper-Air station in support of the GCOS Networks.

Joint Panels Meeting

More than 80 experts from GCOS, the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the CEOS-CGMS Joint Working Group on Climate (WGClimate) came together in a series of interlinked meetings from 18 to 22 March 2019 in Marrakech, Morocco. The overall aim was to achieve a common understanding of the needs of stakeholders for climate observations and of how GCOS and WCRP should achieve their strategic goals.

Regional Workshop on Improving the Value Chain from Observations to Climate Services in East Africa

The limited availability of observations around the Lake Victoria Region hinders the provision of climate services that are urgently needed to support climate policy, adaptation and mitigation in East Africa. This workshop addressed the full value chain from observations to support for adaptation and climate services in order to identify existing gaps and establish sustainable solutions to overcome them. Participants from five NHMSs of Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Uganda and country r

GCOS Science Day 2018 on Arctic Observations

The Science Day aims at informing the regional and national community on activities related to systematic climate observations and their relevance to pressing environmental concerns. In the past years, the Science Day had convened climate scientists and observation experts from South Africa, South America and China, and facilitated valuable exchange of news and views.

Updated version of the Space Agency Response to GCOS Implementation Plan published

The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS), in the form of the Joint CEOS/CGMS Working Group on Climate (WGClimate), are pleased to present a response to the 2016 GCOS Implementation Plan, reiterating their commitment to address the Actions required for the implementation of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS).

Happy Birthday GRUAN!

Transcript of the speeches of Martina Münch and Paul Becker can be found here. Finally, Peter Thorne, chair of the Working Group on GRUAN and member of the GCOS Atmospheric Observation Panel for Climate (AOPC) presented the highlights of the important steps that through the last 10 years have brought GRUAN to successfully accomplished its envisioned goals.

Austrian GCOS Report 2017 available!

Austria’s landscape consists of high mountains and valleys in the west and lowlands in the eastern part of the country. While this composition may be perceived as quite idyllic, it poses a major challenge when measuring meteorological parameters and monitoring long term changes of the climate. For example, when observing meteorological parameters under the extreme conditions of an Alpine summit, one will be faced with higher demands to the instruments in use.