Who we are
The World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG) is a World Data Centre (WDC) operated under the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) programme
of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
In response to a request from
WMO,
the WDCGG was established at
JMA in 1990.
Long-lived greenhouse gases such as CO
2, CH
4 and N
2O contribute greatly to global warming.
Accurate understanding of their states, including sources and sinks, is fundamental in the development of related mitigation and adaptation policies,
and requires worldwide long-term precise observation data with a common reference standard and uniform quality.
To promote related research, WDCGG and other WDCs make these data freely available to the scientific community worldwide.
What we do
WDCGG serves to collect, archive and distribute data on greenhouse gases (CO
2, CH
4, CFCs, N
2O, etc.)
and other related gases (CO, etc.) in the atmosphere and elsewhere as observed under the GAW programme.
WDCGG also operates as
a Data Collection or Production Centre (DCPC) for the WMO Information System (WIS).
The WDCGG website is used to provide and update greenhouse gas observation data contributed by organizations
and individual researchers worldwide (referred to here simply as
contributors).
Thanks to the generous support of these contributors, WDCGG has built an extensive archive of data along with GAW network development,
and attributes the success of this work to everyone involved.
Objectives
The objectives of WDCGG are to assist scientific research, assessment and policy making for environmental issues,
ultimately contributing to a reduction of societal environmental risks, and
to meet the requirements of related environmental conventions.
Activities
Since its establishment in 1990, WDCGG has worked to achieve its stated objectives. The organization operates and improves its functions in accordance with the latest GAW Implementation Plan.
The current operations of WDCGG are:
-
to collect observation data and associated metadata on greenhouse and related gases
from various platforms of the GAW observation network and relevant international research programmes;
-
to archive data of known quality for long-term use after validation;
-
to make the archived data freely available to users via the Internet; and
-
to provide value-added products and support information in order to
facilitate more reliable monitoring and data analysis.
WMO WDCGG Data Summary
WDCGG analyzes long-term trends and seasonal variations in the mole fractions of greenhouse and related gases,
and publishes an annual synopsis of the information in
the WMO WDCGG Data Summary.
WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin
WMO issues the
WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin to report on the latest trends and atmospheric concentrations of key greenhouse gases.
Thanks to contributors' generous support, WDCGG has significantly contributed to the bulletin via the provision of results from global analysis of greenhouse gases.
History
The World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG) was established at JMA in October 1990.
The seven currently active GAW WDCs cover greenhouse gases, ozone/UV, precipitation chemistry, aerosols, reactive gases, solar radiation and remote sensing of the atmosphere.
The GAW network is officially recognized as contributing to the atmospheric composition domain (for CO
2, CH
4 and other gases) of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS),
which supports research and systematic observation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Under the GCOS-GAW Agreement of October 2006,
WDCGG is charged with data management and provision of value-added products on these gas species
in order to facilitate more reliable monitoring and data analysis.
In October 2002, WDCGG took over the role of the World Data Centre for Surface Ozone (WDCSO) from
the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU).
However, on 1 January 2016, responsibility for archiving of reactive-gas
observation data (other than for CO) was
officially transferred to the newly established
World Data Centre for Reactive Gases (WDCRG)
hosted by NILU.
Reactive gas data submitted to WDCGG before 1 January 2016 have been migrated to WDCRG.
About GAW
The Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) programme of WMO
(
https://community.wmo.int/activity-areas/gaw)
coordinates global atmospheric chemistry observation,
analysis and scientific assessment related to the changing composition of the earth's atmosphere and its effects on weather,
climate, water and the environment.
GAW is the lead programme for implementing action in the atmospheric composition domain of
the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) on essential climate variables (greenhouse gases, ozone and aerosols).
It is a major contributor to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)
coordinating integrated global atmospheric chemistry observation and research
on greenhouse gases, ozone, aerosols, reactive gases and precipitation chemistry.
The mission of GAW is to reduce atmospheric composition related risks to society associated with air pollution, ecosystem and human health, food production, and climate change and support policy and requirements of conventions by providing trusted, high-quality transparent, scientific-based information.
This is accomplished through maintaining and applying global, long-term observations of the chemical composition and selected physical characteristics of the atmosphere, emphasizing quality assurance and quality control and delivering integrated products and services of relevance to society. The GAW Programme is implemented and undertaken by WMO Members and supported by international scientific communities.
Go to
the WMO website
