Back ||NOAA Home U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) 47th Session "Earth Observations: Bringing Benefit to Humankind" General Meeting Tuesday June 8, 2004 10:30 a.m. -11:00 a.m. Thank you, Mr. Chairman (Adigun Ade Abiodun of Nigeria), for providing me the opportunity to speak at this Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) session about the ongoing international effort to develop a global observation system, which has important synergies with this body. First though, I want to congratulate you on your election to the office of Chairman of COPUOS for the next two years. I know the committee is in capable hands. I also want to thank the Office of Outer Space Affairs (OOSA), in particular Mr. Camacho, for your invitation to the GEO-co-chairs to speak at COPUOS. I also hear that your staff was extremely helpful in making my visit possible, and I thank them for their efforts. This is my first time at the UN COPOUS and it is quite an honor. Before I begin, I would also like to clarify that I am here in my capacity as Co-Chair of the Group on Earth Observations and that I am speaking on behalf of my fellow co-chairs from Japan, South Africa and the European Commission. We work as a team in leading the GEO initiative. Additionally, many of the nations and organizations in this room are our partners in GEO. I know these partners have put valuable time and energy into working with GEO, as well as looking at their individual national contributions to the eventual Global Earth Observation System of Systems. It is important for GEO to make these critical connections with international organizations such as COPUOS that have broad international membership. I hope my speech today will give a overview of the GEO/EOS process and give the COPUOS members an opportunity to make linkages between the various issues COPUOS is addressing and the GEO process. I know that OOSA is a member of GEO and I urge you to continue to bring the ideas developed by COPUOS to GEO as the implementation plan is developed. I think this audience understands better than most why we are involved in the monumental effort to develop an integrated global observation system. It is because such a system would have far-reaching benefit for humankind. There are currently thousands, if not millions, of observation points collecting data around the world and even from the atmosphere. Unfortunately, they operate, for the most part, independently of one another and there is very little integration. Collectively, however, we need and can do much more. The forces of globalization present a number of serious issues for the world's leaders, decision-makers and international institutions. By fully networking this information we can advance our understanding of Earth's environment, thereby improving decision-makers' abilities to address pressing policy issues ranging from public health to agricultural production. An Earth Information system would have an interdisciplinary focus, utilize a wide array of technological sensors, and provide the foundation for sound decision making. Social, economic & scientific - drive the need for building an integrated Earth information & data management system. The statistics here indicate the challenges we are facing. Put simply, improved observation capabilities will provide information to enable decision-makers to make better decisions regarding of sustainable development and the wise use of our limited natural resources. The examples of the benefits are endless. The nations involved in this effort have reached agreement on nine benefits areas: Reducing loss of life and property from natural and human-induced disasters; Understanding environmental factors affecting human health and well being; Improving management of energy resources; Understanding, assessing, predicting, mitigating, and adapting to climate variability and change; Improving water resource management through better understanding of the water cycle; Improving weather information, forecasting, and warning; Improving the management and protection of terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecosystems; Supporting sustainable agriculture and combating desertification; Understanding, monitoring, and conserving biodiversity. Over the next few minutes, I want to highlight some areas for which we already understand the correlation between observations and socio-economic benefits. Drought is a worldwide issue affecting planting and harvesting decisions. It puts serious restraints on water use, and in some countries resulting in a more active forest fire season. I don't have global figures on costs associated with drought in front of me, but estimates of costs in the US range from $6 to $8 billion annually. But what if we knew years in advance that these patterns would be occurring and could take the necessary precautions to mitigate the effects? Understanding the El Nino/La Nina patterns have allowed us to save millions of dollars in the US alone. Worldwide benefits to agriculture due to El Nino forecasts are at least $450 to $550 million per year. As an example, crop planting decisions, seed selection, fertilizer application, etc., can be adjusted to reduce vulnerability to abnormal weather conditions, making both producers and consumers better off. It also may be possible to adjust storage of crop inventories in anticipation of changed yields due to El Ni±o. A comprehensive system of Earth observations may just give us the rest of the missing pieces to that puzzle, allowing us to predict and plan for droughts and other phenomena affecting our agricultural outputs. The health of our citizens will also benefit from an integrated system of observations that will be used for novel applications such as disease tracking and prediction. These projects have already begun, but are still in their infancy. Take for instance the following two examples: Malaria killed more than a million people last year, primarily in the developing world. Weather patterns - temperature, soil moisture and rainfall patterns - often set the stage for optimal conditions for the spread of diseases like malaria. Earlier this year, NASA and the University of Alabama-Huntsville announced a program for using satellite-based monitoring to alert at-risk communities when the conditions are right for outbreaks. By feeding information such as soil-type and recurring standing puddles in to a GIS database, and adding to this satellite based information, such as temperature and rainfall, a computer simulation may be used to