Overview of international and national Earth observing activities (Invited Presentation)

On July 31st, 2003 the first ever ministerial-level Summit on Earth Observations was held in Washington, D.C. At the conclusion of this landmark event the ad hoc intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) was launched and charged with developing a 10-Year Implementation Plan to develop a comprehensive, coordinated, and sustained Earth observing system. In a parallel effort designed to coordinate the U.S. input into this international plan, the United States has organized an Interagency Working Group on Earth Observations (IWGEO), which falls under the White House’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources as part of the National Science and Technology Council. This presentation will outline the organization and efforts of both GEO and IWGEO to date, discuss the work planned for the upcoming year, and describe how these efforts relate to NOAA’s future observation plans.