Draft Version 1.0
Minutes of the
4th ESEAS-RI Governing Board Meeting
Place:
EARS,
Ljubljana,
Slovenia
Date:
7 November 2003
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Minutes written by
Hans-Peter Plag
(Version of 20 February 2004).
Participants:
Stefano Corsini (SC),
Apat,
(GB Chair)
Hans-Peter Plag (HPP),
NMA,
(Coordinator, Task leader 2.4)
Susanna Zerbini (SZ),
Univ. of Bologna
Mauro Bencivenga (MB),
APAT Maritime Service
Marzenna Sztobryn (MSZ),
IMGW
Ryszard Zdunek (RZ),
SRC,
(Task leader 4.4)
Eimuntas Parseliunas (EP),
GI
Hasan Yildiz (HY),
GCM
Theodoros Kardaras (TK),
HNHS
Elizabeth Bradshaw (EB),
NERC-POL
Palle Bo Nielsen (PBN),
Royal Danish Administration of Navigation and Hydrography
Noralf Slotsvik (NS),
NMA
Ivica Vilibic (IV),
HHI
Mirko Orlic (MO),
PMF
Maria-Jesus Garcia (MJG),
IEO,
(Task leader 1.2)
Christoph Blasi (CBL),
Federal Inst. of Hydrology
Richard Bingley (RB),
UNOTT,
(WP2 leader, Task leader 1.1 + 2.8)
Dov Rosen (DR),
IOLR,
(WP4 leader)
Hanne Heiberg (HH),
NMA,
(Project manager, Task leader 1.3)
Agenda:
1 Welcome
2 Discussion of Agenda
3 Minutes of the Third GB Meeting
4 Status of Action Items
5 Status of the ESEAS (Membership, developments)
6 Report from the Central Bureau
7 Report from the TEC
8 Report from the ESEAS-RI Project
9 Discussion of the ESEAS-RI Technical Implementation Plan
10 Status ESEAS web pages
10a Added under TOP 2: The ESEAS Pilot Project. What is next?
11 ESEAS Newsletter (Editor, frequency, contents)
12 ESEAS Coordinators
13 ESEAS Observing Site Classification
14 ESEAS and FP6
15 ESEAS and GMES
16 ESEAS and other organisations/projects
17 ESEAS-RI workshop
18 AOB
19 Place and time of next meeting
1 Welcome
The meeting was opened by the GB Chair Mr Stefano Corsini, who welcomed
all participants.
2 Discussion of Agenda
The Agenda was discussed and the Topic
"ESEAS Pilot project" was
added to the agenda as point 10a.
3 Minutes of the Third GB Meeting
The minutes of the Third GB Meeting were accepted.
4 Status of Action Items
The status of Action Items from the third GB meeting was reviewed
by
Hans-Peter Plag
(see
pdf
):
Action Item
GB-3-1:
Include guidelines for collocation of CGPS with tide gauges and
the operation as well as for absolute gravity measurements at tide
gauges on the ESEAS web site as soon as possible.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
As soon as possible.
Status of Action Item
GB-3-1:
Open.
Partly done. No guidelines for absolute gravity have been added so far.
Susanna Zerbini
told about new sites in Italy.
Reported at GB-4 by
Hans-Peter Plag.
Action Item
GB-3-2:
CB specifies the task of the GB as the Steering Committee for
ESEAS-RI as a prerequisite for the GB to accept this task.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
15 Dec 2002.
Status of Action Item
GB-3-2:
Open.
The task of GB would be to make sure that ESEAS-RI TIP is
realistic, follow up the TIP, and discuss additional resources
necessary for ESEAS-RI activities to continue.
Reported at GB-4 by
Hans-Peter Plag.
Action Item
GB-3-3:
The coordinator of the ESEAS-RI projects solicits three experts
for the project team, representing the fields sea level studies,
geodesy, and user community.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
15 Dec 2002.
Status of Action Item
GB-3-3:
Closed.
