Divisions and Committees
RSAD Climate Change Subcommittee News
Updated 10/21/2012
Vision
Remotely sensed imagery and other geospatial data will be accurately acquired and appropriately used for monitoring and modeling climate change at global, national, continental, and regional scales.
Mission
The Climate Change Committee falls under the Remote Sensing Applications Division. Its purpose within ASPRS is to develop guidelines and best practices for the acquisition, documentation, dissemination, and use of remotely sensed and geospatial data within the arena of climate change; promote the understanding and use of geospatial data for climate change; provide an avenue for ASPRS to become more active in national and international climate change organizations and activities.
Fall Conference Meeting Agenda:
October 28, 2012. 9am-10am
1. Call to order/introductions (9:00-9:10)
2. Operating procedures (9:10-9:15)
3. Activity updates (9:15-9:40)
a. Conference plans (special sessions, hot topics, workshops)
b. Guidelines/best practices
c. Growing committee (linked in, other groups)
d. Coordination with other Divisions/Committees
e. Student involvement and Student Advisory Council liaison
f. Topic for Graduate student credit
g. Working groups
4. Other Ongoing and Planned Activities (9:40-9:45)
a. Updates to ASPRS/Committee web page (thoughts on content - links of resources, blogs, webinars, OneNOAA, etc.)
5. Open discussion (9:45-10:00)
Climate Change Committee Meeting
August 22, 2012
Contact information:
Chair: Mr. John W. McCombs, II
NOAA Costal Services Center
2234 S. Hobson Avenue
Charleston, SC 29405
Phone: (843)740-1164
Fax: (843)740-1289
Email: john.mccombs@noaa.gov
Assistant Chair: Mr. Sergio Bernardes
Center for Remote Sensing and Mapping Science
The University of Georgia
210 Field Street
Athens, GA 30602
Phone: (706)542-2374
Email: sbernard@uga.edu
We covered a range of topics and I tried to capture the notes (see below). I failed to get a full roster of attendees, but I know of at least 6 that were vocal during the call-in. I also heard from several others that were not able to attend, but would like to stay informed. There are many sections where additional input is welcome (and desired) as well as any additional ideas everyone may have. In particular we are looking for help organizing Hot Topics and Special Sessions at upcoming conferences. We outlined several below and would need names of folks willing to present a paper of sit on a panel discussion.
As you read through the notes below, please pass along all thoughts to either John or Sergio. Also, share these notes far and wide! The only way we are going to be able to accomplish some of the topics below will be through member help!
Activities:
Spring 2013 Conference
- abstracts due August 20
- Sergio has talked to conference organizers about potential special session on remote sensing climate change and extreme events. He is willing to participate and is looking for additional potential presenters.
Fall 2013 Conference
- Topic ideas for either special session/hot topics
Multi-temporal MODIS analysis
Analysis of sea ice with remotely sensed data (USGS doing work in this area)
Vulnerability assessment
NASA Centers organized the Climate Adaptation Science Investigator Work Group (CASI). Upcoming CASI publication discusses climate change and vulnerabilities in 13 topic areas.
Filler missions for ENVISAT (calibration of imagery across sensors)
Continuous waveform vs. photon counting (Geiger mode) lidar for ice measurement
Hot topic covering a variety of scales and sensors used for climate change (e.g. high-resolution coral bleaching vs. coarse scale ice sheet extents)
Scaling of climate and/or ecosystem process models (could coordinate with GIS)
- Potential workshop
NOAA Coastal Services Center has a 4-hour workshop on Coastal Inundation Mapping. In coordination with GIS Division.
Guidelines/Best Practices/Work groups
- Hard to pick a topic in this area. The topics coving climate change and the date sets/approaches needed vary dramatically in scale. Discussions were held regarding trying to produce a more generic/broad set of guidelines, or to pick a more specific topic.
- Image processing to derive climate variables
- David Szymanski would like to have Carol Mladinich lead a working group on upscaling of variables (e.g. LAI) from ground/high-res imagery to satellite imagery. The workgroup would determine if RSAD could develop validation methods/metrics for use by climate model data providers.
