The group on Asia-Pacific Satellite Data Exchange and Utilization was established to increase the amount of data exchanged among agencies in the region over existing communications links, to apprise regional agencies of changes and improvements to communications and satellite systems, and to identify means of improving existing data utilization.
In addition to NOAA, participants include the Japanese Meteorological Agency, the China Meteorological Administration, the Korean Meteorological Administration, the Australia Bureau of Meteorology, the Hong Kong Observatory and the Canadian Meteorological Centre.

The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites was established in 1984 at the request of the Economic Summit of Industrialised Nations Working Group (G7) on Growth, Technology, and Employment, as the international forum for space agencies in Earth observation (EO).  This group recognized the multidisciplinary nature of satellite EO and the value of coordination across all proposed missions.  CEOS is dedicated to international collaboration among space systems and EO missions.  CEOS now comprises some 28 space agencies along with 20 associated organizations that meet in Plenary annually, with activities and coordination occurring throughout the year in a Secretariat, the Strategic Implementation Team (SIT), and three Working groups.  NOAA is a founding member of CEOS and is currently leading an effort to identify how CEOS members will contribute to key international Earth observations in the future.  In November 2007, NOAA assumed chairmanship of the SIT.  NOAA/NESDIS is a charter CEOS member of the Secretariat and chaired CEOS in 2003.

The Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS) is an informal group of member countries that operate meteorological satellites and the World Meteorological Organization in its role representing international data users. Since 1972, the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS) has provided a forum in which the satellite operators have collaborated to ensure maximum coordination and efficiency in the design and deployment of environmental monitoring satellites and in the procedures for data acquisition and dissemination. Membership currently includes organizations from China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the U.S. NOAA hosted the 2007 meeting of CGMS.

The Cospas-Sarsat International Satellite System for Search and Rescue is an international, humanitarian search and rescue system that uses satellites to detect and locate emergency beacons carried by ships, aircraft, or individuals. The system consists of a network of satellites, ground stations, mission control centers, and rescue coordination centers. The program was initiated in 1979 by the United States, the former Soviet Union, France, and Canada and was fully established in 1985. NOAA represents the United States in this international forum. Since its inception, the Cospas-Sarsat system has been instrumental in saving over 15,000 lives worldwide.

The regional arm of the United Nations Secretariat for the Asian and Pacific region is the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

The functions of UNESCAP have been defined by the Secretary-General include promoting economic and social development through regional and subregional cooperation and integration; serving as the main economic and social development forum within the United Nations system for the UNESCAP region; formulating and promoting development assistance activities and projects commensurate with the needs and priorities of the region while acting as an executing agency for relevant operational projects; providing substantive and secretariat services and documentation for the Commission and its subsidiary bodies; carrying out studies, research and other activities within the terms of reference of the Commission; providing advisory services to governments at their request; developing and executing programmes of technical cooperation; coordinating UNESCAP activities with those of the major departments/offices of the United Nations at Headquarters and specialized agencies and intergovernmental organizations.

Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) was established in 1992 to ensure that the observations and information needed to address climate-related issues are obtained and made available to all potential users. Co-sponsored by WMO, IOC, UNEP, ICSU.

GCOS does not itself directly make observations nor generate data products. It stimulates, encourages, coordinates and otherwise facilitates the taking of the needed observations by national or international organizations in support of their own requirements as well as of common goals. It provides an operational framework for integrating and enhancing observational systems of participating countries and organizations into a comprehensive climate observing system.

Structure:

• Steering Committee
• Science Panels for Atmosphere, Oceans, Terrestrial
• (new) Cooperation Board

GCOS has worked the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) arena to its advantage and the advantage of Earth observations generally.

• 1st and now 2nd Adequacy Report
• UNFCCC decisions

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is coordinating international efforts to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). This emerging public infrastructure is interconnecting a diverse and growing array of instruments and systems for monitoring and forecasting changes in the global environment. This “system of systems” supports policymakers, resource managers, science researchers and many other experts and decision-makers.

GEO was launched in response to calls for action by the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and by the G8 (Group of Eight) leading industrialized countries. These high-level meetings recognized that international collaboration is essential for exploiting the growing potential of Earth observations to support decision making in an increasingly complex and environmentally stressed world.

The United States followed up to these calls in July 2003 by hosting the first Earth Observation Summit, which adopted a Declaration establishing the ad hoc intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (ad hoc GEO) to draft a 10-Year Implementation Plan. The Second Earth Observation Summit in Tokyo, Japan, in April 2004 adopted a Framework Document defining the scope and intent of a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The Third Earth Observation Summit, held in Brussels, Belgium, in February 2005, endorsed the GEOSS 10-Year Implementation Plan and established the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) to carry it out. Ministers and officials from over 100 governments and international organizations assembled in Cape Town, South Africa, in November 2007 for the Fourth Earth Observation Summit at which ministers noted with satisfaction the numerous contributions and early achievements made toward the development of GEOSS and reconfirmed their support for its advancement.