Referees are: Rainer Rummel, Chsritian Le Provost, Hans Dahlin. They are not obliged to attend the meetings.
Reported at GB-4 by
Hans-Peter Plag.
Action Item
GB-3-4:
GB member are asked to nominate additional persons to the four working groups and send names to WP leaders and CB.
Responsible:
All,
Deadline:
15 January 2003.
Status of Action Item
GB-3-4:
Open (partly done).
This was also discussed at the 2nd ESEAS-RI meeting (PT-2), and
focus will be on this in the next weeks following the meetings.
Stefano Corsini
is going to send
nominations of WG members from GB to
ESEAS Central Bureau
soon after the GB meeting.
Reported at GB-4 by
Hans-Peter Plag.
Action Item
GB-3-5:
The ESEAS-RI Coordinater contacts Alan Edwards to officially
clarify the relation ESEAS-RI and Sea Search.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
15 Dec 2002.
Status of Action Item
GB-3-5:
Closed.
The ESEAS-RI Coordinator should make an attempt to coordinate the
activities with the Sea Search project.
Reported at GB-4 by
Hans-Peter Plag.
Action Item
GB-3-6:
The CB makes available standard presentations concerning the ESEAS and the ESEAS-RI project both as postscript and pdf files.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
30 April 2003.
Status of Action Item
GB-3-6:
Closed.
Presentations and poster is available on internet,
Posters).
ESEAS Central Bureau
would like to receive existing presentations and
posters about ESEAS and ESEAS-RI to make them available on this
website.
Reported at GB-4 by
Hans-Peter Plag.
5 Status of the ESEAS (Membership, developments)
The proposals for new membership in the ESEAS were
presented by
Hans-Peter Plag
(see
pdf
) and
discussed by the GB.
In general, there was a positive response from the ESEAS GB to
include new members.
The proposal from the Tbilisi University, Georgia was accepted.
Action Item
GB-4-1:
Hans-Peter Plag
to inform Tbilisi University that their application
for membership has been accepted.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
Concerning the proposal of the Space Geodetic Laboratory,
University of Alicante, Spain, there was a general agreement
to accept the institute as member. However, according to the knowledge
of the GB members present,
this institution does not have tide gauges. Therefore, the role can be
an Analysis Centre or a Supporting Centre.
Susanna Zerbini
mentioned that the
applicant works in the oceanographic field and is co-worker of
Ben F. Chao, Goddard Space Flight Center at NASA.
Action Item
GB-4-2:
Hans-Peter Plag
to inform the Space Geodesy Laboratory, University of
Alicante, that their application
for membership has been accepted.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
ESEAS will advice new potential members to contact ESEAS members of the same
country in order to improve coordination. In particular, the
Space Geodetic Laboratory will be adviced to contact
Maria-Jesus Garcia
at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography as the GB member representing the
Spanish ESEAS members.
.
It was emphasised that ESEAS is based on institutions, not countries. Therefore,
applications
cannot rejected based on lack of national coordination. However, ESEAS
will support new members in contributing to national coordination.
The following Action Item was agreed:
Action Item
GB-4-3:
Hans-Peter Plag
to prepare a webpage "How to apply for membership in the ESEAS",
with advice to contact and coordinate with the national delegate and member
institution in the same country.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
The ESEAS CB has received two more new proposals for membership.
(1) Royal Naval Observatory of Spain (ESEAS-RI partner 7, ROA), Spain,
has applied. This
institute has an infrastructure relevant to ESEAS and is an
ESEAS-RI analysis centre.
There were no objection to the membership.
Action Item
GB-4-4:
Hans-Peter Plag
to inform the Royal Naval Observatory of Spain,
Spain, that the application
for membership has been accepted.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
(2) Physical Oceanography Unit (POU), IOI-Malta Operational Centre, University of Malta,
Malta:
This institute is a subcontractor of Partner 18 of the
ESEAS-RI, and does sea level measurements. POU asks
about the level of commitment required for ESEAS membership. The
GB would like to ask the representative, Aldo Drago, what potential
contributions POU considers to make to the ESEAS
after the pilot project period is over (from middle of 2004). The
GB will
wait for response to this request before accepting the membership.
