WORKSHOP RECOMMENDATIONS

October 31, 2008

These are the initial recommendations developed at the workshop. The recommendations will be refined, prioritized, and reduced in number so they are not final.

Near-term (1-2 yrs)

P.1. RECOMMENDATION: Water Cycle science and service programs in Canada and the USA should ensure their data sets are effectively registered in the GEO portal. The GEO Registry should include a blog linked to these data sets so feedback can be readily available to users who wish to review the adequacy of data sets.

POC: Canada – EC, NRCan, AAFC, CGEO; US – NOAA, NASA, DOE, USDA, USGS

Cost: low

P.C.1. RECOMMENDATION: Canada and the US should contribute to the development of the WMO Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW), which will be the primary implementation mechanism for the IGOS Cryosphere Theme. Types of involvement include contributions of in situ and satellite products, and the development of surface-based reference sites/super sites. The ice centers/services should also be involved.

POC: Canada – EC; US – NOAA

Cost: low - moderate

P.W.1. RECOMMENDATION: The US and Canada should facilitate a joint Canada/US workshop on developing systematic soil moisture and ground water measurement systems and data sets to support SMAP, RADARSAT and drought monitoring.

POC: Canada – AAFC; US – NOAA (NIDIS)

Cost: Low cost

P.C.2. RECOMMENDATION: Canada and the US should lead in the value chain mapping/gap analysis of cryospheric data and information, in support of a new CEOS-SIT activity to support GEO.

POC: US - NOAA/NESDIS; Canada - CSA

Cost: low

P.W.2. RECOMMENDATION: Canada and the US should lead in the value chain mapping of soil moisture information and drought in collaboration with the IGWCO/ Water Cycle CoP and in support of a new CEOS-SIT exercise to support GEO.

POC: US – NASA, NOAA; Canada – AAFC/EC/CGEO/ U of Manitoba

Cost: low

P.C.3. RECOMMENDATION: ArcticNet (Canada) and the Cooperative Arctic Data and Information Service (CADIS, the Arctic Observing Network data system) should be linked.

POC: Canada – NSERC, University of Manitoba/ University of Waterloo; US – NSF, NCAR, NSIDC

Cost: low - moderate

P.W.3. RECOMMENDATION: Through US and Canadian collaboration, the vegetation indices developed for the USA should be extended to the Canadian agricultural areas.

POC: US – USGS, NOAA: Canada – AAFC, NRCan

Cost: low

P.C.4. RECOMMENDATION: Existing observational networks for solid precipitation should be assessed in terms of spatial distribution and robustness of measurements.

POC: US – NOAA (NOHRSC); Canada - EC

Cost: low

P.W. 3. RECOMMENDATION: As a critical step in the implementation of the NACEM the US and Canada should develop a common prototype data platform for shared data sets and to ensure access by both operational services and for research related to extremes.

POC: US – NOAA (NCDC); Canada – EC, AAFC

Cost: low - moderate

P.C.5. RECOMMENDATION: The US should be involved in the further development of the Canadian Polar Communication and Weather (PCW) satellite mission. There are a number of possibilities, e.g., international science team, instrumentation, and ground segment development.

POC: Canada – CSA, EC; US – NOAA, NASA

Cost: low – very high, depending on the type of involvement

Mid-term (2-5 yrs)

P.1. RECOMMENDATION: Canada and the US should establish a trans-boundary site or region with comprehensive integrated (tropopause to water table) measurements to provide an assessment of the data products on each side of the border and their consequences for water resources management. The focus should be on a robust set of measurements, possibly new types of observations, emphasizing both cold and warm season water budgets. Potential areas: upper Great Lakes or the Northern US Rocky Mountains/Southern Canadian Rockies. This should serve as a testbed for model improvement, upscaling, and error characterization of satellite and in situ measurements.

POC: US - NSF (WATCH), NOAA, NASA, USGS; Canada – EC, AAFC, NSERC (University Community)

Cost: moderate - high

P. 2 RECOMMENDATION: The US and Canada GEO should develop global and regional data assimilation products that could serve as a reliable basis needed to evaluate the “acceleration” in the global water cycle.

POC: Canada – EC; US – NOAA, NASA

Cost: medium

P.C.1. RECOMMENDATION: Agreements for sharing satellite data should be put in place, particularly for RADARSAT-2, ICESat-2, and DESDynl.

POC: Canada – CSA; US – NOAA, NASA

Cost: No to low cost for the agreement: low to medium for the implementation.

P.W.1. RECOMMENDATION: Canada and the US should undertake a drought indicator assessment to determine data sets and climate criteria that should be used to define drought in different areas of North America.

POC: Canada – AAFC, EC; US – NOAA

Cost: low

P.C.2. RECOMMENDATION: The NOAA National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC) National Snow Analyses into Canada, should be extended northward to the extent possible given data limitations. Canada should help marshal available snow observations for assimilation.

POC: US – NOAA (NOHRSC); Canada – EC

Cost: low – moderate

P.W.2. RECOMMENDATION: Canada and the US should develop joint flux tower and groundwater data sets for the validation of satellite data products.

POC: US - NOAA, USGS; Canada - EC

Cost: low to moderate

P.C.3. RECOMMENDATION: Environment Canada’s satellite-derived snow water equivalent (SWE) should be incorporated into the NOAA NOHRSC National Snow Analyses.

POC: Canada – EC; US – NOAA (NOHRSC)

Cost: low

P.W.3. RECOMMENDATION: Canada and the US should launch an assessment of critical factors in network design to ensure the information needs of water cycle prediction systems are met.

POC: Canada – EC, AAFC; US – NOAA, USGS, USDA, NASA

Cost: low

P.C.4. RECOMMENDATION: Canada and the US should strengthen collaborations on the Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX) and the CoreH2O mission.

POC: US –NOAA (NOHRSC); Canada - EC

Cost: low

P.W.4. RECOMMENDATION: The US and Canada should support a review of past studies of Extreme events to identify the gaps in data availability and data systems.

POC: Canada – EC; US - NOAA

Cost: low

P.C.5. RECOMMENDATION: Efforts to assimilate cryosphere data should be continued and expanded. The North American Ice Service (NAIS) should be the data provider.

POC: Canada – EC; US – NOAA (NRL)

Cost: low – moderate

Long-term (5-10 yrs)

P.C.1. RECOMMENDATION: Wind measurements (speed and direction) should be added to all US precipitation gauge stations to improve the compatibility of solid precipitation measurements with Canadian observations.

POC: USA – NOAA (NWS); Canada - EC

Cost: moderate