News
GCOS 1992-2012 - 20 Years in Service for Climate Observations
The year 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), the system dedicated to ensuring provision of the observational data and information that is the foundation for decisions on climate.
The GCOS Programme will formally celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Global Climate Observing System on Friday, 29 June 2012 during the 64th WMO Executive Council meeting in Geneva. The celebration will provide an opportunity to review the origins of the GCOS, to take stock of the accomplishments of GCOS in the first twenty years of its existence, and to think ahead about new opportunities and challenges for GCOS.
Download the brochure: "GCOS 1992-2012 - 20 Years in Service for Climate Observations"
Satellite Supplement up-dated in 2011 - now on-line
The supplemental details to the satellite-based component of the “Implementation Plan for the Global Observing System for Climate in Support of the UNFCCC (2010 Update)” have been publicly reviewed and comments have been taken into account after consultation with the broader GCOS expert community.
The so-called "Satellite Supplement" provides additional technical detail to the actions and needs identified in the in 2010 updated GCOS Implementation Plan related to satellite-based observations for climate for each of the Essential Climate Variables (ECVs). In particular, it details the specific satellite data records that should be sustained in accordance with the GCOS Climate Monitoring Principles, as well as other important supplemental satellite observations that are needed on occasion or at regular intervals.
Download the document here: 
PDF
Upcoming events
GCOS newsletter
GCOS Technical Papers
The following GCOS reports have been published recently:
Report from the Third Coordination Meeting of CBS Leads Centres for GCOS, Hamburg, Germany, 11-13 October 2011 |
GCOS-156 | PDF |
| Report from the WIGOS Pilot Project Meeting on GRUAN Observing Practices and Governance, Geneva, Switzerland, 25-27 February 2012 | GCOS-155 | PDF |
| Systematic Observation Requirements for Satellite-based Products for Climate Supplemental details to the satellite-based component of the Implementation Plan for the Global Observing System for Climate in Support of the UNFCCC - 2011 Update, December 2011 | GCOS-154 | PDF |
| Report of the WCRP Observation and Assimilation Panel (WOAP) Workshop on Evaluation of Satellite-Related Global Climate Datasets, Frascati, Italy, 18-20 April 2011 | GCOS-153 | PDF |
| Report of the Nineteenth Session of the WMO-IOC-UNEP-ICSU Steering Committee for GCOS, Reading, UK, 20-23 September 2011 | GCOS-152 | PDF |
| Report of the Seventh GCOS Cooperation Mechanism Board Meeting, Reading, UK, 19 September 2011 | GCOS-151 | PDF |
| Report of the Third GCOS Reference Upper Air Network Implementation and Coordination Meeting (GRUAN ICM-3), Queenstown, New Zealand, 28 February -4 March 2011 | GCOS-149 | PDF |
| Summary Report and Recommendations from the Sixteenth Session of the GCOS/WCRP Atmospheric Observation Panel for Climate (AOPC), Geneva, Switzerland , 7-11 February 2011 | GCOS-148 | PDF |
| Summary Report of the Thirteenth Session of the GTOS/GCOS/WCRP Terrestrial Observation Panel for Climate (TOPC), Geneva, Switzerland , 10-11 March 2011 | GCOS-147 | PDF |
| Report of the Sixth GCOS Cooperation Mechanism Board Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 27 September 2010 | GCOS-146 | PDF |
| Report of the Eighteenth Session of the WMO-IOC-UNEP-ICSU Steering Committee for GCOS, Geneva, , 28 September-1 October 2010 | GCOS-145 | PDF |