Report on the NIST workshop of December 10, 2009: calibration strategies for bridging possible climate data gaps

摘要

A one-day workshop was held on December 10, 2009 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to address the issue of data gaps in the time series of satellite measurements. Such gaps can occur due to launch delay, launch failure, inconsistencies, or data jumps in radiometric scales between satellites. The presence of such gaps limit the ability of using measurements to detect the small changes in key environmental variables that result from climate change. Leading experts in the Earth Observation community from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA), United States Geological Survey (USGS), and academia attended the meeting to prioritize the calibration strategies for bridging and mitigating satellite data gaps for climate change detection. These strategies include establishing SI traceability for satellite sensor calibration and measurements; continuing improvements in prelaunch, onboard, and vicarious calibrations and transfer standards; establishing celestial standards and procedures for intercomparisons; establishing SI traceability for alternative measurement strategies, such as in-situ networks and airborne sensor campaigns; and leveraging international satellite assets. This paper summarizes the workshop and recommendations.