The individual GEIA Science, Data and Business Plan objectives are summarized here. In preparation for the September 1999 Workshop, the Project Directors and Coordinating Committee are developing an update on the progress of GEIA toward meeting its objectives and annual targets.
1. Complete the inventories for biomass burning emissions, methane and carbon monoxide
2. Add natural sources of emissions to those compounds for which only an anthropogenic inventory is currently available
3. Provide uncertainty estimates on the emission inventories
4. Provide sectoral breakdown on sources of emissions
5. Provide seasonal/monthly variations on the emissions
6. Update inventories to 1995
7. Provide finer grid resolution inventories and country emission totals
8. Include predictive models for the emissions where available
1. Maintain regular communication between the data-base manager and study groups who are providing the inventories
2. Provide feedback from users to providers and adequate response to specific users or the whole users group
3. Notify users of data base changes
4. Keep GEIA Web Site current and include a report of the status of inventories and the expected completion schedule of new inventories
5. Post pre-GEIA, GEIA and updated GEIA inventories with clear labels as to the status of the inventory
6. Enhance data visualization to enable users to explore data base more easily
7. Provide a way to display differences between two versions of an individual inventory
8. Present inventories' extrema to reassure users that downloaded inventories are being correctly interpreted
9. Help individual providers put inventories in GEIA format
10. Respond to straightforward user questions (without involving inventory suppliers)
11. Examine less computer-intensive ways to store inventories (e.g., for fields with many zeros)
12. Examine new data formatting and QA procedures
1. Develop a survey of inventory groups to help make the data base as comprehensive as possible. (Survey requests details about inventory and rewource requirements)
2. Assemble a GEIA publicity package
3. Seek additional interactions with the international community to broaden GEIA participation and to enhance funding opportunities
1. Complete Science, Data and Business plans
2. Add inventories of highest priority gases in 1999
3. Complete additional inventories and provide uncertainty estimates in 2000
4. Complete all inventories currently being developed in 2003
5. Develop more linkages with other data centers and development
activities
Emissions inventories are fundamental to scientific investigation of environmental pollution and to the design and implementation of policy response options. Various models have been developed to simulate the physical, chemical, and hydrometeorological processes that result in the environmental changes. Information on emissions is a key parameter in these models. The model results are important for making policy decisions on the reduction of pollutants that enter the environment from various anthropogenic sources. In this way, emission numbers are often linked to economic models developed at a country or regional level. Therefore, there are two major groups of users of emissions data: modelers and policy makers. Other groups of emission data users include regulators, technologists, policy analysts, advocacy groups, as well as business and the public.
The emissions inventory needs of these different constituencies vary. Those inventories developed for scientific research tend to have detailed spatial and temporal resolutions and significant detail (see Table 1). They include data which are needed as input for computer models of the atmosphere. For example, they include oceans and polar regions and natural and anthropogenic emissions. In contrast, emissions inventories generated because of the legal obligations of reporting and compliance generally relate to political feasibility and cost of compliance. They are characterized by average emissions fluxes rather than time-resolved fluxes, self-reporting, little chemical detail, and a focus on a specific political entity or entities.
Ultimately, of course, the scientific and policy communities both aim to determine accurate rates and magnitudes of specific chemical compound emissions to the environment. In fact, inventories for policy purposes can be regarded as conceptually simplified versions of scientific inventories. Thus, developing scientific emissions inventories would also serve to policy makers. In addition, the scientific emissions inventories could be used for verification of the policy makers approaches.
