Further Insight from Large-scale Observational Studies of Land/Atmosphere Interactions

Abstract

In 1991 Jim Shuttleworth published a paper (Shuttleworth 1991) overviewing the major international observational studies of the 1980s and discussing the form and function of those to come. In this chapter we deliberately plagiarise the title and format of that paper as we look at the progress that has been made in the past 10 years. The research within the series of integrated land-surface experiments described in this part of the book represents an enormous effort by the scientific Community. Has this effort been worth it? In particular, has there been sufficient extra benefit from having large experiments, with a range of simultaneous measurements, to justify the cost, in time and money, of coordinating these operations? We would argue that it has been worth this effort. We also argue that, by nature of their international Status, IGBP and WCRP have been able to make a contribution to the initiation, prioritisation and implementation of these experiments, which national organisations would have found difficult to achieve. The same applies to the dissemination of the results.