The International Workshop on Terrestrial Water Cycle Observation and Modeling from Space: Innovation and Reliability of Data Products (WATGLOBS) took place from April 26 to 30 in Beijing. It was attended by more than 150 experts and scholars from many national and international organizations in the fields remote sensing and hydrology.
XU Guanhua pointed out that water shortage is an urgent issue to be addressed, and Earth observation products play a significant role in describing the complexity of the terrestrial water cycle. LIAO Xiaohan gave an introduction to the overall strategy of China on Earth observation and its concern with the water cycle. Douglas Cripe briefed attendees on the development of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), saying the platform will provide decision-makers with necessary information to deal with the global water-food-energy crisis. Richard Lawford outlined the GEO policies and programs on water resources, laying emphasis on a global observation network for the water cycle. Peter Van Oevelen talked about recent opportunities and challenges facing global water cycle research.
Focusing on terrestrial water cycle observation and modeling from space, the participants held discussions on a variety of topics, including terrestrial water cycle observation from space, hydrological processes and land surface hydrology in cold regions, land surface parameters and atmospheric convection of the water cycle, terrestrial water cycle observation and assimilation, global and regional hydrological simulation, and terrestrial water cycle integration.
The meeting was organized by the State Key Laboratory for Remote Sensing Science, and was co-hosted by CEOP-AEGIS (an international cooperation project between Europe and Asia), the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, the Cold and Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute, and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research. Prof. LI Jia served as its organization committee chairman.
Scientists make presentations.