Global Emissions Inventory Activity (GEIA) is the largest program developing scientific inventories for various chemicals on a global scale. The GEIA products are used by modelers studying atmospheric transport of chemicals and their removal from the air to the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The GEIA results are also increasingly used by policy makers.
|
Inventory |
Purpose | |
|
|
|
|
|
Spatial resolution |
Appropriate legal entities (county, province, etc.) |
Geographical grid (150 km by 150 km, 1° by 1°, etc.) |
|
Spatial coverage |
Appropriate legal entities |
Geographical coverage as needed |
|
Temporal resolution |
Annual averages |
Time-dependent values (seasonal, hourly, etc.) |
|
Chemical detail |
Little |
Modest to substantial |
|
Included processes |
Anthropogenic |
Anthropogenic and natural |
|
Perspective |
Measurement-based |
Estimation-based |
|
Developer |
Governments |
Scientists |
|
Data input |
Self-reporting |
Evaluation by external research teams |
|
Reporting period |
Annual |
As needed |
Emissions inventories have several key characteristics with two major being spatial scale and temporal resolution. At present, the ultimate goal of GEIA is to produce emissions inventories for all species of interest on a 1° by 1° global grid. As computing power increases over the next decade or so, practitioners of global climate and global chemistry models hope to improve spatial resolution to the grid cells finer than 1° by 1°. GEIA should be prepared to address the request from modelers for the finer spatial distribution of emission data in the near future.
Many of the current projects within GEIA have developed an inventory of major point sources of emissions with information on emission magnitude and geographical location of a given point sources. Allocation of point source emissions to any finer grid than current GEIA grid does not pose any major problem.
Spatial distribution of emissions from area and line sources is curried out using various allocation parameters. Examples of such parameters include population density, number of industrial employees, industrial energy use, length of traffic lines, and ratio of arable land to total land area. In the near future several GEIA projects will be challenged to prepare more complete and updated information on grid allocation parameters. Population density within the 1° by 1° grid system is one of the very few allocation parameters for which fairly accurate information is available today. GEIA shall consider to establish separate projects on the development of spatial distributions of allocation parameters other than population density.
Development of algorithms for scaling down the current GEIA inventories to small grids and algorithms for aggregating GEIA data into country scale data should be approached.
The temporal scale is another important characteristic of emissions inventories. In most cases, inventories are constructed on an annual basis, an approach quite satisfactory for very long-lived species, such as chlorofluorocarbons. Often, however, models are designed to assess environmental chemical variabilities on much shorter timescales, e.g., seasonal, monthly, or even diurnal. Obviously, the temporal scale of emissions inventories must be suited to the model.
For most of the components studied on a global scale, the seasonal variability is the first level of the temporal resolution. Therefore, GEIA should aim at producing emission data with at least seasonal variability (4 seasons of the year or at least summer vs. winter variability). This temporal variability can be introduced either directly through the application of seasonally modified emission factors and relevant statistical data or indirectly through the application of correction factors. GEIA may consider a specific project on elaboration of correction factors with respect to temporal changes for major emission generating activities.
Complex atmospheric reaction models, as well as compartmental models based on fugacity concepts require emissions inventories for a number of chemical species. For example, models studying cycling of persistent organic pollutants, e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) would need information on the chemical composition of PCB isomers emitted from various sources. Another example can be the need for species resolution of various groups of non-methane volatile hydrocarbons (NMVOCs) from different sources, used in modeling the formation of photo-chemical smog.
GEIA may consider to launch projects which would aim at proposing species profiles for various groups of pollutants emitted from different sources. For example, profiles of NMVOCs, dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and other pollutant groups are needed for major source categories, such as, combustion of fuels, waste disposal, various industrial processes, and agriculture practices. Users of the GEIA data, e.g. modelers should be contacted as advisors when performing this task.
The above mentioned projects should inform not only about species profiles but also about factors affecting the change of such profiles, e.g. technological conditions, physico-chemical parameters and/or biological conditions affecting the emission generation processes.
In recent years there has been a great progress within various GEIA projects in order to provide information on emissions of as many compounds as possible. Current GEIA projects are listed in Table 2. However, emissions inventories are never completely accurate, since unsurveyed or inadequately described sources are always present. Inventories are also never finished, since society moves ever on, building new sources of emissions, controlling the emissions of others, and ceasing the operation of still others. Thus, one of the most important tasks of GEIA in the near future will be to update and complete the existing GEIA emission inventories. This updating shall reflect changes in technology, regulations, and culture that influence the emissions to and concentrations of species in the atmosphere.
