The ESA Climate Change Initiative: Satellite Data Records for Essential Climate Variables

Hollmann, R.; Merchant, C. J.; Saunders, R.; Downy, C.; Buchwitz, M.; Cazenave, A.; Chuvieco, E.; Defourny, P.; de Leeuw, G.; Forsberg, R.; Holzer-Popp, T.; Paul, F.; Sandven, S.; Sathyendranath, S.; van Roozendael, M.; Wagner, W.

doi:10.1175/bams-d-11-00254.1

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Journal article

The ESA Climate Change Initiative: Satellite Data Records for Essential Climate Variables

Hollmann, R. Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Offenbach, Germany
Merchant, C. J. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Saunders, R. Met Office, Exeter, United Kingdom
Downy, C. European Space Agency, Harwell, United Kingdom
Buchwitz, M. University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Cazenave, A. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, Toulouse, France
Chuvieco, E. University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Defourny, P. Earth and Life Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
de Leeuw, G. Finnish Meteorological Institute, and Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Forsberg, R. National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
Holzer-Popp, T. German Aerospace Center (DLR), Wessling, Germany
Paul, F. University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Sandven, S. Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Bergen, Norway
Sathyendranath, S. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, United Kingdom
van Roozendael, M. Aeronomy, Brussels, Belgium
Wagner, W. Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria

2013-10-1

Published in:

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. - American Meteorological Society. - 2013, vol. 94, no. 10, p. 1541-1552

Atmospheric Science

English Observations of Earth from space have been made for over 40 years and have contributed to advances in many aspects of climate science. However, attempts to exploit this wealth of data are often hampered by a lack of homogeneity and continuity and by insufficient understanding of the products and their uncertainties.
There is, therefore, a need to reassess and reprocess satellite datasets to maximize their usefulness for climate science. The European Space Agency has responded to this need by establishing the Climate Change Initiative (CCI). The CCI will create new climate data records for (currently) 13 essential climate variables (ECVs) and make these open and easily accessible to all. Each ECV project works closely with users to produce time series from the available satellite observations relevant to users' needs. A climate modeling users' group provides a climate system perspective and a forum to bring the data and modeling communities together.
This paper presents the CCI program. It outlines its benefit and presents approaches and challenges for each ECV project, covering clouds, aerosols, ozone, greenhouse gases, sea surface temperature, ocean color, sea level, sea ice, land cover, fire, glaciers, soil moisture, and ice sheets. It also discusses how the CCI approach may contribute to defining and shaping future developments in Earth observation for climate science.

Language

English

Open access status

green

Identifiers

DOI 10.1175/bams-d-11-00254.1
ISSN 1520-0477

Persistent URL

https://sonar.ch/global/documents/41930

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