Denmark's Third National Communication on Climate Change

8 Research and systematic observation

8.1 Climate research and observations in general
8.2 Research
8.2.1 Research policy and funding
8.2.2 Climate processes and studies including palaeoclimatic studies
8.2.3 Climate modelling and the climate of the future
8.2.4 Effects of climate change
8.2.5 Economic research, including evaluation of climate change and possibilities for mitigation
8.2.6 Research and development of technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change
8.3 Systematic climate observations
8.3.1 Atmospheric climate observations, including measurements of the atmosphere's composition
8.3.2 The ice observation service
8.3.3 Stratospheric observations
8.3.4 Reanalyses and climate databases
8.3.5 Oceanographic climate observations
8.3.6 Terrestrial observations related to climate changes
8.3.7 Development assistance for establishment and maintenance of observation and monitoring systems

8.1 Climate research and observations in general

Research and observations within climate in the broad sense of the word take place at a number of institutes and organisations and cover a wide range of disciplines from natural science to evaluation of instruments and sociological aspects.

Denmark's Meteorological Institute (DMI) carries out observations of climate parameters (atmosphere and ocean) under the World Metrological Organisation's (WMO) programmes and sub-programmes:World Weather Watch Programme (WWW), Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), Global Observing System (GOS), Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).

Together with climate research, climate observations have been one of the DMI's main tasks for more than 125 years, with measurement, theory, and modelling. The establishment of the Danish Climate Center at the DMI in 1998 strengthened the area, and raised its public profile in national and international cooperation.

Danish research competence concerning the physical expressions of past climate changes is to be found particularly at the Geological Survey of Greenland and Denmark (GEUS), the University of Copenhagen (KU) and Århus University. GEUS also has competencies in glaciological studies of the Greenland ice cap and the ice cap's interaction with climate change and in the effect of climate change on the water cycle in nature. The Geophysical Department and the Geological Institute at KU and the Geological Institute at Århus University have very great expertise in palaeoclimate data, and the climate group at KU is known worldwide for its ice core drilling and analyses.

Besides research on the climate system, the Institute's climate-related research includes research concerning the driving forces for emissions of greenhouse gases and their impact on the environment, the state of the physical, chemical and biological environment, effects of climate change and society's possibilities for response and regulation. Denmark's National Environmental Research Institute (NERI), the Danish Forestry and Landscape Research Institute (FSL), the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Risø National Laboratory are all involved in these climate-related fields of research. In addition, several of Denmark's universities work on different aspects of climate research.

The DMI has published an overview, parts of which describe current Danish research on climate changes1.

It is on the basis of research competencies in the above-mentioned areas that Denmark also participates actively in IPCC's work. For example, Danish authors have been involved in IPCC's evaluation reports.

The Copenhagen Global Change Initiative (COGCI) is a recently established and formalised cooperation in the form of a research network and a PhD school between three Danish institutions (GEUS, DMI, and NERI) and the University of Copenhagen. The COGCI covers all relevant scientific and interdisciplinary disciplines within global, regional, and local environmental impacts and climate problems.

Danish climate research contributes to a wide range of international projects under the World Climate Research Programme, such as the Arctic Climate System Study (ACSYS), Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR), the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX), Stratospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC) and the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE).

8.2 Research

8.2.1 Research policy and funding

Climate-related research in Denmark is characterised by having grown up within an already existing framework as a natural development of institutions' activities. Denmark has not previously had a general national research programme for climate changes and global changes. However, as follow-up on Climate 2012, a committee was appointed to look at the possibilities for improving coordination of Danish research work on climate. This committee completed its work in December 2002. The work consisted primarily in mapping Danish climate research2 and making recommendations on that basis.

Mapping was largely based on a questionnaire-based survey in which all known research centres with climate or climate-related research were contacted. Besides the narrowly focused scientific climate research, the survey has provided information on a broad section of climate-related research in Denmark.

The mapping exercise showed that there is great diversity in relatively extensive climate-relevant research. The research is primarily concentrated on basic knowledge, consequences of climate change and mitigation of manmade climate change, whereas there has been very little research in adaptation to climate change.