NH3--Ammonia (A), Bouwman (The Netherlands)
C--Black Carbon (A), Dignon (USA)
CO2--Carbon Dioxide (A), Marland (USA)
CO--Carbon Monoxide (A), Logan (USA)
CFCs--Chlorofluorocarbons (A), Cunnold (USA)
DMS--Dimethylsulfide (Reduced Sulfur) (N), Tarrason (Norway)
Pb--Lead (A), Pacyna (Norway)
Hg--Mercury (A), Pacyna (Norway)
CH4--Methane (A & N), Matthews (USA) and Roulet (Canada)
NOx--Nitrogen Oxides, Annual (A), Benkovitz (USA) and Scholtz (Canada)
NOx--Nitrogen Oxides, Seasonal (A), Benkovitz (USA) and Scholtz (Canada)
N2O--Nitrous Oxide (A & N), Bouwman (The Netherlands)
POP--Organochlorines (A), Scholtz (Canada)
PM--Primary particles (aerosols) (A+N), Benkovitz (USA)
RN--Radionuclides (N), Kritz (USA)
Cl--Reactive Chlorine Emissions (A), Keene (USA)
SO2--Sulfur Dioxide, Annual (A), Benkovitz (USA) and Scholtz (Canada)
SO2--Sulfur Dioxide, Seasonal (A), Benkovitz (USA) and Scholtz (Canada)
VOC--Volatile Organic Compounds (A), Berdowski (The Netherlands)
VOC--Volatile Organic Compounds (N), Guenther (USA) and Hewitt (UK)
Source-Specific Emissions-- projects
Aircraft Emissions (A), Wuebbles (USA)
Biomass Burning (A & N), Levine (SA) and Goldammer (Germany), Stocks (Canada)
Nitrogen Oxides in Soils (A), Levy (USA) and Yienger (USA)
Nitrogen oxides from Lightning (N), Price (Israel)
Sulfur from Volcanoes (N), Andres (USA)
Other Data &endash; projects
Population, Li (Canada)
Among 26 projects listed in Table 2 there is one on primary particles. Although the project on emissions inventories for particles was discussed at the GEIA Workshop in Göteborg already in 1995, not much progress internationally has been made within GEIA on the subject. Size differentiated aerosol inventories are needed, with the ones for the particles of less than 2.5 µm in diameter in the first place. These inventories should include information on particle emissions from primary sources, both anthropogenic and natural, as well as on gas-to-particle conversion processes.
Current emissions inventories for black carbon and ammonia should be revisited.
Various groups of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) shall be regarded separately, e.g. PCBs, PAHs, pesticides, dioxins and furans. Most of these chemicals are not yet on the GEIA project list. Another compound for the assessment is cadmium, a priority heavy metal for emission reductions agreed by various international fora.
Current GEIA projects deal mostly with the assessment of atmospheric emissions. However, integrated assessment of pollutant releases to the atmosphere, water and land is clearly needed for volatile and semi-volatile compounds, such as selected heavy metals and POPs. Not only emission data are lacking but also information on methodologies for the estimation of these data needs to be developed. The development of these methods for the global assessment of environmental releases of some of the chemicals shall be a challenge for GEIA in the near future. This can be started by developing chemical mass balances for the selected pollutants on a global scale. It is proposed to start the development of global integrated emission inventories for mercury, lead, PCBs, selected pesticides, such as hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), and selected sulfur and nitrogen compounds.
The development of global integrated emission inventories will also result in presenting a suite of inventories of deposition from the atmosphere in support of studies in plant ecology, ocean productivity, and biodiversity. A few efforts of this type have been published; many more are needed.
