GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC WATCH ACTIVITIES IN MALAYSIA

WHAT IS GAW?

The GAW consists of a worldwide network of strategically-located global, regional and national monitoring stations coordinated by the WMO. Formally established in 1989, GAW integrated a number of existing WMO monitoring activities in the field of atmospheric environment. These were the WMO Global Ozone Observing System (GO3OS) that was started in the 1950s and the Background Air Pollution Monitoring Network (BAPMoN) that commenced in the 1960s and included measurements of important greenhouse gases (GHGs). The data collected are particularly essential in understanding the relationship in understanding between changing atmospheric composition and human-induced changes in global and regional climate. The GAW activities also focus on the monitoring and research aspects of long-range atmospheric transport and deposition of potentially harmful substances over terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, and the natural cycle of chemical elements in the global atmosphere-ocean-biosphere system, and possible anthropogenic influences thereon. 

There are presently 300 GAW stations in operation of which more than 200 are GAW regional stations operated by more than 60 countries form monitoring and assessing regional environmental problems. These include estimates of air pollution in rural areas, the acidity of precipitation, the deterioration of ecosystems and airborne pollution of the seas. Many of these regional GAW stations measure increases in surface ozone, which also has an impact on regional climate.

Thre are presently 22 fully operational GAW global stations with complete programmes. Measurements at the global stations include total ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases, solar radiation, total aerosol load, composition of atmospheric particles and other meteorological parameters.

WHO OPERATES THE GAW STATIONS?

The operation of the GAW monitoring network relies largely on the activities of the meteorological services of th countries that operate the monitoring stations. A number of these stations are operated in cooperation with other research and academic institutions.

BENEFITS FROM THE GAW NETWORK

Since the late 1970s, measurements from the GAW surface stations have been augmented by measurements from satellites using special equipment such as the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). Ozone data from the GAW networka dn information from the satellites together provide the only dataset available for the determination of the long-term trends of ozone concentrations. These have been highly instrumental in providing the basis for the adoption of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the associated Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and its Amendments. 

The GAW will also play a major and increasing role in the long-term validation of satellite determinations of trace gas concentrations, since continuous validation is critical for reliable determination of trends.

The GAW data and resulting assessments thus provide crucial input on the state of atmospheric composition to numerous users. These include individual scientists, research organizations, Governments, policy makers, and the WMO/UNEP Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They are also crucial to the implementation of relevant international conventions, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.

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