Table 8.1
Resources used in Danish climate research 1998-2001

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The research is funded by the institutions' basic grants, programme grants, and the EU Commission's framework programmes for research and technological development, and by the Danish research councils.

In the period 1998 to 2001 Danish climate research increased steadily, from 172 man-years in 1998 to 189 man-years in 2001. The budget increased correspondingly from DKK 94 million in 1998 to DKK 114 million in 2001, with foreign funding accounting for just under 30%.

Besides the resources shown in table 8.1, a number of players are working with activities related to climate research, including activities under the Danish Energy Research Programme, the Nordic Energy Research Programme, PSO funds and Risø National Laboratory's Wind Energy Department, see section 8.2.6. In 2001 these spent DKK 379 mill. on activities indirectly or partially related to activities concerning mitigation of man-made climate changes.

On the basis of the mapping exercise, the committee recommended a general, combined evaluation to determine which areas within climate research should receive larger grants from the government research councils or from other public support schemes. In addition, the committee presented the following proposals for special action areas to strengthen the entire Danish research in the area:
Climate research focused on the North Atlantic region
Adaptation and vulnerability in relation to nature and environment
Emissions in the agricultural sector with a view to reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Analysis of extreme events in relation to the greenhouse effect
Development of climate models focused on feedback processes
Long-term stabilisation of atmospheric greenhouse concentrations and targets for greenhouse gas emissions
The effect of climate change on renewable energy

Lastly, the committee's research representatives proposed that more attention be paid in future to interdisciplinary cooperation, building up national and international networks, and disseminating the results, and that climate research be given a clearer place in the government's research policy.

The government will consider the possibilities for following the committee's recommendations.

Danish climate-related research is described in detail in the following sections, while a number of ongoing research projects are listed in Appendix D.

8.2.2 Climate processes and studies including palaeoclimatic studies

At the DMI work is going on within atmospheric and coupled atmospheric oceanic processes, which are important in connection with global climate change. These process studies, which are going on in several international projects, include natural atmospheric oceanic interplay on time scales from years to decades and the main processes of importance for deep water formation in the North Atlantic.

Through assimilation of atmospheric reanalyses in atmospheric models, several studies are being carried out of atmospheric processes that are important partly for developing improved atmospheric models and partly for detecting changes in the external climate impacts. In addition, trends and variations in the latest tropospheric temperature observations from satellites (primarily MSU data) and radio soundings are being analysed and compared.

At the DMI work is going on to improve models for describing the thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer. This area is important, not only in relation to the Vienna Convention concerning protection of the stratosphere's ozone layer, but also in a climate context, because there is interaction with the greenhouse effect.

The DMI has participated in all major European-American Arctic ozone campaigns in the 1990s, such as EASOE, SESAME,THESEO, and THESEO-2000/SOLVE. The research is based on analyses of a broad range of available observations compared with analyses of the meteorological conditions in the stratosphere. It includes analyses of the dispersal of ozone-depleted air from the Polar regions to intermediate latitudes, experimental and theoretical model work concerning the formation of polar-stratospheric clouds, and modelling of the propagation of localised mountain waves. The work, which is receiving support from the EU Commission's framework research programmes, is aimed at better understanding and modelling of the processes that lead to chemical depletion of the ozone layer.

The Geophysical Department under the Niels Bohr Institute for Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics at the University of Copenhagen is working mainly on global and general problems, such as the natural variability of the climate in all time scales and the role of basic physical/chemical processes in the climate system. Examples of projects are the international ice core projects, the aim of which is to analyse ice cores through Greenland's ice cap in order to obtain a climate series that covers as long a period of time as possible and to obtain information about the end of the last ice age 11,500 years ago, and about the last warm period 130,000 years ago.

At Odense University research is going on within the areas of the climate system's stability, the role of the ocean in the climate system and the chemical and biological development of the atmosphere and the ocean. The newly established Center for Planet Research undertakes climate research in a more general sense - for example, it studies ice deposits not only on earth but also in the solar system.

