Study on the Global Water Cycle
Appendix A. Appointment Letter with the Charge to the Water Cycle Study
Group*
Report to the USGCRP from the Water Cycle Study Group, 2001
Updated
October 12, 2003
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22230
August 20, 1999
Professor George Hornberger
Department of Environmental Sciences
Clark Hall
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Dear George,
Understanding the role the hydrologic cycle plays in key
planetary processes is essential to our nation and societies around the world.
It is becoming increasingly clear that one of the most significant challenges of
the coming century will be to ensure the availability of an adequate supply of
water for the world, particularly in light of potential changes in that supply
due to climate variability, climate change and other natural and anthropogenic
influences. Deficiencies in our understanding of the global water cycle severely
handicap efforts to improve climate prediction and guide water resource
planning.
In the development of the FY 2000 US/GCRP program and
budget, it was proposed that a "Global Water Cycle" program should be an
initiative in the President's Budget as an integral part of the Global Change
Research Program for FY 2000 and beyond (this is now being considered by the
Congress in the President's FY 2000 Budget). Central to this initiative is the
establishment of a science community-based research planning process
complemented by an enhanced interagency coordination effort to address the
content of the effort for FY 2001 and beyond. The foundations for this effort
have been well established by research supported by the US/GCRP, other agency
programs, and related international programs (WCRP/GEWEX, IGBP, etc.).
Significant advances have already been made in seasonal to
interannual prediction, land surface modeling capabilities, land data
assimilation systems, and other facets of hydrologic processes. The planned
launches of a number of satellites by the USA, Japan, and Europe during the next
few years will make further contributions to this issue, e.g., precipitation,
monitoring land surface conditions, and the transport of water in the atmosphere
and at the surface.
Accordingly, the US/GCRP agencies are establishing a
broad-based planning process that will lead to a comprehensive and long-term
strategy and science plan for investigating the global water cycle, its role in
climate, and an enhanced scientific understanding of the fundamental processes
that govern the availability and the biogeochemistry of water resources. It is
our belief that these comprehensive research efforts will provide the scientific
framework needed to address this critical scientific, policy and operational
issue.
This letter, as we discussed recently, is to ask you to
form and chair a "Water Cycle Study Group," consisting of researchers from the
bydrologic, atmospheric, and oceanic sciences. The US/GCRP will work with you to
identify potential members. In this regard, we will ask the US/GCRP and other
interested agencies, the National Research Council, and other appropriate groups
to identify those individuals who could work with you in conducting the work of
this Study Group. Once we have developed a list of candidates, we can jointly
discuss the final membership of the Study Group.
The Water Cycle Study Group will be charged with the
responsibility of formulating a research strategy and scientific plan for
investigating the global water cycle, its role in climate, and the fundamental
processes that govern the availability and the biogeochemistry of water
resources. In short, we are asking the Study Group to develop the strategy and
science plan for a national program. This "Science Plan" should be designed to
produce:
1. A quantitative understanding of atmospheric,
terrestrial, and oceanic interactions that govern water and energy cycles on
intraseasonal to centennial time scales and on global and regional scales:
this includes, inter alia, the roles of water vapor, clouds, and precipitation
processes; biogeochemical processes, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem
influences; and the role of surface and subsurface waters within the overall
hydrologic cycle;
2. An improved representation of these processes in
climate and other models, across the relevant space and time scales, that will
allow simulation of the hydrologic cycle and its interactions with the rest of
the earth system;
3. An understanding of the response of the water cycle
to environmental change and the accompanying impact on water resources;
4. A capability to model and, where appropriate, predict
variations in global and regional hydrologic processes and water resources on
seasonal to interannual time scales and longer time scales;
5. The requirements for comprehensive, systematic
space-based, ground-based and in situ observations in support of the water
cycle science objectives, with consideration of the compatibility of
measurements across scales and processes; and
6. Guidance on the linkages, areas of cooperation and
potential integration with other relevant national and international programs
to make the initiative a success.
Due to requirements in the federal budget planning cycle,
we will need to have a preliminary draft/outline that can be shared with the
agencies by the end of September 1999, and an interim comprehensive document
prepared by late January 2000. The final document should be ready by July 2000.
The agencies have established an Interagency Working Group
on the Water Cycle that will interact closely with your team during the
development of the Plan. Dr. Rick Lawford, of NOAA/OGP and Dr. Robert Schiffer,
of NASA/ESE are the co-chairs of this Interagency Working Group and will assist
you as necessary. The Working Group will be the vehicle for developing the
Federal set of programs and activities. Our goal is to have the essential next
phase of this "Water Cycle Program" well planned and integrated into the FY 2001
programs and budgets of the agencies of the US/GCRP. We will discuss with you
the logistic and financial support requirements necessary to carry out this
activity.
We sincerely hope that you can formally accept this
invitation to chair the "Water Cycle Study Group." On behalf of the US/GCRP
agencies, we thank you for your willingness to entertain undertaking this
important and challenging task for the Nation. We look forward to hearing from
you and to working with you as we jointly address this serious and vitally
important challenge for the Nation.
Sincerely,
Robert W. Correll, Chair
Subcommittee on Global Change Research
cc: Dr. Neal Lane
Dr. D. James Baker
Dr. Rosina Bierbaum
SGCR Members
Members of the Interagency Working Group on the Water Cycle
_____
*
Courtesy of United States Climate Change Global Research
Program.
Suite 250, 1717 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20006.
Telephone: 1-202-223-6262
See original at < http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/Library/watercycle/wcsgreport2001/wcsg2001appendixa.htm
>.
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