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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Progress toward an Integrated Global GHG Information System (IG3IS) Monday, January 27

Recording >>

Slides [PDF]

About Our Speaker – Phil DeCola, Chief Science Officer, Sigma Space Corporation




Phil DeCola is Chief Science Officer of Sigma Space Corporation and works with remote-­sensing data for Earth science research and resource management applications. Phil has served as an advisor on climate change and Earth observations for two administrations as Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. At NASA, he served as Atmospheric  Composition Focus Area Lead and Program Scientist in the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Phil also has served as science lead on a number of U.S. Government delegations to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and worked on the IPCC scientific assessments since the Second Assessment Report in 1994. During his career at NASA, Phil has served as Lead Scientist and Evaluation Co-­-Chair for the NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder Program, and as Program Scientist for a number of NASA space missions including the EOS Aura Mission, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory Mission, the SAGE-­-2 and SAGE III Missions, as well  as for a number of airborne field campaigns such as the NASA SOLVE, SOLVE II, POLARIS and STRAT. Phil is currently serving as chair for a WMO/UNEP initiative, the Integrated Global GHG Information System (IG3IS).

About the Talk

Long-­term measurements of greenhouse gas concentrations have revealed the rapid and unceasing rise of global GHG concentrations due to human socioeconomic activity. Long-­term observations also show a resulting rise in global temperatures and evidence of negative impacts on society. In response to this mounting evidence, nations, sub-­national governments, private enterprises and individuals are establishing and accelerating efforts to reduce GHG emissions while meeting the needs for global development and increasing energy access.
 
With this motivation, WMO and its partners have called for an Integrated Global GHG Information System (IG3IS). The IG3IS will serve as an international coordinating mechanism to establish and propagate consistent methods and standards to help assess emission-reduction actions. For the IG3IS initiative to succeed the end-users must understand, trust, and recognize the value of the information they will receive, and act more effectively in response. Over time, the IG3IS framework will be capable of promoting and accepting advancing   technical capabilities   (e.g., new satellite observations) continually improving the quality of and confidence in such information.
 
By combining accurate atmospheric measurements with enhanced socioeconomic activity data and model analyses we can meet the overarching goals of IG3IS to:

  • reduce uncertainty of emission inventory reporting,  
  • locate, quantify and prioritize previously unknown emission reduction opportunities, and  
  • provide national and sub-­national governments  with timely and quantified information to support their assessment of progress towards their mitigation goals. 

An effective IG3IS will provide on-going, observation­-based information on the relative success of GHG management efforts on policy-relevant scales and the response of the global carbon cycle to a warming world. The presentation will cover the principles and objectives of IG3IS, as well as progress toward answering the questions: What research capabilities are ready and able to deliver useful information for whom?  What decisions will be informed? What valuable and additional outcomes will result?

 

 



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