GEUS works with the physical expressions of past climate changes, including ecosystems' response, temperature variations, changes in precipitation and rises in water level. Another research topic is past variations in the circulation of the North Atlantic sea currents and their importance for climate changes. GEUS also works with mass balance studies of Greenland's ice cap, including its interaction with climate change and its effect on changes in water level.

8.2.3 Climate modelling and the climate of the future

With substantial support from the European Commission, the DMI/Denmark's Climate Center are working closely together with research institutions in Europe on analyses of the climatic consequences of increased greenhouse effect, depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer and variations in solar activity. The main emphasis is on Denmark and the European region, but global research is also being carried out. The work includes both developing models and using the models for scenario calculations of the climate of the future.

The models include:
Relatively simple empirical models for describing local climate change and variations (downscaling) and for use in seasonal forecasting.
A regional dynamic atmosphereclimate model for calculating regional/ local climate change and variations. The main focus is on Denmark, Europe, and Greenland.
Finely meshed global dynamic atmospheric climate models for calculating global/regional climate change and variations.
Global dynamic coupled atmosphere ocean-sea ice models, which are used for calculating climate climate change (primarily as a consequence of increased greenhouse effect) and internal variations in the climate on a 5-100 year time scale.

In 2000 both global and regional scenario calculations were carried out3 based on IPCC's so-called SRES emission scenarios - more specifically, scenarios A2 and B2, and the results have been used in the IPCC's Third Assessment Report. For Denmark it is particularly changes in (extreme) precipitation, soil moisture and storm activity that are important. For Greenland it is particularly changes in the simulated snow accumulation on the ice cap that are of interest.

In the European climate project PRUDENCE, which is being coordinated by the DMI, researchers are working with several climate models to reduce and quantify the uncertainty in climate projections and interpretation of the results in relation to European strategies for mitigating climate change and adapting to it.

The research on ozone as a greenhouse gas includes the influence of ozone on circulation in the stratosphere, together with radiation forcing and climate effects caused by changes in the ozone concentration. In the research in this area, use is made of a global climate model and a more simple radiation convection model.

Research at the Geophysical Department of the University of Copenhagen includes experimental/field-related, theoretical, and modelling aspects and helps to indicate methods that can be used for evaluating the climate of the future.

8.2.4 Effects of climate change

The effects of climate change on nature and ecosystems are covered by research at GEUS, NERI, the Danish Forest and Landscape Research Center (FSL), the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Risø National Laboratory.

FSL carries out research on the direct effect of changed CO2 concentration on Danish forests through its cooperation with the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University.

NERI has research competence concerning toleration limits for air pollution for particularly sensitive ecosystems on agricultural land.

NERI works with climate change in Greenland, where adverse effects can be expected. NERI is carrying out a standardised biological/ecological monitoring programme covering a broad spectrum of processes, fauna, and flora. In connection with this project the institute is carrying out research projects aimed at increasing knowledge of basic Arctic ecosystems. In the last five years NERI has built up competence focused on the Arctic marine ecosystem's function and dynamics and is investigating an Arctic fjord system and, within that, relationships between production and nutrient conversion.

GEUS has competence concerning long-term variations in ecosystems in Denmark and Greenland and on the Faroe Islands caused by the climate. The institute is investigating how the ecosystems react to climate change in lakes and marine environments in Denmark and Greenland and in forests in Scandinavia. It also registers changes in sea level and their effect on the water cycle, including the formation of groundwater.

The Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences works with the interaction of climate and agriculture, including effects of climate and atmospheric CO2 on processes in the soilplant system. Other aspects being studied include factors affecting greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, e.g. energy consumption in the agricultural sector, biomass for energy purposes, production and handling of manure, biogas, and NH3 volatilization, and greenhouse gases in relation to feeding strategies, manure handling, and soil tillage.

Risø National Laboratory's work includes a number of sub-projects on effects of climate change in developing countries, where the centre's activities include both analyses of vulnerability to climate change and adaptation strategies. The activities cover the energy, industrial, forestry, agricultural, transport, and waste sectors.

