Action 24004 - Systematic Observations of Land and Ocean (SOLO)

Advancing the state-of-the-art of quantitative Earth Observation techniques for Land and Ocean

Continuing environmental degradation and impending climate changes threaten the habitability of our planet as well as the sustainability of economic activities, and therefore the social cohesion of our societies. These concerns are reflected in a growing number of policy documents such as the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol (KP), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Convention on Biological Diversity, etc. Current technology and state of the art science are increasingly called upon to address these problems. Space-based technologies, together with R&D in physics and mathematical analysis, provide unique and appropriate means to gather relevant information on the state and evolution of our environment. For instance, the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) has identified a limited set of Essential Climate Variables (ECV) required to properly monitor the climate system and drive or constrain current and future models of the climate and the environment, and issued a 10-year Implementation Plan to put such a monitoring system in place.

In parallel, the EU and the European Space Agency (ESA) Councils have repeatedly emphasised the strategic importance for Europe of independent and permanent access to global information for environmental management and monitoring and are proposing a concerted action in the framework of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES). Clearly, the reliability and accuracy of the information generated are critical to guide these policies and in particular to identify and understand the issues, propose solutions, and monitor the effectiveness of corrective measures (mitigation and adaptation).

The Systematic Observations of Land and Ocean (SOLO) action will contribute directly to this goal by conducting cutting edge R&D, developing standards and benchmarks for the assessment of existing products, proposing new or better solutions wherever required and offering high quality products and services to the European Commission, as well as other European and international institutions, such as the European Environment Agency (EEA), for instance.

 

Specific objectives of the Action

• Generate and deliver products and services in support of policy making and other applications to specific customers such as the EC DGs, EEA, Space Agencies and GMES, as well as international organizations and the broader scientific community.

• Carry out the laboratory, field and research activities required to guarantee the quality, reliability and accuracy of these products and services, thereby contributing to the reduction in uncertainties required by UNFCCC and KP.

• Conduct the scientific R&D necessary to formulate new or value-added products and services to address existing and emerging needs.

• Undertake temporal and spatial analyses of the core ECVs and value added products to fill gaps in the state-of-the-art knowledge of biogeochemical processes and climate variability.

 

A fundamental aspect of the Action’s work involves the validation, quality control and benchmarking of the Earth Observation products over ocean and land. This is undertaken through field and laboratory activities which include:

• The maintenance of a decadal time-series of radiometric and geophysical quantity at an oceanographic tower in the Northern Adriatic Sea;

• The participation in oceanographic field campaigns in European Seas (including Baltic, North, Mediterranean and Black Seas) collecting bio-optical datasets for validation and algorithm development purposes, acquired through adopting consistent measurement protocols;

• Active co-coordination in the expanding AERONET-OC network (see link below) of radiometric and photometric measurement for visible sensor validation;

• Participation in round robin activities to assess the uncertainties in the in-situ measurement pigments.

 

Contact info

Mark Dowell

Tel: (+39) 0332 789095   E-mail: mark.dowell(at)jrc.it

 

Main customers

- DG Environment

- DG Enterprise

- DG Research and Technological Development

- DG Development

- European and International Space Agencies (ESA, EUMETSAT, NASA)

- European Environmental Agency (EEA)

- Group on Earth Observations (GEO)

- Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)

- Academic institutions with competence in Earth Observation and climate modeling

- United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

 

EU Legislation and Documents supported by this Action

- Communication from the Commission. A Sustainable Europe for a Better World: A European Union Strategy for Sustainable Development. COM (2001) 264 final

- Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES): Establishing a GMES capacity by 2008 - (Action Plan (2004-2008)). COM (2004) 65 final

- White Paper. Space: A New European Frontier for an Expanding Union: An Action Plan for Implementing the European Space Policy COM (2003) 673

 

Relevant links

FAPAR Archive

Ocean Colour Archive

RAdiation transfer Model Intercomparison (RAMI)

Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) 

Integrated Project MERSEA

Integrated Project CARBOEUROPE - Assessment of the European Terrestrial Carbon Balance 

European Space Agency (ESA)

NASA OceanColor

EUMETSAT

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

European Environment Agency (EEA) 

European Climate Change Programme 

Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)

Group on Earth Observations (GEO)

International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group (IOCCG)