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Users of reanalyses Users of reanalyses data for environmental data for environmental

assessments - EEA assessments - EEA perspectiveperspective

Markus ErhardEuropean Environment Agency (EEA)

Copenhagen, Denmark

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The EThe EEA MandateEA Mandate

“The EEA aims to support sustainable development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement in Europe's environment through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy making agents and the public.”

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EEA Geographical CoverageEEA Geographical Coverage

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EEAEEA main tasks main tasks

• Networking - Development of a European Environmental Information and Observation Network (EIONET)

• Reporting on the state and trends of Europe’s environment

• Providing access to environmental information

32 Member Countries32 Member Countries~300 National agencies~300 National agencies~900 Experts~900 Experts

www.eionet.europa.eu www.eionet.europa.eu

http://dataservice.eea.europa.eu/http://dataservice.eea.europa.eu/

www.eionet.europa.eu/reportnet.html www.eionet.europa.eu/reportnet.html

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EEAEEA functions functions

•EEA as user of environmental data input for assessments and reporting

•EEA/EIONET as provider of environmental data

reporting obligations (e.g. emissions, air quality, biodiversity) and volunteering actions (e.g. land-cover, ozone-web)

•EEA as facilitator e.g. (discuss user requirements with ACRE)

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Ecosystem Services (examples)Ecosystem Services (examples)

Courtesy Metzger & Schröter

•Runoff quantity •Runoff seasonality•Water quality

Water supply (drinking, irrigation, hydropower)Drought & flood pre-vention

Water

•Species richness and turnover (plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibian)

•Shifts in suitable habitats•Phenology

BeautyLife support processes(e.g. pollination)human health

Biodiversity

•Snow (elevation of snow line)•Glacier mass balance

Tourism (e.g. winter sports) Recreation‘Water tower’

Mountains

•Carbon storage in vegetation•Carbon storage in soil

Climate protectionCarbon storage

•Tree productivity: growing stock & increment

Wood production Forestry

•Agricultural land area (Farmer livelihood)

•Suitability of crops•Biomass energy yield

Food & fibre production Bioenergy production

Agriculture

IndicatorsServicesSectors

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Emissionsdata

Emissionsdata

UserUser

EEAinformation

services

EEAinformation

services

EIONETEIONET

Data fromother

Directives

Data fromother

Directives

BasicReference

data

BasicReference

data

Internat.Conventions

Internat.Conventions

NationalData

centres

NationalData

centres

Internet(Inspire)

Internet(Inspire)

Sub-nationalData

centres

Sub-nationalData

centres

GMESGMES

Example WISEExample WISEWater Information System for EuropeWater Information System for Europe

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SEIS conceptSEIS concept

SEIS is a collaborative initiative of European and National bodies to establish an integrated and sustained information system for sharing environmental data.

A system where the public authorities are the providers but also the main end-users and beneficiaries

A contribution to the Commission’s commitment to better regulation and simplification (Go4, 2007)

From individual data bases towards Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS)

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EEA Priorities and ToolsEEA Priorities and Tools

Clim

ate

C

han

ge

Air

Lan

d u

se

Natu

re a

nd

Bio

div

ers

ity W

ate

r

EIONET system connections

Reportnet data flow tools

Spatial data infrastructure

Services and analytical tools

SEIS elements

data

centr

es

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The shifting baseline – temp (time)The shifting baseline – temp (time)

European Annual Temperature 1910-2000 (10 year running means)

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

8.0

1910 1925 1940 1955 1970 1985 2000

year

tem

per

atu

re (

°C)

Source CRU 2002

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The shifting baselineThe shifting baseline precipitation (time & space) precipitation (time & space)

Source CRU 2002

Annual Precipitation 1910-2000 (10 year running means)

500

600

700

800

900

1910 1940 1970 2000

year

pre

cip

itat

ion

su

m (

mm

)

boreal

temperate

mediterranean

mean

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Availability of Climate and Availability of Climate and Weather DataWeather Data

Type of data

Temporal resolution

Spatial resolution

Trend analysis

Extreme events

Station data daily irregular local trends over time

local trends; temporal resolution often too low

Interpolated climate

monthly relatively high average smoothed trends

not feasible

Weather data

3 - 6 hours very low not feasible for environ-mental assessments

feasible for large areas, but no local events

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The ‘Meteo Data Gap‘ for Environmental The ‘Meteo Data Gap‘ for Environmental AssessmentsAssessments

Tem

pora

l re

solu

tion

Spatial resolution0km 50km 100km 150km

hou

rs

days

m

onth

s

climate data

station data

reanalyses

data

environmental

impact

assessments

Gap in meteorological

data extreme events

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Scaling up and downScaling up and down

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Scaling issues (I)Scaling issues (I)

• Long term meteorological data (several decades): - station data irregular

- climate data > 25km x 25km- weather data > 50km x 50km

• Average size of watersheds/catchments (CCM2 scale 1:250.000)~ 5 km2 (complex terrain) 40-50% EU27 Territory ~100 km2 (flat terrain) (ca. 2.5km x 2.5km to 10km x 10km) (European catchment database CCM2)

System inherent temporal and spatial dimension of assessments (‘eigentime‘ of systems) Assessments in higher resolution than output Use of variables derived from ‘standard‘ weather data

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Scaling issues (II)Scaling issues (II)

• High resolution data (space and time) and extreme events

- Flood risk: high resolution precipitation - Air quality: high resolution temperatures,

precipitation, humidity, etc.- Human health: heat waves

- Wind energy potential for Europe: high resolution wind data

- Storm and storm surges (marine)

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Scaling issues (III)Scaling issues (III)

• Monthly climatologies - Water accounting 10km x 10km resolution

(temperature precipitation and derived parameters e.g. evapotranspiration)

- Species distribution and migration temperature and precipitation data

- Downscaling climate change scenarios - Marine systems - Carbon accounting, forest growth • Marine – land transition (coastal management)

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Data specification - Key IssuesData specification - Key Issues• Seamless (transboundary and land – marine)

pan-European weather data available for environmental assessments and web based services (data services, reporting obligations, GMES, GEOSS)

• Long-term time series for detecting trends in climate and weather (including extreme events e.g. storms, heat waves)

• Appropriate spatial resolution for regional assessments of climate change impacts (IPCC -WGI) and adaptation strategies

• Precipitation - from trends to quantities• Access to data in an European Shared

Environmental Information System (SEIS)• Towards Near Real Time from environmental

hind-casting (x-2y) towards now-casting (and forecasting)

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... it‘s not only the met data but with ... it‘s not only the met data but with insufficent met data it‘s even worse...insufficent met data it‘s even worse...

Precipitation

Simulated flow

Measured flow

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EEA activitiesEEA activities

• Networking EEA contributes to GEOSS and coordinates GMES in-situ component (user requirements and data policies)

• Access EEA facilitates data access (institutional barriers, data policies)

• Architecture EEA fosters SEIS and contributes to OGC and INSPIRE (architecture)

• Projects EEA facilitates EURRA (high resolution re-analysis for Europe) National expert for project outline (ECMWF-EUMETNET)

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Thanks for your attentionThanks for your attention!!

markus.erhard@eea.europa.eumarkus.erhard@eea.europa.euhttp://www.eea.europa.euhttp://www.eea.europa.eu