Growing the Committee
- Linked-in group. There are at least 4 active ASPRS groups on Linked-in currently. This seems to a popular and easy form of communication among professionals. Able to pose and answer topic-related questions in a variety of forums. Dave Szymanski will look into setting up a group for RSAD. Once established, we can look into forming a sub-group in RSAD or starting another group for Climate Change.
- John McCombs sits on the GIS meetings and helps coordinate as needed. David Alvarez (GIS Director) will try and get someone from his committee to sit on Climate Change committee.
- Sergio Bernardes is active with the student chapter at UGA and is a potential link to get more students involved through the Student Advisory Council.
- Looking for person to work with PDAD on the topic of handling (receiving, storing, manipulating, serving, etc.) of large data sets.
- Joe Knight (UMN) is willing to work with RSAD/CCC towards a 1 credit independent study for a student. The topic and requirements for the work could come from the RSAD or Climate Change Committee. Probably too late for the fall 2012 term, but possibly next term.
o 1 potential topic would be updating the ASPRS Guide to Land Imaging Satellites (Stoney 2008)
- ASPRS homepage has a “Featured” area on the left tab. Could we provide topics, links, blogs, etc. for this section?
Minutes from Inagural Meeting:
Attendees:
John McCombs, NOAA, john.mccombs@noaa.gov
Mark Stanton, Premier Geo, mark.stanton@xedarinc.com
Larry Bonneau, Yale University, Laurent.bonneau@yale.edu
Joe Knight, University of Minnesota, jknight@umn.edu
Curtis Clabaugh, Wyoming Department of Transportation, Curtis.clabaugh@wyo.gov
Robert Yoha, retired from State of California, ryoha@scglobal.net
David Alvarez, GISD, davidalvarez76@gmail.edu
Ming Hung, NW Missouri State University, mhung@nwmissouri.edu
Mary Latiolais, MDA, mary.latiolais@mdaus.com
Meeting notes:
· Basic introductions and short background on the committee
· Wanted to cover Vision and Mission more, but without projector, it was too much to read/listen to and digest. Draft Vision and Mission are included below for input
o Vision: participants said committee could
§ Educate on climate change
§ Educate on use of imagery to monitor climate change
§ Research and educate on new topics and new technology
§ Re-evaluate old and new methodologies and technology
· Discussion about activities for the committee
o Importance of baseline data sets was discussed. We need to know how things are now (or were further back in time) in order to measure and monitor changes into the future. Two “baseline” data sets discussed at length were elevation and shoreline. It was discussed that while having a current inventory of these baseline data sets are important, it probably was not an activity for this committee. There are inventories of these data sets in existence already (e.g., CLICK or NOAA Digital Coast). David Alvarez suggested that a possible student led activity would be to inventory these sources of data on an annual basis and post on the ASPRS web-site as a resource.
o Other activities discussed were the development of guidelines or best practices for using RS data for climate change. One difficulty with this topic was the broad range of climate change detection/monitoring activities, and that each may benefit from different data sources (e.g., coral bleaching detection versus ice cap size measurement). It would be good idea to come up with a list of some “hot topic” climate change issues and focus on one or more topics in regards to guidelines.
o Downscaling of climate change models was briefly discussed. Many climate change models are global in nature, but many climate policies and management decisions are made on a finer scale. It would be a good idea to research and be informed on approaches to downscaling global models for use at more local scales. Possible ties into GIS Division and university/graduate student research activities.
o Committee should seek out ties to other organizations/groups. Need to identify and follow-up on potential leads.
o Curtis Clabaugh suggested we look into the Transportation Research Board and their efforts in the climate change arena (e.g., areas at risk)
o Investigate data sets within the Google Earth Engine. The Engine may allow for the analysis of large data sets of time to investigate trends. Possibility of collaborating with PDAD on the radiometry of data within Google Earth Engine.
o Need to grow the committee and increase activity/communication
§ Email ASPRS members to seek interested members
§ Work with Student Advisory Committee and Regions to increase awareness of committee
§ Schedule regular meetings/teleconferences
· Further Actions:
o Solicit and identify Assistant Chair for the Committee
o Finalize Vision/Mission and publish on ASPRS website
o Schedule future meetings (TBD)
o Work with PDAD and GISD to help develop special sessions/topics for future ASPRS meetings
