On the 26th to the 28th of September, 2023, the International Earth Surface Working Group (IESWG) convened a hybrid meeting with the in-person component at the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Helsinki, Finland. JCSDA’s Dr. Benjamin Ruston co-chaired and facilitated the running of the meeting. IESWG-5 consisted of three days of presentations and discussions that established current progress in earth surface observations and data assimilation. As a science working group for the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS), the IESWG reports on observations from space based platforms that are of most import to the land surface modeling community.
The IESWG was formed to address “a gap in the use of observations” when it comes to land surface models and data assimilation. While there are lots of land surface observations available, the current land surface models do not approximate or simulate these well. By bringing together the land surface modeling, data assimilation, and weather prediction communities, IESWG aims to change that. The groups current focuses include more accurate models for land-atmosphere fluxes, better data and models for snow and ice, vegetation data and data assimilation, and coupled data assimilation. By coming together, the community can share what they’ve tried and what works and doesn’t work, rather than doing parallel work in siloed groups.
For the last few years IESWG has presented their findings in multiple special journal issues as well as being a vehicle for the needs and requests of the land surface modeling and data assimilation community to CGMS, the body that globally coordinates meteorological satellites. CGMS is a powerful platform to make data requests, ensuring continuity of valuable assets and communicating new observation requirements such as timeliness and quality needed for improving forecast accuracy. The IESWG is currently working towards maintaining sensors for soil moisture and SWE (snow water equivalent) with CGMS.
The IESWG is the most recent science working group, added in the spring of 2023.
Photo by Anders Jildén on Unsplash