Action Item
GB-4-5:
Hans-Peter Plag
to ask POU, Malta for more info about potential
contributions to the ESEAS.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
There was a discussion on general guidelines for proposals, and
on how proposals should be treated.
Hans-Peter Plag
suggested that proposals should be handled by e-mail, not at GB meetings,
since GB meetings take place only once a year.
Hans-Peter Plag
suggested to make a change in the Terms of Reference and replace
National Centres
with
Operational Centres
. The term
National
Centre) implies that there is only one centre in a country,
while in most country there are actually more than one centre. Therefore,
a useful name is needed taking this into account. After the change,
the ESEAS would have Operational Centres (OC), Analysis Centres (AC),
and Supporting Centres (SC).
Stefano Corsini
supported the term
National Centre
because it can be motivating and
therefore benficial.
Maria-Jesus Garcia
emhasised that there is a need for
national coordination and possibly national infrastructure, and
therefore the term
National Centre
is useful.
Hans-Peter Plag
pointed out that this is not required for all countries.
For example, in the Nordic Countries, coordination is more on a regional
than national level. Moreover, for the ESEAS Data Server, the Centres
operating tide gauges are called
Operational Centres
, which
is a term applicable for all Centres operating tide gauges, while
National Centres
would only be correct for some centres.
Dov Rosen
emphasised that long-term commitment to ESEAS is important, and
asked to advice for
national coordination, although this should not be required by
the ESEAS.
Hans-Peter Plag
reported that there has been a request from
Ben Chao, GSFC, NASA, USA, to cooperate with ESEAS
on a research project in NASA. Alan Edwards, in his response to the
first ESEAS-RI Management Report, pointed out the he would like
report(s) about this work, because cooperation between European and American
projects is important for the Commission and considered positively.
Regarding changes in GB membership, the ESEAS members in a given
country decide the replacement of
representatives in GB among themselves. The
GB cannot disapprove a replacement, but
Maria-Jesus Garcia
suggests that senior member of the
institute for which a representative is replaced
(e.g. the Director) should approve of the replacement.
When replacement of membership in the GB occurs,
then the ESEAS CB needs to be informed about
the new member and receive e-mail address, phone and fax numbers, and regular
mail address.
Action Item
GB-4-6:
To set up a webpage with guidelines for replacement of representatives
in GB.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
6 Report from the Central Bureau
Report from the Central Bureau was given by
Hans-Peter Plag
(see
pdf
). He mentioned the following
points as main activities
(1) Maintenance and extension of web page at eseas.org;
(2) Management of the ESEAS-RI project;
(3) Contact to related projects and users;
(4) Representation of ESEAS within GMES.
He also pointed out that so far, no Newsletter was produced.
He then reported that a new FP6 proposal was in preparation, which aims
to include institutes from North African Countries and to establish
new tide gauges along the African coast.
Concerning the recent meeting of the GLOSS Group of Experts in Paris,
Hans-Peter Plag
pointed out that more than half og the participants
were from ESEAS, and there were
many presentations related to ESEAS and ESEAS-RI work.
The ESEAS received positive reponse, and there
were requests of advice on how a similar model could be used
in other regions to organise the sea level related work.
The ESEAS CB is still awaiting a proposal from French institutes
for membership in the ESEAS..
Hans-Peter Plag
represented ESEAS at the meeitng of the IGS TIGA-Working Group
in April 20043 in Nice. The ESEAS CB has not received any
reponse from IGS concerning a potential cooperation between
ESEAS and TIGA.
Concerning co-operation with EuroGOOS,
Hans-Peter Plag
reported
that the ESEAS participates in EuroGOOS meetings, normally through
the Director of the CB. Hans Dahlin (alternatively Alvarez Fanjul)
represents EuroGOOS in GB.
