New series of webinars on Earth observations
and the water cycle – Check details at the end of this article.
Modern
explorers have much better tools than yesteryear, if not yesterday. The
tools are not even compatible. What if our polar heroes like Fridtjof Nansen and
Roald Amundsen (the first to reach the South pole) had had sea-ice forecasts?
The majestic ship Fram would not have frozen in the ice, for sure, and history
would have been different. One of our modern explorer's, ship owner Felix
Tschudi, pointed out during an interview on the subject of modern sea
transportation in the Arctic, that with the tools they use today when sailing
in these harsh environments, the voyages are perhaps less heroic, but
definitely more efficient, fast and safe.
I am in the
midst of producing a micro documentary for the Group on Earth Observations
Ministerial Summit in Geneva, January 2014. We have called it "A Modern Explorer's Journey - Armed With Global Earth Observation System of System as the universal tool. It is in itself an adventure. GEO
is one of a kind international organization based entirely on volunteer
contributions from its members and participating organizations. This new form
of international cooperation allows great flexibility on one side that by far
outweighs the disadvantages caused by a bit of unpredictability and chaos on
the other. We are convinced that the flexibility is what is needed to solve
global challenges.
My job is
two-fold – in the process of producing the documentary, a so-called showcase
video, I will together with a small task force learn about the possibilities
and obstacles when mobilizing resources on a global scale. The entire video
project is based on contributions from an international group of experts and
resources from various types of organizations around the world. The immediate result will be a short video.
The longer term result will be valuable information about global mobilization
of resources. This information feeds into research on the general topic raised
by OECD in their project Meeting Global Challenges Through Better Governance: International Co-operation in Science, Technology and Innovation. For me personally, it is the continuation
of my work reported in the article Funding of Geosciences: Coordinating National and International Resources (by Bente Lilja Bye and Kathleen Fontaine) to be found in the Springer's New Trends in Earth-Science Outreach and Engagement.
The micro
documentary will take you on a journey alright, but in 3 minutes it is not
possible to go into details about the science and the most important in this
case, the way we gather information about our planet. The general topic is
Earth observations and we focus on water and the water cycle.
Therefore
we have decided to organize a series of webinars where you can learn more about
how we observe and study the water cycle, it’s relevance to various societal
activities and the science behind it. Because science is definitely needed.
Just as much as Earth observations are pivotal for science.
As a
Christmas gift from me and the Group of Earth Observations community, we
present the first two of this series this week. We do this in connection with
the GEO Ministerial Summit in Geneva in January 2014 and will continue the
series after that event. It is also a tribute to the 2013 International Year of
Water Cooperation.
Learn more
about planet Earth’s water cycle
I encourage
you to sign up either on Google Plus, Facebook or the dedicated webpages:
You can also go here to
find the latest information: https://www.google.com/+BenteLiljaBye
At this
location you can find updated programs and recordings of former webinars – and of
course the live events will be accessible from this page: Webinars Water Cycle (by 5 pm CET 17th December 2013)
First up is
an introduction to the water cycle. We all learnt about this in school but a
good reminder and more about the latest knowledge we have gathered will be presented by leading experts. You also get the opportunity to ask them questions. I’ll
be the host of this first event.
The Water Cycle and Earth Observations
A brief reminder about the different elements/phases of the water cycle and how we observe them. As an extra bonus you will get an extract of the latest strategy for improving our capability to observe water
Tuesday 17th December 8 am PDT|11 am EDT|5 pm CET
Paul Houser
Dr. Houser
in an internationally recognized expert in local to global land
surface-atmospheric remote sensing, in-situ observation and numerical
simulation, development and application of hydrologic data assimilation
methods, scientific integrity and policy, and global water and energy cycling.
Amita Mehta
Dr.
Amita Mehta is a Research Assistant Professor in NASA-University of Maryland
Baltimore County Joint Center for Erath Systems Technology (JCET). Her interest and expertise are in satellite
remote sensing of geophysical parameters and their analysis to understand
climate and its variability. She is a
member of NASA Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) program for capacity
building where she conducts webinars and in-person trainings focused on using
NASA earth science data products for water resources and disaster
management
Richard
Lawford
Richard
(Rick) Lawford is a Senior Scientist at Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD)
and a consultant to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on the water
aspects of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS). He holds several group leadership positions related
to water in the Group of Earth Observations and other international programs. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada where
he is an Associate at the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
The second webinar is called (see later announcements)
Sharing Hydrological Data Across Borders - sensor web and waterM 2.0 as foundation for sharing hydrological data across borders.
Friday 20th December 2013 8 am PDT| 11 am EDT| 5 pm CET
Simon Jirka
Dr. Simon Jirka, 52° North Initiative for Geospatial Open Source Software GmbH. Jirka works as community leader for the Sensor Web group of the OGC and his activities are focues on Sensor Web architecutres and especially on sensor discovery mechanisms. Besides his contribution to several European projects he is also involved in the Sensor Web Enablement initiative as well as the hydrology related activities of the OGC.