Interest in programs and approaches to verify or validate emission data has increased in response to the rigorous demands being placed upon emissions inventories. Concepts for emissions inventory verification are now being reviewed and modified particularly within the UN ECE Task Force on Emission Inventories. Since most emissions data are estimates, it is often impossible to derive statistically meaningful quantitative error bounds for inventory data. Frequently it is possible, however, to provide ranges that bound the likely minimum and maximum for an emission estimate or to develop a quantitative data quality parameter to assess the relative confidence that can be associated with various estimates. This, however, has not been done within the GEIA projects so far. Therefore, GEIA should put more emphasis on how to assess the reliability of emission estimates within the projects.
Efforts to assess the emissions estimation reliability concentrate on three major topics: accuracy of activity data, level of detail of procedures applied, and quality of emission factors.
Accuracy of the activity data relates to the availability of satisfactory statistics for all sources within socioeconomic activities considered in a given source category grouping. Data related to natural processes may also be required.
Various plausibility checks can be performed such as comparing emission factors for similar sources in different methodologies and inventories.
More advanced concepts of verification of emission estimates include a thorough examination of the following activities:
- documentation of data quality (quality assurance activities),
- application of the completed inventories in : the assessments of the specific air quality problems in an area, the air quality modeling activities, and the regulatory activities including the design, implementation, and tracking of the effects of air quality control strategies,
- comparison of alternative estimates,
- uncertainty estimates, and
- techniques that make direct comparisons between emission estimates and some other known quantity that is related either directly to the emission source or indirectly to the underlying process that results in emissions.
This group of inventories is composed of those inventories related to a time other than the present. Such inventories may refer to specific periods in the past, or they may be future emission scenarios. The former are used for studies related to historical atmospheric chemistry, such as comparisons with sediment core deposition data. The latter are used in connection with predictive studies of atmospheric chemistry and air quality or emission reduction policies.
GEIA may consider to approach the assessment of historic emissions of pollutants which tend to accumulate in terrestrial and/ or aquatic ecosystems and are persistent in the environment causing a concern often called "chemical time bomb". Among candidates for the assessment of historic emissions are particularly heavy metals, e.g. mercury, lead, cadmium, and POPs, e.g. PCBs.
Concerning the development of prospective emissions, GEIA shall consider such task for chemicals which are a subject of international agreements of emission reductions and not requiring specific chemical or environmental modeling mechanisms. They include: greenhouse gases, acidic compounds, photooxidant forming chemicals, fine particles, and selected inorganic and organic toxic compounds, such as heavy metals (mercury, lead, and cadmium) and POPs (PCBs, some pesticides, some PAHs, dioxins and furans).
The increased dimensionality of chemical models will make it important to refine inventories in three dimensions rather than two in some instances. GEIA shall define these instances and approach such three dimensional emissions inventories for the selected compounds. Two examples of compounds which may need three dimensional inventories include: 1) aircraft emissions of NOx in studies of stratospheric ozone depletion, and 2) emissions of fine particles in studies of global warming.
Formal network and/ or informal discussion links to: 1) other groups developing emission data, and 2) GEIA emission data users are crucial in making further progress of GEIA. Various international/ national programs/ projects containing the emission assessment component should be reviewed and contacted by respective GEIA projects/ project leaders, as well as by the GEIA Coordinating Committee.
GEIA shall focus on strengthening cooperation with emission experts and national environmental organizations in regions from where not much data have been obtained so far. These regions include primarily Africa, South America, and to a major extent Asia.
Continuous dialogue should be maintained with modelers using or planning to use the GEIA emission inventories. Modelers should be acting as advisors for the GEIA projects, particularly with a view to spatial and temporal resolution of the data , as well as chemical species profiles.
This part of the Plan will be completed after discussions at the GEIA Workshop in Seattle in August 1998.