There is not at the present time special competence concerning the effects on humans and their conditions of life and health, which are particularly relevant in those areas in the world where dramatic climate effects are expected/seen. An element of  NERI's work programme for 2000 and 2001 was a pilot study of the equality problem between developing countries and industrial countries.

The Geographical Institute at the University of Copenhagen is doing research on soil-forming processes in relation to climate and vegetation that are of significance for, amongst other things, the exchange of greenhouse gases between soil and the atmosphere.

8.2.5 Economic research, including evaluation of climate change and possibilities for mitigation

It is important to take account of the economic consequences of the different ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

NERI's Center for Analysis of Environment, Economy and Society has general competence in setting up and evaluating mechanisms for reducing emissions and special competence within the agricultural, energy and transport sectors. In addition, it possesses general knowledge of the different aspects of the Kyoto Protocol, including research competence concerning Joint Implementation.

Risø National Laboratory is involved in various research activities, primarily relating to policy and mechanisms for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and relating to emission scenarios for greenhouse gases. The activities include development and implementation of international method standards for cost and sustainability analyses of reduction policies, discussion and testing of baseline approaches and various project and sector studies for the energy, transport, and agricultural sectors. The research activities have also included support for the Climate Secretariat and capacity and training programmes in developing countries. In addition, Risø has research activities concerning the Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms, Emission Trading (ET), Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Research at Aarhus University is concentrated on the regulatory aspects of the climate problem. The Center for Social Science Research on the Environment (CeSam) at Aarhus University thus has general competence in research in mechanisms - particularly in the effects of economic instruments (taxes and quotas) and voluntary agreements. In addition, the centre has thorough knowledge of environment and energy policy, including climate policy in the industrialised countries.

The University of Southern Denmark in Odense carries out research in climatic, ecological and anthropogenic impacts on marine environments, particularly the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in the period 1500-2000.

At the University of Copenhagen the main focus of climate research is the scientific aspects, but research is also being conducted in the climate field in an economic context, at the Economic Institute, for example.

At Roskilde University Center, research is going on concerning scenario building within climatestabilising policies, together with life cycle analyses as a tool in economic evaluation of climate-stabilising strategies.

8.2.6 Research and development of technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to climate change

At the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the energy/environment group and the group for urban ecology base their research on sustainable energy development and sustainable urban change, with energy savings and renewable energy as central parameters.

The Energy Research Programme (EFP) has hitherto supported a large number of research and development activities in the energy field. The activities have ranged all the way from social science research on the interaction between the energy sector and the rest of society to research in such advanced energy technologies as super conductors and fuel cells. In 2002 funding for the programme was reduced from the previous annual sum of between DKK 200 mill. and DKK 250 mill., and at the same time, the action areas were narrowed. However, the energy research effort will increase again from 2003, mainly within renewable energy, with a pool administered under the Ministry of Science,Technology and Innovation. The EFP contributes to Danish energy research with a long-term perspective, and industry is also involved. Statistics on research projects show that private companies, together with energy and research institutions, contribute almost 50% of the financial support for the research projects.

NERI concerns itself with the main forces behind greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector, the agricultural sector, and the transport sector. FSL has competence in forestry, afforestation, etc. Together, these two institutions cover the aspects of land use in the open countryside for agricultural purposes, forestry and nature. In this connection, both institutions are studying problems related to use of biomass from agriculture and forestry as an energy source.

NERI makes general inventories of atmospheric emissions from all sectors and activities, including the greenhouse gases. The institution has special research competence in inventories from the agricultural sector, the transport sector, and the energy sector. FSL seeks generally to quantify how forestry and changes in land use in relation to forests affect the forest ecosystems' carbon sinks and thus the potential binding of CO2 in biomass and soil.

NERI also has research competence in modelling of the dispersal of greenhouse gases locally and regionally, with special focus on Denmark, Europe, and Greenland. The Department for Atmospheric Environment is developing a CO2 model (DEHM) for dispersal, transport, and surface movements. The model can be used to determine the size of sources and drains for CO2 in Europe over specific areas and for estimating whether these areas comply with the Kyoto Protocol.

GEUS is researching impacts from earlier eras on the environment, and the driving forces for natural climate variations in long-term perspectives.

