THE ESA CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVE Satellite Data Records for Essential Climate Variables

R. Hollmann (1) , C. J. Merchant (2) , R. Saunders (3) , C. Downy (4) , M. Buchwitz (5) , A. Cazenave (6) , E. Chuvieco (7) , P. Defourny (8) , G. de Leeuw (9) , R. Forsberg (10) , T. Holzer-Popp (11) , F. Paul (12) , S. Sandven (13) , S. Sathyendranath (14) , M. van Roozendael (15) , W. Wagner (16)

1 DWD - Deutscher Wetterdienst [Offenbach]
2 Edin. - University of Edinburgh
3 United Kingdom Met Office [Exeter]
4 ESA - Agence Spatiale Européenne = European Space Agency
5 University of Bremen
6 GOHS
7 UAH - Universidad de Alcalá - University of Alcalá
8 ELI - Earth and Life Institute [Louvain-La-Neuve]
9 FMI - Finnish Meteorological Institute
10 DTU Space - National Space Institute [Lyngby]
11 DLR-DFD - German Remote Sensing Data Center
12 UZH - Universität Zürich [Zürich] = University of Zurich
13 NERSC - Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center [Bergen]
14 PML - Plymouth Marine Laboratory
15 BIRA-IASB - Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy / Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique
16 TU Wien - Vienna University of Technology = Technische Universität Wien

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.

Mots clés: TEMPERATURE; CONSTRUCTION; MSU

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère

R. Hollmann, C. J. Merchant, R. Saunders, C. Downy, M. Buchwitz, et al.. THE ESA CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVE Satellite Data Records for Essential Climate Variables. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 2013, 94 (10), pp.1541-1552. ⟨10.1175/bams-d-11-00254.1⟩. ⟨hal-01016587⟩