49 / 280
[
] 49
The UK piece of the GEO puzzle
Mark Churchyard and Ruth Kelman, BNSC Partnership
T
he British National Space Centre (BNSC) supports many
activities that provide valuable information and data
which contribute to helping us understand our environ-
ment and climate change through both national and
international projects, especially through the UK’s membership
of the European Space Agency (ESA), European Organization
for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)
and as a member of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO).
Observations are the key to understanding our complex environ-
ment. Without such observations we would not be able to
comprehend the processes that shape our world, or the impact that
changes to our environment have on our lives. Furthermore, in order
to understand our environment we need to be able to combine the
many types of observations such as those of the atmosphere, oceans
and ecosystems taken at various scales and using different media in
many formats. The UK supports GEO and the Global Earth
Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), as GEO facilitates the type
of interdisciplinary research and international collabo-
ration that the UK believes are essential to determining
how and why our environment is changing. The GEOSS
ten-year Implementation Plan (IP) provides a good
framework in which to work.
Ministerial responsibility for GEO in the UK lies with
the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra) which is both a partner of, and supported by
colleagues in, the British National Space Centre (BNSC).
The UK recognizes the importance of raising
GEO/GEOSS nationally and continues to support its
development. A number of BNSC Partner priorities are
closely aligned to the objectives of GEO and will be
reflected in the developing BNSC space plan. For
example, the Natural Environment Research Council’s
(NERC) strategy Next generation science for planet
Earth (2007-2012) outlines how NERC aims to support
research that will lead to an improved understanding of
environmental issues including natural climate vari-
ability, the impact biodiversity has on human health and
the geological processes responsible for earthquakes and
tsunamis. Such a strategy aligns very well with some of
the societal benefit areas (SBA) identified in the
GEOSS IP.
The UK is an active participant in many of the inter-
national organizations that contribute to GEO such as
the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS),
Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), Global
Climate Observing System (GCOS) and Integrated
Global Observing Strategy (IGOS). An example of such
support is the UK contribution to GOOS, which is recog-
nized as the main oceanographic component of GEOSS.
Since 2001, one of the main UK contributions to GOOS
has been its participation in the Argo profiling float
programme. Over 200 floats have been deployed since
2001 with one float surviving for over five years and
reporting 185 profiles. Funding is provided by four
BNSC partners: Defra, the Ministry of Defence (MoD),
Met Office and NERC. Argo data was used by the UK
Met Office to increase confidence before issuing its fore-
cast for a colder than average winter in 2005–2006,
which proved to be the case, particularly in southern
regions. UK floats have also been used as part of the UK-
led system for monitoring the Meridional Overturning
Circulation. GEO recognizes that it is the combination
of satellite and in situ data that provides the informa-
tion to monitor our Earth’s systems and brings the two
together, helping to construct the full picture.
Photo: ESA
Cryosat will enhance the data over the ice sheets (artist’s impression)
N
ATIONAL
& R
EGIONAL
R
EPORTS