In case, the GB decides that the ESEAS should become a service
after the pilot project ends, then the ESEAS
can increase the cooperation with EuroGOOS. It could also be considered
to apply for full membership in EuroGOOS.
7 Report from the TEC
Report from the TEC was given by
Richard Bingley
.
His presentation is available in
pdf
Richard Bingley
reviewed the list of elected TEC members,
their major field within TEC, the
TEC meetings and the establishment of Working Groups synonymous to
the 4 ESEAS-RI Work Packages. The latter corresponds to a decision
made by the GB at its third meeting.
The status of the TEC-releated AIs were reviewed:
Action Item
TEC-1-1:
The ESEAS CB coordinates a proposal under the GMES Call for Proposal.
Responsible:
ESEAS Central Bureau,
Deadline:
Action Item
TEC-1-2:
For each of the four main applications, write draft specifications for ESEAS Observing Sites.
Responsible:
Richard Bingley,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-2:
Closed.
Completed as ESEAS-RI T1.1
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-3:
Following the specifications for ESEAS Observing Sites, classify the proposed tide gauges
Responsible:
Richard Bingley,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-3:
Closed.
Completed as ESEAS-RI T1.1
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-4:
Review state-of-the-art instrumentation for tide gauge sites.
Responsible:
Begona Perez Gomez,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-4:
Closed.
Used as input to ESEAS-RI T1.1, T4.1
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-5:
Review current quality control (both near-real time and past processing) applied to tide gauge data.
Responsible:
Fabio Raicich,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-5:
Closed.
Used as input to ESEAS-RI T1.2
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-6:
Write guidelines for the co-location of tide gauges with CGPS, including the instrumentation.
Responsible:
Richard Bingley,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-6:
Closed.
Prepared as part of ESEAS-RI T4.3
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-7:
Start the drafting of a site documentation for ESEAS Observing
Sites having a hierarchical structure and taking into account as far
as possible existing documentations.
Responsible:
Guy W\"{o}ppelmann,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-7:
Pending.
On-going as part of ESEAS-RI WP1 establishement of ESEAS DS
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-8:
Following the classification of the tide gauges proposed as ESEAS
Observing sites, a list of ESEAS Observing Sites for absolute gravity
measurements should be set up.
Responsible:
,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-8:
Pending.
On-going as part of ESEAS-RI T2.6
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-9:
Draft specifications of products from tide gauges based on IOC and GLOSS specifications.
Responsible:
,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-9:
Open.
Not addressed to date
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-10:
Set up a demonstration project that provides in near-real time
data from 10-20 tide gauges uniformly distributed throughout the
participating countries. The web site should give access to hourly
values and allow to display the data graphically in various ways.
Responsible:
ESEAS Central Bureau,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-10:
Pending.
On-going as part of ESEAS-RI T1.3
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-11:
Set up a web page that gives links to all national data archives giving access to sea level data.
Responsible:
ESEAS Central Bureau,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-11:
Pending.
On-going as part of ESEAS-RI T1.3
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-12:
Set up a web page that links several (initially two to three)
national tide gauge data bases initially in a simple way to a central
ESEAS web page, which gives access to the data in a standardised way.
Responsible:
ESEAS Central Bureau,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-12:
Pending.
On-going as part of ESEAS-RI T1.3
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-13:
Set up a web page with comprehensive links to web sources giving
access to sea level related products derived from satellite altimetry
observations.
Responsible:
Per Knudsen,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-13:
Closed.
Reported at GB-4.
Action Item
TEC-1-14:
ESEAS sets up a GPS archive of co-located CGPS sites.
Responsible:
Guy W\"{o}ppelmann,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-14:
Closed.
Established for ESEAS-RI T2.3
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-15:
ESEAS compiles an inventory of absolute gravitymeasurements
carried out at tide gauges including information on levelling between
the techniques.
Responsible:
Trevor Baker (needs to be confirmed),
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-15:
Pending.
On-going as part of ESEAS-RI T2.6
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-16:
Set up a web page reflecting the status of modelling of sea level variations.