This document outlines GEIA's plans for using the most up-to-date information technology to distribute data and communicate related information over the next five years. The data and information will be scientifically sound, easy to access and designed to meet the growing needs of the global modeling, assessment and policy communities. The Data Management Plan (DP) is closely linked to the GEIA Science and Business Plans. Data quality, content and formatting outlined in the DP are consistent with the Science Plan objectives. Outreach needs outlined in the Business Plan are addressed operationally in the DP though GEIA Center communication activities. It is envisioned that GEIA's virtual center, embodied in the GEIA web site, will continue to evolve into a more interactive and responsive data and communication hub. The DP builds on the foundations provided in the overview GEIA 5-year plan submitted to IGAC, reflects the general conclusions of the 1997 GEIA workshop and responds directly to recommendations recently solicited from the GEIA user community.
The DP first provides background on GEIA's approach to data management, suggestions presented at the last GEIA workshop in 1997 and findings from the recent GEIA survey. This analysis serves as a starting point for the planned data management and communication operational framework. The framework includes:
The DP outlines plans for addressing content, formatting, quality assurance and distribution protocols. Strategies for communicating GEIA information are presented. The task schedule along with the resource requirements and possible sources of funding for achieving the long range DP objectives are provided. The continued and growing need for close coordination and cooperation throughout GEIA and with the growing community of users and potential users of GEIA information is underscored and reflected throughout the DP.
The GEIA Coordinating Committee established the GEIA Data Management and Communication Center in 1992. The center works with the conveyors and with the other members of the GEIA Coordinating Committee to support GEIA by:
Participants in the Eighth International GEIA Workshop held in Bilthoven, The Netherlands, on 3-4 November 1997 acknowledged several key GEIA development areas. These areas include:
The recent GEIA user survey, conducted through the GEIA Web Site, underscores these needs and highlights requests for new data sets, formats, QA, participation and communication. The survey and analysis of the results are presented in Attachment A to this plan, and the survey itself is located on the GEIA web site. Key findings include:
Ongoing discussions, as reflected in the survey results and workshop findings, lead to several major tasks associated with data distribution and information communication:
The planned data management and communication operational framework includes:
The GEIA Center has evolved to become the data distribution and communication hub for GEIA. The Center provides the framework for addressing future GEIA needs.
The Center will continue to facilitate distribution of inventories and to communicate information about GEIA. The Center director, as a member of the GEIA Coordinating Committee, will help provide overall direction and coordination for GEIA.
Paulette Middleton will continue to direct the GEIA Center. Debra Hopkins will continue to lead the data distribution efforts and Henry Lansford will continue to lead the broader GEIA communication activities. Hopkins and Lansford work together as webmasters for the GEIA Center.
The GEIA Center is sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Proposals for continued support of the Center activities by NSF, NASA and other sponsors will be pursued during the next year by Middleton through her new affiliation with RAND (see <http://www.RAND.org>).
The GEIA Web Site currently is hosted by a University of Michigan server that provides the easy access required for continual updating. Long-term colleague and GEIA supporter, Prof. Perry Samson of the University of Michigan, facilitates this connection. While the GEIA site can be transferred to other servers, ease of access, low maintenance and cost are major criteria that must be considered.
Data Locations. All GEIA data will continue to be located on the GEIA Web Site or will be easily linked to the GEIA site. Data originally were located at an ftp location at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). That location now sends GEIA users to the GEIA Web Site. This connection will remain.
Data Submission and Quality Assurance. Data submitted to the GEIA Center are checked for formatting and for data completeness. Data QA currently is mainly the responsibility of the data developers. Additional QA procedures and other protocols will be developed and distributed to the project leaders.
User Interface. Data inquiries will continue to be referred to the appropriate GEIA project leaders. Results of the GEIA survey, plans and other important communications will continue to be brought to the attention of the GEIA network.
Web Site. The GEIA Center is becoming virtually embodied on the GEIA Web site. The site has become the primary communication channel for GEIA information, data, documentation and news. The site is updated frequently. In the future, the GEIA Center will be expanded to promote more interactions with GEIA developers and users.