In cooperation with seven other countries, GEUS is the project manager for the EU-funded GESTCO project, in which the possibilities for finding geological storage possibilities near the European power stations and large industrial CO2 point sources are being studied. Also in this project a technical-economic model is being developed for planning and price calculations of different combinations of sources of CO2 emissions, transport, and types of geological stores. Several geological formations in Denmark are known to be suitable for deposition. Publication of the results will be followed up by public hearings.

GEUS is also participating in the international research project SACS, in which CO2 deposition from the Norwegian Sleipner gas field is being further developed. GEUS is studying the geological conditions for the store, including the spread of the sand formation, the tightness of the clay seal and the chemical effects of storing CO2 in the form of carbonic acid where the acidity is very low.

Under the Danish Electricity Supply Act, the system operator is responsible for ensuring the research and development projects that are needed for use of environmentally sound electricity production technologies. In 2000 and 2001 a sum of around DKK 100 mill. per year was used for this purpose, including research and development within wind power, biomass and waste, other renewable energy, CHP and use of gas and system fitting.

Risø National Laboratory is carrying out research projects on the driving forces, emissions and possibilities for reduction, particularly in the developing countries.

Research at the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences focuses on the agricultural sector's possibilities for adapting to climate change by changing the cultivation system, including changes in fertilisation and the use of pesticides and adapting soil tillage methods. The aim is to develop adaptation options that also reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the sector.

8.3 Systematic climate observations

8.3.1 Atmospheric climate observations, including measurements of the atmosphere's composition

Since its establishment in 1872 the DMI has monitored the main climate parameters. In the climate monitoring programme classic methods of measurement are used and new, satellite-based methods of observation are being developed.

The DMI operates around 200 automatic measuring stations in the Kingdom (Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands) with a broad measuring programme ranging from automatic water-level or precipitation stations that measure only a single parameter to stations with a full measuring programme, including automatic cloud-height detectors and weather-type detectors. Since 2001 a separate network for climate observations has not been operated because of technological convergence between the weather networks and the climate networks and a need to rationalise the measuring network.

Table 8.2
Average data accessibility in 2000

Type

2000

Automatic weather stations, incl. Greenland and the Faroe Islands

96%

Satellite reception

98%

Weather radar

98%

Radio sounding, Denmark/Faroe Islands

99%

Radio sounding, Greenland

96%

Storm flood stations

99%


The manual measuring network is now being replaced by automatic measuring stations at the fastest possible rate, the aim being to eliminate human sources of error, to realise any rationalisation potential and to enable a considerably higher observation frequency. Observations were previously taken every three hours, but, today, observations are required at 10-minute intervals from the new stations, which cannot be done manually.

The purpose is to achieve convergence between the different types of stations so that the number of station types and spare parts can be reduced as much as possible without loss of quality.

To collect precipitation data the DMI also operates a network of 500 manual precipitation stations, which are mainly used to map the precipitation climatology. 100 stations report daily via an automatic telephone service called "Tast-Selv", and 400 monthly by postcard. Besides being used in national programmes, the observations are part of Denmark's international contribution in the form of observation components from Danish territory to the worldwide meteorological observation network WWW (World Weather Watch), GCOS (Global Climate Observing System), and other international programmes for mapping weather and climate.

Table 8.3.
The network of surface observation stations

Type

DMI

Cooperation partners

 

Denmark

Green- land

Faroe Islands

Denmark

Green- land

Faroe Islands

Manual or semi-manual weather stations

6

4

 

 

 

 

Automatic weather stations

50

25

4

15

11

1

Manual precipitation stations

489

1

5

 

 

17

Automatic precipitation intensity stations

4

 

 

70

 

 

Sun stations

33

6

2

 

 

 

Automatic water level stations

15

1

1

60

 

 


As will be seen from table 8.2, the Danish observation network is characterised particularly by high average data accessibility.

The meteorological observations are stored in the DMI's database, and observations from many Danish stations are available in electronic form right back to 1872, water level measures from 1890 and measurements of sea surface temperature from 1931. In 2001 the number of daily observations was 75,000, and the total number of observations in the database is around 245,000,000.

