The MTV video music awards in 2006 changed my view on Al Gore. Even if Al Gore is awarded a number of prizes and is celebrated all around the world for his efforts related to climate change, there are groups of people doubting both the very existence of the problem and the facts that Al Gore present to us. Al Gore, as all the rest of us, needs the geoid in order to better understand, counteract and prepare the inhabitants of this planet for climate change. Do not worry, I will explain what on heavens Earth the geoid is. And give Al Gore another tool he can use in his fight for our planet.
10 reasons why Al Gore needs the geoid
I am way too old to watch MTV , but I have to admit I do and pretty often so too. It can perhaps be explained by the fact that I reached puberty very late, or maybe it's just that I refuse to accept that my youth is over.
For whatever reasons, here I am watching MTV music awards one dark autumn evening 2006, comfortably in front of the fireplace somewhere close to the north pole. Suddenly, this former Vice President of the USA enter the hip and hop stage in prime time for the young and beautiful. After declaring himself as sexy he flashes a number of slides showing decreasing glaciers and leaves the stage by saying "We must act quickly. You are the generation that can and will, literally, save our world." This is the moment when I realize that Mr. Al Gore is no less than brilliant – a genius.
The Nobel Peace Prize
I am not the only one who appreciate Al Gore's communication talents. An Inconvenient Truth , a documentary from his tour of talks about climate change around the world, became a great success and won him an Oscar.
The former Vice President is also recognised for his work in launching Current TV, the cable and satellite network that uses viewer-created content and for which he was awarded an International Emmy in November this year .
It is a matter of fact that the young generation do not spend time keeping track of the political agendas and gossip in the halls of power, in Washington DC, Brussels, Tokyo or Beijing. The young have their own arenas and rules of conduct. What Al Gore did at the MTV Music Awards was simply to adjust his communication to this fact. It is so simple, but yet so hard for heavyweight politicians to take this step. Hey, look at me! I'm sexy. It does not come natural to most men or women in high-level positions to say such things (at least not in public). Understanding his audience and having the courage to act based on this knowledge is what makes Al Gore unique and won him even the Nobel Peace Prize – the worlds most prestigious award.
Al Gore shares his latest honor with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC and other scientific groups are Al Gore's source of information and advisers. I guess you could say he is well covered. So what is it that I can bring to the table? What could one possibly offer this man with his impressive pool of resources including the network of world cultural, industrial and political leaders?
The state of the Earth system – Earth observation
The object of concern is our planet – the Earth. Al Gore worries about the state of the Earth and what will happen to it in the future if we do not act now to prevent the system Earth as we know it from collapsing. He is of course not alone.
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg 2002 (WSSD), highlighted the urgent need for coordinated observations relating to the state of the Earth. A meeting of the Heads of State of the Group of 8 Industrialized Countries Summit in June 2003 in Evian, France, affirmed the importance of Earth Observation as a priority activity.
The result of these high level political decisions so far is the establishment of The Group on Earth Observation and it's Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) 10-year Implementation Plan . The GEOSS will benefit societal areas such as disaster, health, energy, climate change, water, weather, ecosystems, agriculture and biodiversity.
There are many components in an Earth observation system and a seamless integration of these components is one of many challenges of the global community of experts working on implementing GEOSS. Let's take a closer look at the foundations of a global Earth observing system.
Geodesy
Geodesy is the science of determining the geometry, gravity field, and rotation of the Earth and their evolution in time. Traditionally, geodesy has been serving other sciences and have had many societal applications, including mapping. With the advent of satellite geodesy it developed into a science making unique contributions to the study of the Earth system, its inherit dynamics, and its response to climate change, as well as a tool underpinning a wide variety of other remote sensing techniques. Facilitated by the Global Navigation Satellite Systems such as GPS, a wide and growing set of applications associated with positioning and navigation is opening up.
Geodesy provides the foundation on which all Earth observation systems are built. In this function, geodesy is essential for Earth observation just like the foundation and frame of a house are necessary to keep it stable over time. But modern geodesy does more: with its three pillars of geokinematics, Earth gravity field, and Earth rotation, it also provides comprehensive observations of changes in the Earths shape, gravity field and rotation.
Though the whole range of geodetic products are important, it is in one of the three pillars, Earth gravity field, that Al Gore will find a new gem to put in his toolbox - the geoid.