Responsible:
Enrique Alvarez Fanjul,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-16:
Open.
Work in progress
Reported at GB-4 by
Richard Bingley.
Action Item
TEC-1-17:
The ESEAS CB develops a proposal for the structure of the ESEAS web pages and sends this to the TEC for discussion.
Responsible:
ESEAS Central Bureau,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-17:
Closed.
Reported at GB-4.
Action Item
TEC-1-18:
The ESEAS CB develops a proposal for the ESEAS Newsletter sends this to the TEC for discussion.
Responsible:
ESEAS Central Bureau,
Deadline:
Status of Action Item
TEC-1-18:
Closed.
Reported at GB-4.
Some of the TEC members have not been very active and it was concluded
that
Richard Bingley
should update the TEC membership. However, new
TEC members have to be nominated and approved by the GB.
There was at this point a general discussion
on how to handle and prepare the ending of the pilot project in
July 2004.
Concerning site documentation, GPS analysis and data archives (including
levelling),
it was pointed out that there is much overlap between ESEAS on the one site
and EUREF and the ECGN on the other site. However, close cooperation with EUREF
appears
somewhat difficult.
Hans-Peter Plag
previously proposed some cooperation
between the ESEAS and EUREF, but so far not received a positive response.
Concerning site documentation,
Hans-Peter Plag
suggested a workshop on site documentation
to be organised by IERS with participation of
the contributing services and with the aim to agree on standards. The
current development is bound to lead to several standards, which
is difficult and inefficient. ESEAS-RI is obliged to come up with
site documentation as deliverable of the project, regardless of cooperation
with other organisations.
Hans-Peter Plag
emphasised that ESEAS members not in ESEAS-RI should
join the relevant ESEAS WGs, so they can participate in the
communication and be informed about the work in the ESEAS-RI project.
This was already the rational for AI GB-3-4, which
asks GB members to nominate additional persons for the
WGs.
Action Item
GB-4-7:
Hans-Peter Plag
and
Richard Bingley
will add TEC members to relevant ESEAS-RI Working Groups.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
29 February 2004.
8 Report from the ESEAS-RI Project
Hans-Peter Plag
reported the status of the ESEAS-RI Project
(see
pdf
).
The ESEAS-RI website is established under the ESEAS
web page, and is constantly updated and extended.
The First Annual Report has to be submitted to the Commission
by the end of the year, and
the ESEAS CB will distribute the report to the GB.
Preliminary documents for classification of ESEAS Observing Sites
with respect to applications A to D were produced
as the Deliverables of
ESEAS-RI Task 1.1. If necessary these documents may be revised later.
The ESEAS Data Portal (DP) is being developed in the frame of Task 1.3.
The DP is based on a concept that will maintain the
link between the data originator (normally to Operational
Centre owning a tide gauge) and the data. Currently, copies of meta data
and observations are foreseen on the ESEAS Data Server, with these
copies being owned by the respective Operational Centre. In a later
version, data will most likely be down-loaded when needed from servers
at the Operational Centres.
The importance of local web interfaces at the Operational Centres
was discussed.
Noralf Slotsvik
pointed out that much work has been
invested in setting up local web interfaces at several Operational
Centres. The importance of these web pages will decrease
when the ESEAS Data Portal is fully established.
The report given by
Hans-Peter Plag
also covered the status of ESEAS-RI WPs,
the plan for next year, and the meeting schedule.
Elizabeth Bradshaw
informed that POL has prepared a catalog of analog tide gauge
records in the frame of ESEAS-RI
T1.4. The catalog will be made available under the
ESEAS-RI T1.4 Status webpage shortly after the meeting.
The geographical region covered by ESEAS was discussed.
Alternatives are to define eligibility of tide gauges as
ESEAS Observing sites by
geographical location or by ownership of an ESEAS Operational Centre,
or more pragmatically case by case.
The prevailing attitude was that ESEAS
should be open to include all the tide gauges that members would like to
provide to ESEAS.
