Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
1.1 Global Atmospheric Research Programme (GARP) and
the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)
The idea of studying global climate through coordinated intensive programs of
observations emerged through the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO:http://www.wmo.ch/) and the International Council on Science (ICSU: http://
www.icsu.org) in the 1970s. Three 'streams' of activity were planned: a physical basis for
long-range weather forecasting; interannual climate variability; and long-term climatic
trends and climate sensitivity. Global meteorological observations became a major concern
and this led to a series of observational programs. The earliest was the Global Atmospheric
Research Programme (GARP). This had a number of related but semi-independent
components. One of the earliest was the GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE) in the
eastern North Atlantic, off West Africa, in 1974-1975. The objectives were to examine the
structure of the Trade Wind inversion and to identify the conditions associated with the
development of tropical disturbances. There was a series of monsoon experiments in West
Africa and the Indian Ocean in the late 1970s to early 1980s and also an Alpine Experiment.
The First GARP Global Experiment (FGGE), in November 1978 to March 1979, assembled
global weather observations. Coupled with these observational programs, there was also
a coordinated effort to improve numerical modeling of global climate processes.
The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP: http://www.wmo.ch/web/wcrp/
prgs.htm), established in 1980, is sponsored by the WMO, ICSU and the International Ocean
Commission (IOC). The first major global effort was the World Ocean Circulation
Experiment (WOCE) which provided detailed understanding of ocean currents and the
global thermohaline circulation. This was followed in the 1980s by the Tropical Ocean
Global Atmosphere (TOGA).
Current major WCRP projects are Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR:
http://www.clivar.org/), the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX),
Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC), and Climate and Cryosphere
(CliC; http://clic.npolar.no/) . Under GEWEX are the International Satellite Cloud Climatology
Project (ISCCP) and the International Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) which
provide valuable data sets for analysis and model validation. CliC, which addresses all
major components of the earth's cryosphere (glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets, sea ice, snow
cover, seasonally frozen ground and permafrost, the latter representing perennially frozen
ground) developed from the earlier Arctic Climate System (ACSYS) effort. The WCRP has
also been activity involved in the planning and implementation of the third International
Polar Year (IPY), a large international scientific program focused on the Arctic and Antarctic
from March 2007 to March 2009.
Reference
Houghton, J. D. and Morel, P. (1984) The World Climate Research Programme. In J. D. Houghton (ed.) The Global
Climate, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 1-11.