GEO is a voluntary partnership of governments and international organizations. It provides a framework within which these partners can develop new projects and coordinate their strategies and investments. As of July 2008, GEO’s Members include 74 Governments and the European Commission. In addition, 51 intergovernmental, international, and regional organizations with a mandate in Earth observation or related issues have been recognized as Participating Organizations.

GEO is constructing GEOSS on the basis of a 10-Year Implementation Plan for the period 2005 to 2015. The Plan defines a vision statement for GEOSS, its purpose and scope, expected benefits, and the nine “Societal Benefit Areas” of disasters, health, energy, climate, water, weather, ecosystems, agriculture and biodiversity.

Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS) is a program for observations, modeling, and analysis of terrestrial ecosystems to support sustainable development. GTOS facilitates access to information on terrestrial ecosystems so that researchers and policy makers can detect and manage global and regional environmental change. Its sponsors are: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Council for Science (ICSU), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Meteorological Organization (WMO) .

The International Charter “Space and Major Disasters” was initiated at the UNISPACE III conference in Vienna in 1999. The founding members were the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES). NOAA became a member of the Charter in September 2001.

The Charter’s goal is to provide a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery to those affected by natural or technological disasters. Recognizing that no single operator or satellite can match the challenges of disaster management, each member agency commits resources to support the provisions of the Charter, and to help mitigate the effects of disasters on human life and property.

The Charter provides real-time satellite and sensing data for use in disaster management through an authorized user system, consisting of public services and disaster response actors in individual countries, who can contact an on-duty operator available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Charter members now include space-related government and private organizations from around the world, including ISRO (India), CONAE (Argentina), JAXA (Japan), and CNSA (China), among others.
For more information visit the website at http://www.disastercharter.org

The International Ice Charting Working Group addresses critical interests in coordinating ice information, terminology, data and mapping standards, operations and customer support, training, technology for analysis and forecasting, and applied science, research and development. Coordination is expected to encourage compatibility, leverage expertise and resources, improve forecasts and analyses, and save money. IICWG includes members from the ice services of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Russia (Roshydromet's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute), Sweden and the US.

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO provides Member States of the United Nations with an essential mechanism for global co-operation in the study of the ocean. The IOC assists governments to address their individual and collective ocean and coastal problems through the sharing of knowledge, information an technology and through the coordination of national programs.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assess scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation.  It is open to all Members of UNEP and the WMO. 

The IPCC was established to provide decision-makers and others with an objective source of information about climate change.  The information it provides is based on scientific evidence and reflects existing viewpoints within the scientific community.  The IPCC does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate-related data or parameters.  Its role is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open, and transparent basis the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic literature produced worldwide.  IPCC reports should meet high scientific and technical standards and aim to reflect a range of views, expertise, and wide geographical coverage.

Because of its intergovernmental nature, the IPCC is able to provide scientific technical and socio-economic information in a policy-relevant but policy-neutral way to decision makers. When governments accept the IPCC reports and approve their Summary for Policymakers, they acknowledge the legitimacy of their scientific content.

The IPCC has completed Four Assessment Reports (1990, 1995, 2001 and 2007) in addition to a number of Special Reports.  The 4th Assessment Report (AR4) was adopted in 2007 and consists of a Synthesis Report and the three IPCC Working Group contributions:  Physical Science Basis; Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability; Mitigation of Climate Change.  The 4AR represents many years of work by approximately 500 Lead Authors, more than 800 Contributing Authors, and 2000 Expert Reviewers. 

The awarding of the 2007 Nobel peace prize to the IPCC is a remarkable testament to the dedication and commitment of the thousands of experts and participants, including NOAA scientists, who have produced the Panel’s rigorous and comprehensive assessments of climate change research.

NOAA participates in the North America- Europe Data Exchange working group along with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, the U.K. Met Office, Meteo-France, Deutscher Wetterdienst, the World Meteorological Organization, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites , and the Canadian Meteorological Centre. The group meets annually to discuss requirements and data sharing. The 21th meeting was hosted by NOAA in September 2008.

The UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, under the Office for Outer Space Affairs, was begun in 1959 to review the scope of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, to devise programs to be undertaken under United Nations auspices, to encourage continued research and the dissemination of information on outer space matters, and to study legal problems arising from the exploration of outer space.

The UN Committee, and its Scientific & Technical Subcommittee and Legal Subcommittee meet annually to consider issues put before them by the General Assembly, reports submitted to them and issues raised by the Member States. The Committee and the Subcommittees, working on the basis of consensus, make recommendations to the General Assembly. A NOAA Advisor from the International and Interagency Affairs Office serves on the US delegation to the Committee and its Scientific & Technical Subcommittee.

With 188 member states and territories, The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations focused on the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces and the resulting distribution of water resources. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Space Program coordinates environmental satellite matters and activities throughout all WMO Programs and provides guidance on the potential of remote-sensing techniques in meteorology, hydrology and related disciplines and applications. Through NESDIS, NOAA maintains an active relationship with the WMO Space Program Office and provides advice and guidance on policy-related matters, including the optimization of international space-based earth observing capabilities. Dr. John L. "Jack" Hayes of NOAA and the National Weather Service Director is the U.S. Permanent Representative to the WMO and a member of the WMO’s Executive Council.