Objectives
The objectives of this workpackage are to provide "an assessment the European capability to provide GCOS ECV data records", "a prioritisation of GCOS ECV according to applications needed to establish the GMES climate service", and to provide "a white book containing a structured process to derive ECV data records from satellite data". As such this workpackage will be split into two tasks:
- Task 2.1 Analysis of ECV capability and prioritisation for COPERNICUS climate service
- Task 2.2 Preparation of white book for structured process to derive ECV data records
Task 2.1 Analysis of ECV capability and prioritisation for COPERNICUS climate service
Within this work package CORE-CLIMAX will analyse the current availability and status of ECV Climate Data Records with respect to the applications mentioned in GMES/COPERNICUS (2011). Based on the list of ECVs given by GCOS, Task 2.1 will use the mechanism of the maturity index (Privette, 2009) and the GCOS ECV generation guidelines (GCOS-143, 2010) to analyse the maturity of existing in situ, satellite and reanalysis derived products. The maturity index concept was developed for satellite records but is with some adaptations also applicable to in situ and reanalysis products.
Whereas in-situ observations often directly provide the ECV, satellite-derived and reanalysis products convert raw data into ECVs either by using retrieval schemes or data assimilation and modelling techniques. For the latter two the analysis will consider the inputs, such as FCDRs, and outputs (the ECVs) separately. In particular for the FCDRs the project will base its analysis on work performed in the ERA-CLIM project. This analysis will directly support the CEOS Working Group Climate in their work towards a global inventory of satellite-derived ECV climate data records.
Aiming at an extension of the initial assessment of space-based capabilities for the derivation of ECVs in the framework of COPERNICUS a redefined maturity index will be applied to all accessible ECV climate data records. The project will reach out to the community by inviting the climate data record producers such as leaders from COPERNICUS Service projects, EUMETSAT SAFs, the ESA CCI, and research organisations to a workshop where the participants shall deliver descriptions of their data sets following a template provided by the project. The description shall then be used for an efficient application of the adapted maturity index. The workshop participants will perform a self assessment of their respective data products and the project consortium will perform an independent assessment to guarantee that all data products are assessed on the same basis. All results of this maturity assessment, in particular differences between self and independent assessment will be negotiated with the data record providers.
Task 2.2 Preparation of a white book for structured process to derive ECV data records
Based on the logical architecture developed by the above mentioned writing team of the "Strategy Towards an Architecture for Climate Monitoring from Space" this task will detail the functions of the logical view, in particular the items sensing and climate data record creation and preservation. These functions will be expanded to a guide describing what a climate data record producer should do to obtain an optimal result in terms of the applications needed for COPERNICUS climate services. The logical architecture has the big advantage of being independent of a particular ECV, i.e., it should be applicable to any of the GCOS ECVs.
The white book will also propose roles of different entities in Europe for the functions of the logical architecture, i.e., in many functions a collaboration between the European research infrastructure and operational entities is needed and needs to be organised. Task 2.2 will also extend the concept of the logical architecture, once developed for satellite-based ECVs, to the in situ data sector. The white book will undergo a public review process to obtain the highest possible acceptance from the international community.