E-Mail Network. The second tier of communication is the GEIA E-Mail Network, which includes several hundred individuals who are interested in GEIA. The network will continue to be used to alert people when important GEIA information is posted on the GEIA Center site.
Snail-Mail Distribution. Finally, GEIA has a snail-mail distribution list which has been used in the past and is currently being phased out as more and more of the GEIA community has access to e-mail and the World Wide Web.
Other Channels. As part of the GEIA business plan, more emphasis will be placed on marketing GEIA. To assist in these activities, the GEIA Center will develop hard-copy materials that can be distributed to new and old GEIA supporters. The GEIA Center also will develop more engaging dialogues through the GEIA Web Site to encourage enhanced interest in GEIA throughout the world.
The GEIA Center encourages recommendations on GEIA operations from the GEIA Coordinating Committee, the data management advisory committee, GEIA Directors and other interested users. The Center will continue to solicit advice through regular surveys and e-mail notices to all GEIA groups.
The GEIA Science Plan outlines a variety of new data needs and directions. The survey results also include many requests for new temporal and spatial resolutions, source categories and chemicals. The survey results also highlight the need to reassess data formatting, QA and related data maintenance issues.
During the next year GEIA will be finalizing new GEIA data protocols for the following data-set issues including:
The GEIA Center will coordinate development efforts for these protocols. The full GEIA coordinating committee and data management committee will participate in this effort.
Multiple Data Sets. Generally GEIA encourages GEIA study groups to work together to finalize one GEIA data set for each chemical or for special source categories. In cases where group members have developed two data sets that are distinct and complementary and meet the GEIA criteria (i.e., data have been reviewed and publications have been accepted), GEIA will accept both data sets.
Reviews of Old and New Data. The quality of each data set, whether it is old or new, is the responsibility of the GEIA study groups. Each GEIA data set is reviewed by the larger community before being put up on the GEIA site. GEIA welcomes comment from users regarding data and passes these comments onto the appropriate study group for consideration. Each GEIA data set should be review on a three-year cycle at the maximum.
Formatting. The standard GEIA format will remain the basic format for all existing GEIA data sets. This is the 1x1 degree annual total emissions format. As GEIA data sets are upgraded or new sets are introduced, GEIA will adopt the format proposed at the 1997 workshop. This format provides the basic GEIA format plus additional breakdown by source categories for each grid and seasonal and/or monthly information per grid. Additional algorithms will be provided for generating country totals. In cases where the standard GEIA formats are not appropriate, clear guidance on downloading and using the data will be provided to the users.
Special Requests. Requests for additional information on data bases are referred to the GEIA study groups. Other general information on GEIA is handle by the GEIA Center and the Coordinating Committee.
Links to Other Data. GEIA welcomes information on other related efforts and will continue to provide links to other data and sites that are suggested by users and GEIA study groups. In some cases, the new data may become an official GEIA data set after review has been completed.
QA of Data Set. The GEIA Center follows the following QA procedure on GEIA data sets that are submitted:
1. run a testing program on the data that gives high/low/total values and location as well as values at selected points (cities and ocean)
2. have that information checked by the inventory developer
3. put the data on-line, then download it and do the checks again, to ensure that the whole file was uploaded correctly.
The GEIA data sets also undergo formal review prior to publication and submission as a GEIA data set. GEIA encourages users to provide comments on data sets issues that arise during application of the data. GEIA also will be developing additional QA procedures using visualization techniques to further screen the data sets before final distribution.
User Recommendations. GEIA recently conducted a survey to engage the user community more systematically in guiding GEIA's development. The use of surveys will continue, along with more frequent e-mail alerts to users. GEIA will continue to encourage users to contact GEIA study group leaders regarding data concerns by making e-mail links to the study leaders more explicit on the GEIA Center site. Recommendation for new data sets are being reviewed as part of the current planning process. These recommendations are providing the basis for initiating new GEIA study groups and expanding existing ones. Results and recommendations will be posted in the next round of planning documents. Users will be informed of progress through quarterly updates on the GEIA Web Site and associated e-mail alerts.