Potential contributions to the ESEAS Data Portal and Data Server were
discussed. In the current process of defining the master files and
the quality control routines as well as the software to be used,
all ESEAS members are asked to contribute.
Hans-Peter Plag
suggest to use the WP1/WP3 meeting to discuss the master files
and finalise the quality control routines, and asked all ESEAS members
to check whether they can contribute.
Regarding digitisation of analog records, the GB encourages all
ESEAS members to proceed with this.
9 Discussion of the ESEAS-RI Technical Implementation Plan
Hans-Peter Plag
informed that the EC does not expect that the ESEAS-RI project comes up with
a more detailed TIP after the first year. However, it is expected
that the consortium familarises with TIP, which has to be
set up using a web-based tool of the Commission. A draft TIP needs
to be delivere dafter the second year.
Action Item
GB-4-8:
Hans-Peter Plag
to initialise the TIP for the ESEAS-RI project
using the web-based tool provided by the Commission.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
30 April 2004.
Rational:
A Draft TIP is expected to be provided with the second annual report.
It is necessary to start the work early in order to have the draft TIP
ready in time for report delivery.
10 Status ESEAS web pages
An overview of the pages were given by
Hans-Peter Plag
. See the
ESEAS web page for more details. The ESEAS website is continuously
updated and extended.
10a Added under TOP 2: The ESEAS Pilot Project. What is next?
Hans-Peter Plag
reminded the GB that the inital three years of the
ESEAS are coming to an end in July 2004. Then, the GB has to make
a decision how to continue. In the discussion, there was a tendency
towards a continuation as a project for another period before
a final decision concerning a service is made.
Hans-Peter Plag
suggested that an assessment report is written discussing the
progress, experience, difficulties of the first period. The report
should be written by the TEC Chair, the GB Chair and the ESEAS
CB director. The report should include recommendation on how to continue,
and discuss different alternatives. The report may recommend that the
ESEAS is continued as a service or for another period of
two or three years as test project. Both of this may require
a new call for participation resulting in new proposals for
membership.
There was some discussion concerning the level of commitment
of ESEAS members. Currently, all contributions are based
on voluntary commitment. It needs to be discussed whether a
more firm commitment is need if the ESEAS is turned into a service.
In the discussion it was emphasised that the
ESEAS should at least exist as long as ESEAS-RI is going on, i.e. until November
2005. However, an important criteria for receiving funds for the
ESEAS-RI project was that there is a high likelihood that the ESEAS will
be turned into a permanent service.
The report will be provided to the TEC and the GB for discussion.
Members of the ESEAS GB are welcome to contribute to this assessment report.
Action Item
GB-4-9:
Richard Bingley
,
Stefano Corsini
, and
Hans-Peter Plag
to write a drfat report assessing the
first period of the ESEAS.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
30 April 2004.
Rational:
The ESEAS test project ends in July 2004. The assessment report
will provide the basis for the decision of the GB on how to continue.
The report will give a recommendation on how to continue and for that
discuss different alternatives. The draft will be made available to
the TEC and the GB for comments.
In the discussion of new members, and also unde the present topic,
it became clear that the available information about which
members have commited to what is not up to date. However,
it was decided to postpone an update until it is clear how the
ESEAS will continue. If there is a new call for participation,
then the information will be requested, anyway.
11 ESEAS Newsletter (Editor, frequency, contents)
Hans-Peter Plag
described the situation concerning the
ESEAS Newsletter. The newsletter has not been established up to now. The newsletter
cannot be edited by the ESEAS CB due to overload with work. Noone else
has so far
been willing to be the editor.
After some discussion, it was decided to abondone the plan to
publish a newsletter for the time being. Instead, the ESEAS News Page
will be updated and advertised. This News Page will be less formal and
less time dependent. The page may include announcements of meetings and
scientific reports taken from the annual report.
Action Item
GB-4-10:
Hanne Heiberg
to remove the newsletter page and
update the News page with relevant information.
