Update on the US Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) program

This paper will present the most recent information on the support for the international GCOS effort as provided by the U.S. GCOS program based at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. The paper will describe how this support fits in with a proactive process approach for GCOS implementation planning with the goal of obtaining a sustainable and robust GCOS observing network for international atmospheric, oceanographic, and terrestrial climate observing. The paper will describe the actions taken to date, and plans for the future regarding international, regional, bi-lateral, and U.S. national level GCOS activities. Finally, the paper will document how performance measures for helping determine where and how best to fill gaps in GCOS surface and upper air network global coverage have been developed.