What is the geoid?
The ocean circulation, changes of ground water level and solid Earth moisture, melting of continental ice sheets, river run off, changes of sea level and convective flow in the Earth mantle, all of this causes transport and re-distribution of masses.
Satellites have empowered geodesy to provide an increased accuracy of the Earth gravity field. In the future satellites will continue to improve our knowledge about the Earth gravity field.
The geoid is the geophysical reference we need in order to be able to monitor mass distribution and patterns in mass transport. This is crucial for understanding, predicting and deciding on the right measures to counteract climate change.
The geoid is the fundamental reference surface for heights both on land and at sea. More precisely, the geoid is defined as the surface of equal gravity potential and would coincide with the mean sea surface if the oceans were at rest with no tides or ocean circulation.
Normally the geoid is determined by combining measured gravity data (on land, sea and in the air) with global models of the earth gravity potential and digital terrain models. The global geopotential models are derived by combining terrestrial observations with data measured by dedicated satellites.
The mass of the Earth is not evenly distributed. On land we see this uneveness as mountains and hills. It is not so easy to see with the naked eye that the ocean has the same kind of varying topography. Moreover, this topography varies with time.
If you wish to check the geoid in your region you might find it at the International Gravity Field Service which coordinate all data collection and model development of the geoid, from global to local level. Below I show two examples of the static geoid models found on the list of regional geoid. Do not expect the illustration to tell you all that much, we'll leave it to the scientits to interprete the information. However, the illustrations might help you picture what the abstract term geoid is.
European geoid. Ilustration from International Gravity Field Service.
Greenland geoid. One of the great uncertainties is climate change models is related to the big ice caps Greenland and the Antarctic. Greeland geoid serve as the reference for studies of mass loss and redistribution. Illustration from International Gravity Field Service.
When and where do we use the geoid?
Several international and national project have been started to improve the accuracy of the geoid, both the static and the temporal. GOCINA and Ocean Circulation and Transport between the North Atlantic and Arctic Sea (OCTAS) are projects dedicated to improve the marine geoid in a region of particular importance in climate change research. By collecting in-situ gravity data and improve the methods for calculating the geoid, we prepare the grounds for even better use of the existing GRACE satellites and the future European satellite GOCE .
By using innovative and extremely precise sensor systems, dedicated gravity field and altimeter satellite observe the implication of these processes. The common analysis of this data shall improve the knowledge about these processes within the system Earth. In the national project Mass Transport and Mass Distribution in the Earth System a group of German scientist is set to improve our geodetic observing system and its applications.
On a global scale the Global Geodetic Observing System describes what is needed to meet the future requirements for the geoid, as well as the other geodetic products, in a strategy document called The Global Geodetic Observing System: Meeting the requirements of a global society on a changing planet in 2020 (GGOS2020) ,
10 reasons why we need the geoid
The geoid comes into play in several ways. Either directly or integrated in other Earth observation/geodetic products. The list shows a variety of areas where the geoid as it is or improved will give us a powerful tool in understanding, mitigation and risk assessment of climate change.
1 Better estimates of sea level and its variablity
2 Improved understanding of ocean currents
3 More powerful tools to determine the sea ice thickness
4 Monitoring of [remote] glaciers
5 Ground water estimates
6 Improved weather forecasts
7 Unified height system across states and regions
8 Unified height system across land and oceans
9 Improved accuracy of remote sensing data
10 Consistent reference frames
7 - 10 point at how the geoid contributes to a more stable and consistent reference frame that we need for all Earth observation. 7 and 8 will be particularly helpful when local considerations of risk and mitigation are being done.
Conclusions
We've heard Al Gore ask for political will to make the necessary changes in order to be on top of the problems connected to climate change.
When you look at the problems that Al Gore focus on in his documentary An Inconvenient Truth and where and how he is being attacked (even by a high court in the UK), it is on issues where the geoid, in particular an improved geoid, comes into play and can become one of the most powerful tools in Mr. Gore's toolbox when fighting for our planet.
Al Gore can use his tool box to help the world policitians turn their political will into sound knowledge based political decisions.
The geoid may not be as cool as MTV, but we sure need it if we want to understand and reduce the risks connected to climate change.
Can you think of other reasons why geoid will improve our understanding of climate change? Send me your suggestions so we can help Al Gore and ourselves even more!
Stumble It!