Responsible:
Hanne Heiberg,
Deadline:
2003-12-10.
12 ESEAS Coordinators
The coordinators for the Physical and Application Networks
are still not appointed. It was decided to
postpone the search until the continuation of the ESEAS after
the end of the pilot project in the middle of 2004 has been decided.
13 ESEAS Observing Site Classification
Richard Bingley
has prepared documents as part of ESEAS-RI T1.1, which describe
the classification of the proposed ESEAS Observing Sites with respect
to applications A - D, according to the defined requirements.
Hans-Peter Plag
suggest to freeze the last
drafts, and consider them as deliverables, which then may be revised later.
Action Item
GB-4-11:
Hanne Heiberg
and
To put the drafts of requirements and classification of ESEAS
observing sites available under ESEAS-RI status webpages, T1.1, and as
deliverables D1.1 and D1.3. Older versions should only be present for
minutes and reports.
Responsible:
Hanne Heiberg,
Deadline:
2003-12-01.
Action Item
GB-4-12:
Hanne Heiberg
to send the draft documents of ESEAS-RI D1.1 (Requirements
for Observing Sites) and D1.3 (Classification of Observing Sites) to
GB for review.
Responsible:
Hanne Heiberg,
Deadline:
2004-01-05.
The GB should state how strict the requirements should be enforced,
and how much information ESEAS-RI can insist on getting
before approving a site for an application.
Susanna Zerbini
pointed out that it is expensive to produce and provide data and thus
it is sometimes problematic to get sufficient information.
14 ESEAS and FP6
On July 3, 2003, the second call for proposals was
published for the FP6 Subtopic Environment and
Sustainable Development. It includes also
proposals in earth observation, where
closing gaps in existing observation system is an issue.
One call was for a Network of Excellence addressing the
Earth Observation System with deadline 9 October 2003.
Hans-Peter Plag
was involved for the ESEAS
in an attempt to write a proposal together with EuroGOOS and
IGGOS, but the group failed in the end because no
representative for the atmosphere was willing to participate.
Hans-Peter Plag
is intending to write a proposal for
upgrading the sea level observation system along the
North-African coast. Several institutes have been contacted,
but there are many obstacles, including political ones.
The deadline for proposals is in February 2004, and the proposal
can be for a Special Support Activity.
15 ESEAS and GMES
A GMES meeting will be held 26-28 November 2003, in Baveno, Italy, where
Hans-Peter Plag
will represent the ESEAS. The ESEAS is asked as a Non Governmental
Organisation to present its views on GMES.
An inter-disciplinary group is currently formed related to
NoE proposal mentioned under the previous topic. This group
involves representatives for different domains.
Hans-Peter Plag
is supposed to
represent the ESEAS in this group. Hans Dahlin is involved as director
of EuroGOOS. Within space-geodesy, a European group is currently
being formed. The Terms of Reference
of the group are currently drafted and most likely,
institutions involved in operational work in Earth observations
will be eligible to become members.
16 ESEAS and other organisations/projects
The ESEAS-RI project is in the same FP5 cluster as most
EuroGOOS projects. It was pointed out that tide gauge data from
the Danish Meteorological Instuite is delivered to EuroGOOS
but not to ESEAS. Therefore, and effort should be made to
convince DMI
to share tide gauge data with ESEAS, not only EuroGOOS,
as there should be no competition.
It was again pointed out that the ESEAS should perhaps contact
EuroGOOS and consider if ESEAS should become a member. However,
this should not be done before the future of ESEAS is decided.
17 ESEAS-RI workshop
It is suggested to have an ESEAS-RI workshop during the 2nd week of Sept.