The meteorological observation systems that are of most interest in a climate context are:
the surface observation system
the radio sounding network
the weather radar network
the ice observation service.

Each of these systems is described in the following, together with the DMI's stratospheric observations and oceanographic observations.

The surface observation network

For historical and practical reasons, the surface observation network consists of many different types of station. Except in the case of the manual precipitation and hours of sun stations, the stations have been gradually automated since the 1970s at an increasing rate, and by the end of 2000, Denmark had an almost 100% automated network of weather stations. Table 8.3 shows the station network. DMI is receiving a growing number of observations from cooperation partners in all parts of the Kingdom, so these are included in table 8.3.

Besides the observations from the Danish land areas, the DMI has an observation agreement with about 50 Danish, Greenlandic and Faroese ships, which carry out systematic observations in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, the North Atlantic and the waters around Denmark. In addition, Denmark is a partner in the EGOS cooperation on collection of weather observations from drifting weather buoys in the North Atlantic, since the DMI has strategically well placed satellite reception facilities in Kangerlussuaq (Greenland) and in Copenhagen. The siting of weather stations in Denmark and Greenland and on the Faroe Islands, together with precipitation stations in Denmark, is shown in Appendix E (the GCOS Report).

Radio sounding network

In radio sounding, a small, fully automatic weather station is sent up by balloon. The balloon can reach a height of about 35 kilometres, and all the way up it sends observations of temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind velocity via radio to a receiving station. Radio soundings provide measurement of the atmosphere's vertical profile for use in analyses of the condition of the atmosphere. They also enable measurement of ozone and radioactivity.

The DMI operates radiosounding stations in Copenhagen, in Thorshavn on the Faroe Islands and in Danmarkshavn, Illoqqortoormiit, Tasiilaq, Narsarsuaq, and Aasiaat in Greenland. Soundings are also received from two so-called ASAP (Automated Shipboard Aerological Programme) containers, which are portable radio sounding stations designed for use on ships. The DMI has had an agreement for many years with a Greenland shipping company on ship-borne radio soundings in the North Sea and the North Atlantic. The radio sounding stations and the ASAP units take two daily soundings, although the ASAP units do not take a sounding if they are near a land radio sounding station, such as the one in Thorshavn. The total number of soundings per year is in the order of 5,800.

Weather radar network

With radars in Sindal and on Stevns, Rømø and Bornholm, Denmark's network of weather radars provides almost 100% coverage. It also has an extremely closely meshed network of land-based precipitation stations.

The weather radar network has supremely high spatial resolution and is therefore able to provide precipitation climatological information with a very high degree of detail nationally, regionally, and locally. By calibrating radar data against surfacebased point-precipitation measurements, the latest research results show that good absolute accuracy can be achieved. The present radar network has a data frequency of six data sets per hour and the spatial resolution is 2x2 km2.

Satellite data

Denmark contributes to spacebased observations through membership of the European space organisation ESA and the European meteorological satellite organisation EUMETSAT, and DMI has facilities for receiving satellite data in Denmark and Greenland.

In cooperation with EUMETSAT, NERI is managing the development of a so-called satellite application facility (SAF) for use of GPS data for weather and climate monitoring and is also participating in the development of SAFs for oceanography and sea ice, together with ozone and UV radiation.

8.3.2 The ice observation service

The DMI is responsible for systematic monitoring of the ice conditions in the waters around Greenland. Observations of the ice conditions have been collected for about 125 years, and there is a very large quantity of data in graphic form in the way of monthly surveys, ice maps, etc. Since 1956 the waters south of Kap Farvel, in particular, have been intensively monitored with a view to making shipping in the area safer. Ice maps are prepared several times a week with detailed information on relevant ice conditions. All new ice maps are in vector-graphic form. Since 2000 weekly maps have been prepared showing the ice conditions all the way round Greenland. The maps are based on satellite data and are essentially an automatically produced product that is primarily intended as a basis for analyses of climatic conditions for Greenland and the surrounding waters.

