Global Sea-level Observing System (GLOSS) Implementation plan – 2012.

Abstract

The Global Sea-level Observing System (GLOSS) was established by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1985 to provide oversight and coordination for global and regional sea-level networks in support of scien- tific research. The first GLOSS Implementation Plan (GIP) in 1990 established the GLOSS Core Network (GCN) of ~300 tide gauges distributed around the world, technical standards for GLOSS tide gauge stations, as well as the basic terms and obligations for Member States participating in GLOSS. The second GIP in 1997 expanded the GLOSS programme to include sub-networks focused on long historical records suitable for the detection of long-term sea- level trends and accelerations (GLOSS-LTT), a cali- bration network for satellite altimetry (GLOSS-ALT), and a network suitable for monitoring aspects of the global ocean circulation (GLOSS-OC). In addition, a strategy for integrating Global Positioning System (GPS) into monitoring of land levels at GLOSS tide gauges was developed. The focus of the GIP 2012 remains the GCN and the datasets that result from this network. The new plan calls for two significant upgrades to the GCN moti- vated by scientific and operational requirements: 1) all GCN stations are required to report data in near-real time, which will be tracked at a Sea-level Station Monitoring Facility. This will involve upgrades in power, data acquisition plat- forms, and communication packages; however, these upgrades are cost-effective in terms of the benefits that a real-time system will provide for ocean monitoring and improved station perfor- mance due to early detection of station malfunc- tions; 2) continuous measurements of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), in particular the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russian GLONASS, or the newly established European GALILEO, or equivalent systems, in the vicinity of the tide gauge benchmark (TGBM) are required for all GCN stations. This upgrade will support satellite altimetry calibration and research efforts aimed at determining geocentric global sea-level rise rates as well as regional changes in sea level. Most relevant, vertical land movements can signifi- cantly alter the rates of sea-level rise expected from the sole climatic contributions of ocean ther- mal expansion and land-based ice melting, possi- bly magnifying the impacts of sea-level rise on the coast. In many cases, this requirement can be met by taking advantage of existing GNSS receivers maintained by other groups, as long as a precise geodetic tie to the GCN tide gauge can be made using, e.g. conventional levelling. The organization of the plan is as follows. An over- view of the GLOSS programme (chapter 1) and a brief summary of the uses of tide gauge data (chapter 2) are presented. The current status of the GLOSS programme is considered (chapter 3), followed by a discussion of the sea-level monitoring requirements raised by advisory groups and panels (chapter 4), as well as a self-assessment based on specific research and operational applications (chapter 5). These requirements are used to develop implementation goals for the GLOSS networks and data centres (chapter 6). Minor modifications are proposed for the administrative structure of GLOSS aimed at providing improved oversight of the imple- mentation plan (chapter 7). The success of the plan depends critically on the participation of Member States, whose obligations are summarized (chapter 8). The successful Training, Education and Mutual Assistance programmes that have been a corner stone of GLOSS will be continued to help meet implementation requirements (chapter 9). Additional technical and programmatic details are included in a set of appendices.