estimate the risk of outbreak. The combination of satellite and land observations gives us a glimpse of the power of a truly integrated and comprehensive observation system. Similarly, in a project called Epidemio, the European Space Agency is working in the Central African country of Congo to provide GIS information to the International Center for Medical Research in Gabon to aid in determining the long-term carriers of the Ebola virus. Ebola, the fatal hemorrhagic disease, continues to be a mystery due to the fact that most carriers die quickly after infection, and it is unclear how it spreads from region to region. The use of remote sensing data will hopefully shed new light on the ecological aspects of the infection sites, allowing prediction of potential outbreaks in environmentally similar areas. These two initiatives are focused on predicting and understanding the movement of two deadly diseases, but what if we could effectively eliminate them or at the very least severely restrict their movement? A comprehensive Earth observation system may provide the tools to accomplish that goal. On another important topic, it is not really news that worldwide energy prices are escalating. What if understanding our planet a little better could save us enormous sums of money all the while allowing us to be better stewards of our natural resources? Utilities typically use weather forecasts to determine what mix of coal, hydroelectric, nuclear, wind, natural gas and oil plants will be used to meet consumer needs. According to the Tennessee Valley Authority, annual costs of electricity could decrease by at least $1 billion if we could improve the accuracy of weather forecasts by one degree Fahrenheit. That difference in just one degree of accuracy could affect the decision a utility must make in determining whether to buy electricity from the wholesale market or fire-up an expensive natural gas facility to meet increased demand. That same difference in forecasting can prevent the unnecessary purchase or bringing online of a facility, which wastes both the energy and the consumer's money. Likewise, our more accurate 5-day forecast for hurricanes can save the offshore oil and gas industry countless sums of money by notifying them when and if a facility must go offline for a storm. Not only is this a direct benefit to the company operating the platform, it's an indirect benefit that extends to the entire globe, preventing a ripple in the world energy market that can take weeks or months to recover. The international community has been talking about the benefits of observations for years. At the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002, participating countries were charged with fostering strengthened cooperation and coordination among global observing systems and research programs for integrated global observations. In the following year, the G8 ministers meeting at Evian also issued a Science and Technology Action Plan. Earth observation was one of 3 priorities identified in the Plan. The central tenet called on the nations of the G8 to strengthen cooperation on global observations. Heeding the call of the G8 and WSSD, in July of last year, the United States hosted 34 countries and 20 international organizations at the first-ever Earth Observation Summit at the State Department in Washington, DC. This meeting marked an important first-step in bringing the nations of the world together for the purpose of establishing a comprehensive Earth observing system. The heads of national delegations participating in the Summit agreed to a declaration that called for a commitment to developing a comprehensive, coordinated Earth observation system built on existing systems. The declaration reaffirmed the need for Earth systems data and information for sound decision-making, set forth principles for long-term cooperation in meeting these goals and committed to improving Earth observation systems and scientific support in developing countries. It also established the ad hoc Group on Earth Observations (GEO) to prepare a ten-year implementation plan for a comprehensive, coordinated Earth observation system. The sense of cooperation and goodwill was palpable - not exactly a small feat when dealing with such a large and diverse group of international partners. In the nine months between the first and second Earth Observation Summits, the GEO gathered four times around the world, meeting very aggressive schedules for outputs. I have the distinct pleasure of serving as one of four intergovernmental Co-Chairs of GEO, along with Mr. Akio Yuki, Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan; Mr. Achilleas Mitsos, Director-General for Research, European Commission; and Dr. Rob Adam, Director-General of the Department of Science & Technology, South Africa. One of the defining characteristics of GEO is that membership is open to any country that expresses an interest and designates a point of contact. Participating countries are not bound by geographic characteristics, population, wealth, or world status - only by a desire to be a part of the future. This philosophy has caused GEO to continue to grow and expand and we also have participation by a growing number of international organizations that have observations and/or an Earth science focus. We want everyone to have a seat at this table because that is the only way to ensure that we meet our ultimate goal of complete global coverage. We have accomplished much in the first leg of our mission. Listed here are some of the highlights illustrating the fruit of our labor: At GEO 1 in Washington, we approved Terms of Reference and established five working subgroups to address Architecture, Data Utilization, User Requirements & Outreach, Capacity Building and International Cooperation components of the Plan. At GEO 2 in Baveno, we received initial reports from those subgroups, and reached consensus on a societal benefit / user focus for the Plan. Initial discussions also began on an international cooperation mechanism for post-GEO implementation of the Plan. At GEO 3 in Cape Town, the Framework document and accompanying CommuniquT were fully negotiated and prepared for distribution to countries for comment/clearance. In addition, GEO agreed that each Co-Chair would designate a representative for the Implementation Plan Task Team, to serve as the Co-Chair's point person organizing the writing of the Plan. At GEO 4 in Tokyo, we held final discussions on the negotiated text of the Framework and CommuniquT, which would be presented to ministers