Attachment B to this plan is a "straw man" data base format that Tremor Scholtz presented at the 1997 GEIA Workshop.
The GEIA Business Plan outlines a number of suggestions for enhancing awareness, use and support of GEIA. To support the growing demands on GEIA outreach effectively, the GEIA Center will provide the following:
Details on DP implementation, including tasks, schedules, resource needs and funding strategies, will be provided in the next draft of the Data Management Plan after it has been reviewed during the next few weeks.
The long term goal of the Global Emissions Inventory Activity (GEIA) is to produce emissions inventories for chemical species of interest on a 1 degree by 1 degree global grid. This involves collecting and archiving data sets from a number of project development teams worldwide. It involves developing and standardizing other data sets such as population, land cover, etc. It involves developing and standardizing algorithms for gridding data, displaying data, aggregating data in various ways, etc.
Since GEIA is largely a voluntary scientific activity undertaken by scientists from various countries, a traditional business plan is not appropriate, and the preparation of one would likely only detract from the scientific productivity of the activity. However, the main purpose of a business plan is to translate the long term vision of an organization into a doable roadmap that allows the organization to move forward towards its long term objective, and provides a framework for reporting progress and addressing issues and problems that arise. Hence, this first attempt at a business plan focuses as much on process and operating principles than on the resource aspects of the activities. With growing maturity of the activities a more traditional approach may be possible in the future.
GEIA as an activity has grown bottom up. That is, it is made up of a number of individual projects led by project leaders who normally volunteer their time. The activity benefits from a host of activities within various countries to develop inventories. Over the past several years there has been increased attention to formalizing specific emissions inventory projects.
The Science Plan for GEIA documents the projects that are underway. It would be useful to begin to keep track of the amount of work required to carry out such inventory development with a view to encouraging governments to better fund such work. It could provide some direction to scientists as to how much effort is likely to be involved in compiling inventories. It could provide the emissions inventory community with increased recognition for the work they do.
The Data Management Plan provides an overview of the detailed data paradigm for GEIA inventories. It also addresses issues such as consistency, uncertainty, quality assurance, supporting documentation, status of data sets.
In addition, the parent program, IGAC, requires an Operational Plan from the activities and one has been produced for GEIA.
The Business Plan must support and complement these other plans without undue duplication.
Because GEIA is based on voluntary activity, it cannot set priorities in the traditional sense, since it does not have the authority to redirect the efforts of its participants. Nonetheless, within the bounds of the Science Plan, it can set priorities on projects for the advice of the participants.
For this Business Plan there is little data available as to the resource requirements of inventory development. As a first step towards a more businesslike approach, it is recommended that each activity team leader be asked to fill out a brief description of the activity. A suggested template is attached. A compilation of the results of this survey of projects can form the basis of an Annual Report for GEIA in the future.
At the 1997 GEIA Workshop, it was decided to modify the organization of GEIA. Thomas Graedel and Gregg Marland were followed by co-conveners, Derek Cunnold of the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) and Jos Olivier of he Netherlands National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
The co-conveners work closely with a steering committee whose members are:
Jozef Pacyna (Norway)
Tremor Scholtz (Canada)
Gregg Marland (USA)
Carmen Benkovitz (USA)
Paulette Middleton (USA)
Ann McMillan (Canada)
This organization is supported by the GEIA Data Management and Communication Center. This Center currently resides in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Its activities include:
1. Maintaining the GEIA Web Site and other channels of communication among the GEIA projects and the broader scientific community;
2. Setting up and overseeing distribution of GEIA data and documentation;
3. Coordinating inventory distribution and documentation strategies;
4. Organizing and coordinating data management and communication activities for the Study Groups;
5. Administering Workshop planning and arrangements;
6. Managing funding for inventory scoping and travel funds for GEIA Workshops.
Traditionally, the data management activity has been the only one to receive funding under IGAC. The rest of the activity is voluntary in nature.
