Meeting of Global Climate Observing System- Ireland

The Teagasc Department of Agribusiness and Spatial Analysis is hosting a two-day workshop from the 30th April in Ashtown, on Ireland’s role in monitoring Essential Climate Variables (ECV) as part of its role in the Global Climate Observing System- Ireland (GCOS-Ireland) committee.

A GCOS National Committee for Ireland (GCOS-Ireland) was established early in 2018. The committee consists of nominees from Met Éireann, EPA, Marine Institute, ICHEC (Irish Centre for High End Computing) and Teagasc. GCOS-Ireland works to ensure the sustained provision of reliable physical, chemical and biological observations and data records for the total climate system – across the atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial domains, including hydrological and carbon cycles, for Ireland.

The role of GCOS-Ireland is to coordinate and promote the GCOS observing principles relating to Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) of relevance to Ireland. The committee report on ‘The Status of Ireland’s Climate’ and make recommendations regarding the sustainability of the Irish ECV observing system. The most recent report is 2020. Teagasc participates by hosting Met Éireann weather stations, Irish Soil Moisture Monitoring Network (ISMON) soil moisture sites, as well as the Teagasc National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory (NASCO) network of towers measuring Greenhouse Gasses (GHG’s).

The two-day workshop is intended to bring experts up-to date with the status of Irelands Essential Climate Variables (ECV) monitoring network in preparation for the next Sate of the Climate report. The 100 plus national and international conference attendees will learn from domain experts in the member institutions and across academia. Teagasc will talk on the infrastructure for monitoring terrestrial greenhouse gases using the NASCO network and the Teagasc site at Johnstown castle, County Wexford, as part of the ICOS (Integrated carbon observation system) global network of ecosystem monitoring towers. Teagasc role in soil carbon research and understanding land cover is also highlighted.

Teagasc GCOS committee members Stuart Green and Rachael Murphy will be speaking with the head of the Teagasc Climate Research Centre Karl Richards, discussing on day 2, the next steps to ensure networks into the future.