at the second summit, and received the first reports of the Implementation Plan Task Team. Discussions also continued on a governance structure for a successor mechanism to GEO, and we decided to hold a special session this summer to come to agreement on that issue. Earth Observation Summit II in Tokyo this past April welcomed 43 ministers and heads of national delegations, along with 25 international organizations. The convening of the Tokyo Summit delivered on the charge from the initial Washington meeting to have a Framework for the 10-Year Plan agreed to by Spring of 2004. This Framework for what is now called the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) focuses on the benefits of a global system, noting current key areas of observations and pointing out the shortcomings of our existing systems. The Framework also offers a picture of what GEOSS will look like: GEOSS will be: Comprehensive, by including observations and products gathered from all components required to serve the needs of participating members; Coordinated, in terms of leveraging resources of individual contributing members to accomplish this system, whose total capacity is greater than the sum of its parts; and Sustained, by the collective and individual will and capacity of participating members. GEO-5: At our last meeting, the Co-Chairs recommended, and the GEO agreed to a suite of three documents to be presented to the third and final summit next year: The 10-Year Implementation Plan [negotiated by member countries]- about 10 pages in length, mapping out the key principles of GEOSS The Technical Blueprint [not negotiated]- a fuller description of the details of the plan and the foundation for the Implementation Plan The CommuniquT of the Third Earth Observation Summit [negotiated by member countries]- a one-page ministerial statement announcing the adoption and approval of the 10 Year Implementation Plan. The next meeting of GEO is scheduled for November 29-30 in Ottawa. There will also be a GEO-6 meeting preceding the third Earth Observation Summit in Brussels. In order to reach agreement on the 3 items mentioned above, we will continue the aggressive pace we have set thus far. The Ottawa meeting is a critical step in our process - it is at this meeting that we will fully negotiate the Implementation Plan and CommuniquT for distribution to countries. In addition, we will be reviewing and providing direction to the writing teams for completion of the Technical Blueprint. The period between GEO5 and the final Summit in 2005 is only about 75 days, and that includes the winter holiday season, so achieving consensus and some degree of finality by the time we leave Ottawa is essential to our success. Earth Observation Summit III: The third and ultimate summit will be hosted by the European Commission and is slated to take place in Brussels, Belgium in mid-February 2005, leaving us just under a year to finalize our task of completing the 10-Year Implementation Plan. The schedule is compressed; the task is daunting, but the enthusiasm of GEO over the course of the first phase of our effort has been encouraging. Completing a global observation system will simply not be possible without the very important contribution of space-based systems. Therefore, all of you here today are integral to this effort and serve as pioneers of sorts. An observation system without satellites is a bit like viewing a computer screen and only seeing individual pixels. Space-based systems provide comprehensive, real-time widespread coverage of global conditions and features - in short, they give us the big picture. A growing international constellation of satellites allows extensive coverage, providing data to improve our understanding of weather and climate, chemical processes in the atmosphere, agriculture, geodesy, water management, and predicting and mitigating natural disasters. Satellites provide benefit to all countries, not just to those who operate them. Developing countries increasingly use satellite data to address local challenges such as agriculture, water and land management. Because of the broad opportunities for application, there are rising expectations for the role of satellite data. In the last 100 years, monumental advances in our understanding of the Earth have been made, but we still know relatively little about the island planet we call home. The moon is more familiar to us than our own oceans. When Neil Armstrong made that small step for man, we gained a new perspective on Earth. But it's time for yet another fresh perspective - time to turn the telescope around and also examine the marvels of the Earth's complex systems. We are standing on the shoulders of our forefathers and the scientific discoveries that have led us to this point in time. I'm reminded of a quote by the American author and naturalist, Henry David Thoreau: "All this worldly wisdom was once the amiable heresy of some wise man." What will our children and our children's children know that we do not know now? What are our "flat earth theories" that we take for granted as truth, but may in fact prove someday to be false? What "amiable heresies" will prove to be tomorrow's accepted wisdom? The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) will indeed provide a fresh perspective of the mysteries of Earth, and will put us on a path to new discoveries and a new understanding of the planet I hope I have provided you with some insight as to where we have come from over the past year and where GEO is going. While GEO members are nations and the European Commission, international organizations also fully participate in the GEO process. The UN OOSA (oo-sa) office is one of those participating organizations and we greatly appreciate their contributions to the work of GEO. Moreover, many of the issues you continue to work on through COPUOS and your response to the UNISPACE III report are similar to those we are trying to address through GEO. I encourage you to work within your countries to contribute to GEO if you so desire and to use the well-established mechanism of COPUOS to help implement, from the space-perspective, the GEO plan which will be released next year. I know COPUOS' mandate is much larger than space-based Earth observation, but I believe that COPUOS efforts can contribute to continued coordination and knowledge sharing in this field. NOAA will continue to remain active as a member of the U.S. delegation to COPUOS and we appreciate the close relationship with the Office of Outer Space Affairs and COPUOS.