The Data Management and Communication Center makes data directly available (downloadable) through the WWW or FTP. The GEIA Web Site (http://blueskies.sprl.umich.edu/geia/) acts as a central entrance for information on all GEIA products and related data sources. However, the GEIA activity is inherently a distributed activity and hence data and products may be stored physically at other web sites that can be reached through a link from the GEIA home page.
Work under the GEIA umbrella is carried out by Study Groups. Current Study Groups are listed in the Science Plan. The following Operating Principles have been adopted:
1. The ultimate goal of GEIA is to produce emissions inventories for all species of interest on a per country basis as well as on a one degree by one degree global grid.
2. All inventories should be accompanied by assessment of their degree of uncertainty as well as a comparison with results of top-down or regional budget studies, if available.
3. All inventories should:
4. The Study Groups formed for each GEIA activity shall be international and intercontinental in makeup.
The Study Groups work in a variety of ways. Most often, the Study Group Leader is the scientist who acts as a "champion" for the work. He/she usually has organizational support from their institution to provide resources for their participation. This allows the Study Group Leader to invest time in the project, to have some contact with other group members (usually by phone or e-mail) and to attend the annual GEIA Workshop to report on progress. The rest of the Study Group are supported in much the same way. There are situations in which student members or others have difficulty in obtaining sufficient support to undertake and report the work in a satisfactory way.
To be completed with input from Jos, Derek and others.
A timetable of GEIA activities has been laid out in the Operational Plan. While the 1998 Activities can be undertaken under the current management/resourcing structure, it is clear that some of the ambitious activities planned for future years will require support/resourcing that has not been available in the past if they are to be successfully completed by the deadline laid out.
In addition to the resourcing issue, several related issues have emerged:
1. There is an emerging pattern in the projects that are undertaken, that is, it is difficult to obtain reliable information from a number of countries which, unfortunately, also don't participate in GEIA activities.
2. There is a lack of awareness of the GEIA activity. Few people, including scientists working on emissions inventories, are aware of the GEIA activity and how it could assist with their research. Governments and institutions are not aware of the activity and do not assign it a high priority.
3. There are many other international activities that do not link as effectively as they could with the GEIA activity.
While additional resources alone will not provide solutions to these emerging issues, it is clear that resources could allow for solutions to be developed.
Some immediate next steps which will move the GEIA activity towards a more business like approach as well as toward some solutions to these issues are:
1. Encourage Study Group leaders to fill in the attached project summaries. This will provide basic data on resources available and required and can provide the material for future GEIA proposals for funding consideration by governments, etc. It will also provide a "contact list" for scientists involved with GEIA activities. Mounting the results on the web page will further enhance its usefulness.
2. Explore international programs such as other aspects of IGAC, IPCC, UNEP, UN ECE and other programs for funding opportunities. These programs should be approached not only for resources to directly assist with the work of the Study Groups, but also for travel assistance for developing countries, training programs to allow emission inventory Study Group Leaders to hire an "apprentice" to assist them, etc. Compile the information gathered into a brief report to be included in next year's Operational Plan.
3. Develop a standard "GEIA Communications Package" to be shared with all GEIA participants. This package should include a brief summary of the Plans developed. This Package can be used by GEIA participants to promote a broader knowledge and understanding of the activity and its status. The package should be available from the web page. This activity will require the formation of a small Study Group of its own and the nomination of a Study Group Leader.
Study Team Leader:
Name:
Institution:
Address:
e-mail:
phone:
fax:
Project name:
Project objectives:
Resources available: (e.g.. $100K from NASA, _ person year, travel costs to GEIA workshop)
Other Project Study Group Members:
Status of Project:
Schedule:
Status of work: