GLOSS established in 1985 by IOC

1
Global Sea Level Observing System

• GLOSS established in 1985 by IOC
• Objective provision of high quality sea level
  information for international and regional
  research activities, as well as for the support
  of practical applications at regional and
  national level
• GLOSS IP 1990 and GLOSS IP 1997
• http//www.pol.ac.uk/psmsl/programmes/gloss.info.h
  tml

2
GLOSS Main Elements

• GLOSS core network (GCN)- 287 stations
• Regional enhancement of the GCN
• Long term trends network (LTT) (data rescue)
• Altimeter calibration network (GLOSS-ALT)
• Ocean circulation (GLOSS-OC)
• GPS monitoring of land levels at tide gauges
• Provision of modern methods of data acq. exch.
• Training courses and training material
• A set of programmes of research at regional and
  global level (GLOSS SSG)

3
GLOSS Status

• GLOSS Delayed mode status
• 2/3 of the stations are operational in terms of
  PSMSL requirements (Category 1 delivery of
  monthly and annual average values within 4
  years)
• 1/2 of the stations provide hourly values
• GLOSS Fast Status
• 1/3 of the stations provide data in near-real
  time (few weeks)

4
GLOSS Status within the PSMSL data set. October
2001
? Category 1 Operational (latest data is 1998
or later) ? Category 2 Probably Operational
(latest data is within 1988-1997) ? Category 3
Historical data ? Category 4 No data exist in
the GLOSS/PSMSL archive
5
Selected GLOSS activities 2001-2002

• Improvement of fast data provision (IOC
  letter, Jan. 2002 to GLOSS focal points)
• Follow up with national GLOSS focal points
  concerning data delivery
• Outreach and advocacy to patch gaps in the GCN
  and to upgrade to GLOSS quality gauge standards
  through appeals to
• IALA, IHO, IAPH,
• Scientific programs (I.e. PIRATA, LMEs)

6
GLOSS Regional Enhancements

• Regional network with funding
• ESEAS (European Seas)
• MedGLOSS (Mediterranean)
• RONMAC (Latin America)
• CPPAC (Caribbean)
• Regional network under development
• African sea-level network proposal to be
  submitted for Afr. Process (Aug. 2002)

7
Planned GLOSS CP activities 2002-2003

• Training courses in Malaysia and Chile in 1.
  quarter of 2003
• Technical expert visits to (2002)
• PERSGA region (Red Sea and Gulf of Aden)
• Brazil
• Tide gauge installations (2002)
• Ghana

8
Selected GLOSS activities in the planning

• Workshop and training on vertical crust motion
  and sea level change (Toulouse, September 2002)
• GE8 meeting 1. Half 2003

9
Some recent GLOSS publications

• GLOSS brochure now available in Chinese, French,
  and Russian and soon Arabic (in addition to
  English, Portuguese and Spanish)
• Manual III on sea level measurement and
  interpretation
• Position Paper on the Status of GLOSS in Africa
• Proceeding of abstracts of presentations at
  workshops during the 7th GLOSS GE session
• A GLOSS Africa web-site has recently been
  established by the OdinAfrica web-team
  (http//www.ioc.unesco.org/glossafrica/)