8.3.3 Stratospheric observations

The DMI monitors the stratospheric ozone layer, taking daily earthbased measurements of the thickness of the ozone layer from Copenhagen and Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) with Brewer spectrometers, together with daily measurements from Pituffik (Thule Air Base) in the spring and autumn months with a SAOZ spectrometer. The DMI also takes weekly measurements of the vertical ozone profile by means of balloon-borne soundings from Illoqqortoormiit. The measurements are reported to the databases under Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) and World Ozone and UV-radiation Data Center under the WMO programme Global Atmosphere Watch. Ozone soundings are also carried out on a campaign basis from Pituffik and Illoqqortoormiut in the winter and spring months, often as an element of major international campaigns. Balloon-borne experiments are also going on for studies of polarstratospheric clouds from Greenland and Scandinavia. Data from the research campaigns are reported to the Pan-European data centre at NILU in Norway.

The DMI's stratospheric observatories in Pituffik and Kangerlussuaq are primary and secondary Arctic stations, respectively, in Network for the Detection of Stratospheric Change, a worldwide network of measuring stations equipped with standardised instrumentation of verified high quality for monitoring the condition of the stratosphere and the processes that lead to chemical depletion of the ozone layer. Besides ozone and NO2 observations, the DMI in Pituffik takes measurements of the level of UV-B radiation. Besides the DMI's instrumentation, the NDCS stations include lidars for measuring stratospheric aerosol and cloud particles (Italy and USA) and an infrared spectrometer (USA) for measuring a wide range of stratospheric trace substances.

8.3.4 Reanalyses and climate databases

The DMI cooperates with the Pan European meteorological forecasting centre in the UK, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, on building up and using socalled global reanalyses, which are a fundamental set of data for understanding climatic variations and changes based on all measurements globally over a 40-year period. In addition, databases of the climate trend in the past 100 years or so are created and maintained, cf. 8.3.1.

8.3.5 Oceanographic climate observations

Together with the Danish Coast Directorate, the DMI monitors the water level in a number of Danish localities.

In cooperation with the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, the DMI carries out annual oceanographic observations on standard sections of the west coast of Greenland for the purpose of monitoring climate changes in the Greenland marine environment with a view to use in fishery evaluations.

The DMI also participates in special measuring campaigns in, for example, the North Atlantic. For instance, in 1999, the DMI took over the management of the research vessel DANA's expedition in the Greenland Sea, the purpose of which was to investigate the importance of this sea for global ocean circulation and its influence on the global climate.

8.3.6 Terrestrial observations related to climate changes

Monitoring of snow cover, sea ice and surface radiation is reported in sections 8.3.1 and 8.3.2. Denmark does not carry out further terrestrial observations that can be related to climate change, but Denmark's climate related research (cf. 8.2) includes monitoring and studying the effect of terrestrial conditions.

8.3.7 Development assistance for establishment and maintenance of observation and monitoring systems

Since September 1997, the DMI has participated in a development project together with the Ghanaian meteorological institute (Meteorological Services Department - MSD). The purpose of the project includes reestablishing a network of meteorological stations in the country, thereby ensuring collection of data. At the same time, work is going on to improve communication and use of the collected data. According to plan, the project will run until the end of 2003. At the end of the project, MSD is intended to have an efficient network of around 300 observation stations registering the usual meteorological parameters.

The DMI is also participating in the project "Use of climatic seasonal forecasts to improve cultivation strategies for crops in West Africa". The purpose of this project is to examine the possibilities for adapting cultivation practice for a selected agricultural crop (peanuts) in Ghana, using the best available seasonal forecasts for the climate. The project is funded by the Council for Developing Country Research (RUF).

Finally, the DMI is participating in a knowledge-building initiative within use of regional climate scenarios in developing countries.

1 Climate Change Research - Danish Contributions, Jørgensen et al., 2001.
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2 Mapping of Danish climate research and proposals for strengthening action areas. Prepared for the Working Group for a Danish Climate Research Programme, ECON Center for Economic Analysis, December 2002.
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3 The climate of the 21st century: Transient simulations with a coupled atmosphere ocean general circulation model, Stendel et al. 2000.
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