The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) was founded to globally coordinate climate observation and thereby to provide users with the data and information needed to address climate-related concerns. In Switzerland, GCOS is implemented by a variety of national partner institutions coordinated by the Swiss GCOS Office at MeteoSwiss.
GCOS
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High quality, systematic climate observation builds the foundation to estimate the extent and rate of climate change and to infer climate trends. Such knowledge is crucial for informed decision making concerning the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change.
In 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) acknowledged the need for climate monitoring and explicitly requested all its parties to cooperate in systematic climate observation.
In the same year, the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) was established as a joint initiative of the:
- World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
- Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO
- United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment)
- International Council of Science (ICSU)
For the purpose of defining common global requirements and standards for a systematic climate observing system, the UNFCCC requests GCOS to regularly revise its Implementation Plan (IP). The IP, first published in 2004, was last updated in 2016 (IP-16).
An important part of the GCOS IP is the specification of a list of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) that should be observed systematically and adhering to the GCOS Climate Monitoring Principles (also defined in the IP).
The ECV list contains variables of the atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial domain that critically contribute to the characterization of the Earth’s climate. As part of the IP, also this list is regularly revised and today includes 54 ECVs.
GCOS currently defines the following ECVs for which global observation is technically feasible in a cost-effective manner. ECV data records contribute to satisfying the requirements of the UNFCCC and broader user communities. Additional variables considered essential for Switzerland, and for which systematic observations exist, are provided in bold.
Measurement Domain |
Essential Climate Variables |
|
Atmospheric |
Surface |
Air temperature, Wind speed and direction, Water vapour (humidity), Pressure, Precipitation, Surface radiation budget, |
Upper air |
Temperature, Wind speed and direction, Water vapour, Cloud properties, Earth radiation budget, Lightning |
|
Composition |
Carbon dioxide, Methane, Other long-lived greenhouse gases, Ozone, Aerosol, Precursors for aerosol and ozone, Pollen |
|
Oceanic |
Physics |
Temperature: Sea-surface and Subsurface, Salinity: Sea-surface and Subsurface, Currents, Surface currents, Sea level, Sea state, Sea ice, Ocean surface stress, Ocean surface heat flux |
Biogeochemistry |
Inorganic carbon, Oxygen, Nutrients, Transient tracers, Nitrous oxide, Ocean colour |
|
Biology/ecosystems |
Plankton, Marine habitat properties |
|
Terrestrial |
Hydrology |
Rivers (discharge, temperature), Groundwater, Lakes, Soil moisture, Isotopes |
Cryosphere |
Snow, Glaciers, Ice sheets and ice shelves, Permafrost |
|
Biosphere |
Albedo, Land cover, Fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, Leaf area index, Above-ground biomass, Soil carbon, Fire, Land surface temperature, Phenology |
|
Human use of natural resources |
|
Water use, Greenhouse gas fluxes |
GCOS is an international programme, but to be put into practice, its principles need to be applied also on a national level. In Switzerland, this is fulfilled within the framework of GCOS Switzerland.
GCOS Switzerland
Climate observation has a long-standing tradition in Switzerland. The longest lasting climate observation series dates back to 1808, when scientists in Geneva first started collecting phenological data on the timing of the chestnut bud burst. Since then, the number of systematically monitored climate variables has increased steadily, adding observational data from the terrestrial and atmospheric domain (as a land-locked nation, Switzerland does not monitor ocean related variables).
These long and continuous time-series lay the groundwork for the implementation of GCOS in Switzerland (see also: National Climate Observing System).
Today, within the framework of GCOS Switzerland, data on 33 Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) are continuously collected, processed and made publically available.
Today, Swiss GCOS data are widely used. As an example, they help to understand pressing climate-related concerns, such as the continuous melting of glaciers, and they also contribute to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC ). In addition, Swiss GCOS data are the basis for user-tailored climate services and thereby support the work of the National Center for Climate Services (NCCS).
“Measure locally, understand globally”
The systematic observation of ECVs and the operation of international data and calibration centres in Switzerland is facilitated by the common effort of 26 National Partner Institutions.
The National Partner Institutions among other include federal offices, research institutions and universities.
Together, all of these institutions tackle the task to continuously collect, process, archive and distribute data on ECVs:
- Agroscope
- École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne EPFL
- ETH-Zurich
- Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA
- Federal Institute of Metrology METAS
- Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG
- Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
- Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss
- Federal Office of Topography swisstopo
- Federal Statistical Office FSO
- Istituto Ricerche Solari Locarno IRSOL
- Meteodat GmbH
- Paul Scherrer Institute PSI
- Physical Meteorological Observatory in Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC)
- ProClim
- Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana SUPSI
- State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI
- Swiss Academy of Sciences SCNAT
- Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL
- Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Eawag
- Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Empa
- University of Basel
- University of Bern
- University of Fribourg
- University of Geneva
- University of Zurich
- WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
The Swiss GCOS Office - seated at the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss - coordinates climate observation in Switzerland in support of these National Partner Institutions. The Swiss GCOS Office was formally established at MeteoSwiss in 2006, following the Federal Council’s dispatch concerning the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.
As the national GCOS coordinator, the Swiss GCOS Office assumes the following responsibilities:
International level:
- Act as the single point of contact for the international GCOS Secretariat
- Facilitate the exchange with national GCOS coordinators of other countries and with other international institutions
- Report to the UNFCCC through the compilation of reports on national climate observation
- Participate in the annual UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) as member of the national delegation
National level:
- Coordinate the implementation of the GCOS Switzerland Strategy under the guidance of the GCOS Switzerland Steering Committee (see also: GCOS Switzerland Strategy 2017-2026)
- Coordinate between the National Partner Institutions, for example, by organising the annual national GCOS Roundtable (see also: National GCOS Roundtable)
- Compile, update and maintain an inventory of the National Climate Observing System that identifies and summarises the valuable series of climatic measurements, and the international data and calibration centres operated by Swiss institutions. (see also: National Climate Observing System)
- Identify time series at a risk of being interrupted and take the necessary steps to ensure their long-term continuation (see also: Background Documents: Modalities of MeteoSwiss agreements in the framework of GCOS Switzerland)
- Take the necessary steps to ensure the continued operation of international data and calibrations centres in Switzerland whose future is at risk
In carrying out its coordination activities, the Swiss GCOS Office is guided by an independent GCOS Switzerland Steering Committee.
In its function as an independent steering body, the GCOS Switzerland Steering Committee is, i.a., responsible for:
- Monitoring and guiding the implementation of the GCOS Switzerland strategy (see also: GCOS Switzerland Strategy 2017-2026)
- Selecting studies proposed by National Partner Institutions, to be supported by MeteoSwiss in the framework of GCOS Switzerland (see also: Call for Proposal).
- Seeking and promoting synergies with other national and international activities.
The Steering Committee currently consists of six members covering a wide range of expertise related to climate sciences:
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Stocker (Chair; University of Berne)
- Dr. Karin Ammon (ProClim)
- Prof. em. Dr. Wilfried Haeberli (University of Zurich)
- Prof. Dr. Martine Rebetez (WSL)
- Prof. Dr. Christoph Schär (ETH Zurich)
- Dr. Reto Stöckli (MeteoSwiss)
Weiterführende Informationen
Links
GCOS international
Global Climate Observing System
WMO
World Meteorological Organization
IOC
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
UN Environment
United Nations Environment Programme
ICSU
International Council for Science
UNFCC
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
IPCC
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change