Item

Abstract

The growing data record from numerous geodetic observation techniques (e.g. satellite gravimetry, GNSS station observations, satellite radio occultation and reflectometry, satellite altimetry, etc.) allows a new quantitative view on various variables relevant for climate research such as terrestrial water storage, ice sheet and glacier mass, tropospheric water vapor, ocean currents or sea level. Geodetic methods provide unique information on the Earth' s surface geometry, its orientation and large scale mass transports caused by fluctuations in the Earth’s water cycle. Many of these observations can be related to Essential Climate Variables (ECV) according to the definition by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and thus provide excellent tools to improve our understanding of climate related processes. Geodetic time series start to reveal a complex picture of natural climate variability, long term climate change, and anthropogenic modifications. In 2019, the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) established a new Inter-Commission Committee on "Geodesy for Climate Research" (ICCC) to better promote and facilitate the use of geodetic data in the climate community, and to better explore the synergies between the different geodetic branches with respect to observing climate signals. This presentation will give a general introduction to the ICCC and highlight some specific examples of using different geodetic data sets for climate science.