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Metrology-Inspired Methods in the FIDUCEO Climate Research

Kolloquium der Abteilung 8

FIDUCEO (FIDelity and Uncertainty in Climate data records from Earth Observations) is a project within the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. It will create new climate datasets from Earth observations with the ambition to set new standards of accuracy. By doing so, FIDUCEO responds to the need for enhanced credibility for climate data and will support rigorous science, decision-making, and climate services. At present, uncertainty estimates in satellite-derived climate data records are often generic, if they are provided at all, and may not adequately address all effects leading to uncertainty in the ultimate geophysical data sets. Hence there is a need to demonstrate that uncertainties are at least not underestimated; this can be achieved by following their transformations in the various data processing steps from raw to highly processed data products. This concept of traceability is adopted from metrology, where it means linking measurement results to SI standards. By applying metrological concepts and methods, FIDUCEO will enable meaningful comparisons between data from different instruments in space.

I shall discuss the different steps which need to be assessed in order to derive a realistic error budget. It must
take into account uncertainties in calibration, in retrieval algorithms and in validation. Application of metrology-inspired methods and tools to model and propagate systematic uncertainties offers a means by which first principle estimates of stability can be developed.