2004. The place is undecided.
The GB was asked to nominate a member for the Scientific Committee of the
workshop. The following AI was agreed:
Action Item
GB-4-14:
Hans-Peter Plag
to ask Christian LeProvost and Thorkil Aarup to participate in
the ESEAS-RI workshop in september 2004.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
29 February 2004.
18 AOB
The following AI was agreed after a short discussion:
Action Item
GB-4-15:
Hans-Peter Plag
to ask the Project Team to open the status webpages for all
ESEAS members and/or ESEAS GB.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
29 February 2004.
19 Place and time of next meeting
The next GB meeting will most likely have to take place
in July 2004 or shortly after in order to decide how to continue
the ESEAS. The place of the meeting is undecided.
Below, the list of AIs is given:
Action Item
GB-4-1:
Hans-Peter Plag
to inform Tbilisi University that their application
for membership has been accepted.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
Action Item
GB-4-2:
Hans-Peter Plag
to inform the Space Geodesy Laboratory, University of
Alicante, that their application
for membership has been accepted.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
Action Item
GB-4-3:
Hans-Peter Plag
to prepare a webpage "How to apply for membership in the ESEAS",
with advice to contact and coordinate with the national delegate and member
institution in the same country.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
Action Item
GB-4-4:
Hans-Peter Plag
to inform the Royal Naval Observatory of Spain,
Spain, that the application
for membership has been accepted.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
Action Item
GB-4-5:
Hans-Peter Plag
to ask POU, Malta for more info about potential
contributions to the ESEAS.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
Action Item
GB-4-6:
To set up a webpage with guidelines for replacement of representatives
in GB.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
31 January 2004.
Action Item
GB-4-7:
Hans-Peter Plag
and
Richard Bingley
will add TEC members to relevant ESEAS-RI Working Groups.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
29 February 2004.
Action Item
GB-4-8:
Hans-Peter Plag
to initialise the TIP for the ESEAS-RI project
using the web-based tool provided by the Commission.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
30 April 2004.
Rational:
A Draft TIP is expected to be provided with the second annual report.
It is necessary to start the work early in order to have the draft TIP
ready in time for report delivery.
Action Item
GB-4-9:
Richard Bingley
,
Stefano Corsini
, and
Hans-Peter Plag
to write a drfat report assessing the
first period of the ESEAS.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
30 April 2004.
Rational:
The ESEAS test project ends in July 2004. The assessment report
will provide the basis for the decision of the GB on how to continue.
The report will give a recommendation on how to continue and for that
discuss different alternatives. The draft will be made available to
the TEC and the GB for comments.
Action Item
GB-4-10:
Hanne Heiberg
to remove the newsletter page and
update the News page with relevant information.
Responsible:
Hanne Heiberg,
Deadline:
2003-12-10.
Action Item
GB-4-11:
Hanne Heiberg
and
To put the drafts of requirements and classification of ESEAS
observing sites available under ESEAS-RI status webpages, T1.1, and as
deliverables D1.1 and D1.3. Older versions should only be present for
minutes and reports.
Responsible:
Hanne Heiberg,
Deadline:
2003-12-01.
Status of Action Item
GB-4-11:
Done.
Reported on 03 December 2003 by
ESEAS Central Bureau.
Action Item
GB-4-12:
Hanne Heiberg
to send the draft documents of ESEAS-RI D1.1 (Requirements
for Observing Sites) and D1.3 (Classification of Observing Sites) to
GB for review.
Responsible:
Hanne Heiberg,
Deadline:
2004-01-05.
Action Item
GB-4-13:
All to provide information about relevant
calls for proposals to the ESEAS CB and specifically to
Hans-Peter Plag
.
Responsible:
All,
Deadline:
As soon as possible.
Rational:
The ESEAS CB is to coordinate new proposals of the ESEAS
community supporting the further implementation of the ESEAS.
Action Item
GB-4-14:
Hans-Peter Plag
to ask Christian LeProvost and Thorkil Aarup to participate in
the ESEAS-RI workshop in september 2004.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
29 February 2004.
Action Item
GB-4-15:
Hans-Peter Plag
to ask the Project Team to open the status webpages for all
ESEAS members and/or ESEAS GB.
Responsible:
Hans-Peter Plag,
Deadline:
29 February 2004.
End of Minutes