Scientific Objectives in Climate Research
The Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) was launched by the President in June 2001 to “reduce significant uncertainties in climate science, improve global climate observing systems, and develop resources to support policymaking and resource management” (Foreword, Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program, 11 November Draft, J. R. Mahoney). Further, the CCSP/CCRI document highlights the following:
- “To be included in the CCRI, a program must both produce significant decision or policy-relevant deliverables within a short timeframe; and contribute substantively to the optimization of observations, monitoring, and data management systems of climate quality data.”
- “Enhanced model credibility through a formal program of model testing: In moving towards the development of a more operational applied climate modeling capability, it is necessary that models be put through a more rigorous program of testing than has been the case to date. It is necessary, as climate modeling moves beyond the research domain, that models be formally tested against specific observational data sets. This needs to be done with sufficient care and fidelity to detect small differences in future climate trajectories. The observations must have tight tolerances for accuracy, sampling protocols, data availability, and cost, and must meet the criteria for long-term stable climate records.”
- “Testing against specialized data sets: There is a need for an innovative and disciplined comparison strategy to connect details of the specialized, consistent observations to the structure of the forecast model. More generally, there is a need for specific climate benchmark records to provide absolute values of key measurements for testing climate models. Such benchmark records would consist of a limited number of carefully selected measurements focusing specifically on climate forcing and response. A focus on accuracy, with measurements tied to laboratory standards, is a key characteristic. Prospective benchmark observations would include ground and space-based GPS radio wave refraction, which is a direct function of atmospheric density variations, and spectrally-resolved absolute radiances to space.”
