In the course of our work at CDIAC, we have many books and announcements cross our desks. Many of these are highly specialized and may not get a broad announcement to the worldwide scientific community. So we share our familiarity with them in this feature of CDIAC Communications. CDIAC will not be stocking or distributing these publications.

Report of the WMO Meeting of Experts on Global Carbon Monoxide Measurements (World Meteorological Organization, Box 2300, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, 1994, 75 pp.)

P. C. Novelli and R. M. Rosson, Eds.

This report summarizes the discussions and conclusions of the first World Meteorological Organization (WMO) experts' meeting devoted to atmospheric carbon monoxide, which was held Feb. 7^_10, 1994, in Boulder, Colorado. The meeting was designed (1) to bring together researchers to discuss current programs and possible coordination and cooperation, (2) to review the contemporary state of knowledge about atmospheric CO, and (3) to identify research problems and recommendations for studying this gas.

Researchers from North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe, and Australia attended the workshop. They reported on their work involving CO-measurement techniques, field measurements, isotopic measurements of CO, and modeling of the global CO budget.

After reviewing the current status of CO measuring, the participants formed discussion groups that focused on measurement techniques and calibration scales, atmospheric distributions, long-term trends, and the global CO budget. Each of the discussion groups offered recommendations for future activities. For example, the group on atmospheric distributions recommended that

• The locations of new measurement sites should be chosen so they represent large areas, including areas influenced by dominant sources of CO (e.g., biomass burning).
  
• Weekly flask measurements should be taken to define seasonal cycles and long-term trends.
  
• In situ measurements should be taken in locations of high variability.
  
• The cumulative measurement effort should produce an internally consistent CO data set; a central calibration laboratory and regular intercomparisons of measurements would help attain this goal.
  
• Long-term programs to monitor changes in the vertical profile of CO are needed, and measurements of the isotopes of CO should be encouraged.
  
• Tropospheric measurements of CO from a space platform should be used to complement ground and aircraft observations and total-column solar-spectroscopic measurements.
  
• CO-measurement data should be archived at an internationally recognized facility within 2 years of collection.

An Introduction to Atmospheric and Oceanographic Data (National Center for Atmospheric Research, Box 3000, Boulder, CO, 80307, August 1994, 132 pp.)

D. J. Shea, S. J. Worley, I. R. Stern, and T. J. Hoar

The purpose of this publication is to serve as a "data-primer" for students and those in other fields of research who are interested in carrying out research involving the analysis of data in the atmospheric and oceanographic sciences. It describes, in very general terms, the datasets most commonly used to study the atmosphere-ocean system and the formats used for archiving the data.

The datasets include observations from conventional meteorological sources, such as stations and ships; observations from satellites; and analyzed grids produced at operational weather-forecast centers. Detailed description of instruments, methods, and relative quality is not attempted. Rather, the focus is upon the broad characteristics of the data sources and the datasets.

The characteristics not only include the observed variables and their spatial and temporal extent but also common problems, data limitations, and sources of error. Datasets available from NCAR are used to illustrate archives. A bibliography contains selected references for each chapter. The report cites several questions that researchers should ask when using any dataset:

• What are the strong and weak points of the dataset?
  
• What problems may be encountered, and how can they be handled?
  
• Given the accuracy of the measurements, what conclusions can be substantiated?
  
• What impacts have changes in instrumentation, observing practices, algorithms, and/or methods had on the data?

Addresses, both conventional and electronic, of several major data centers are provided. A discussion of the Internet includes how to find datasets with the World Wide Web. Finally, a list of commonly used abbreviations and acronyms is provided to familiarize newcomers with atmosphere/ocean jargon.

El Niñ o and Climate Prediction (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Box 3000, Boulder, CO, 80307, 1994, 24 pp.)

Another in the NOAA series Reports to the Nation, this booklet describes how the winds that flow from east to west across the equatorial Pacific Ocean are driven by the atmospheric-pressure differential between the eastern Pacific and the western Pacific. These winds (the easterlies) drag the surface water, over which they pass, with them in their westward journey.

In years when the winds are strong, the warm surface water is pushed westward; colder bottom water wells up in the east off the coasts of Peru and Equador; nutrients from the bottom water feed the plants and animals as those nutrients are pushed along the equator; the air above the colder water is cooled as well; and tropical thunderstorms are restricted to the warmer waters of the western Pacific, affecting the atmospheric flow and pressure that will determine the next step in the cycle commonly called El Niñ o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Higher barometric pressures over Indonesia and Australia in relation to the pressure over the central and eastern Pacific will diminish the easterlies, suppressing upwelling and raising water temperatures off the South American coast (the El Niñ o portion of the phenomenon), allowing more evaporation and rainstorms in the central and eastern Pacific, and once more affecting the atmospheric pressure balance across the ocean. The years with cold water and little rain are advantageous to fishermen and can be disastrous for South American farmers. El Niñ o years, on the other hand, can wipe out the fishing and support wet-weather crops.

The booklet points out that the ENSO cycle also has far-reaching effects on coral reefs, bird populations, fisheries, weather conditions, and extreme events across not only North and South America but Africa and Australasia as well.

Thus, prediction of the onset, duration, and severity of El Niñ os is important to societies around the globe. Advances and successes in such prediction are briefly described in this clearly written and gorgeously illustrated publication.

Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-1993 (USEPA Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation (2122), Washington, D.C., 20460, September 1994, 144 pp.)

Emission inventories identify and quantify a country's primary sources and sinks of greenhouse gases. Developing and participating in the inventory process is important for two reasons: (1) it provides a basis for the ongoing development of a comprehensive and detailed method for estimating sources and sinks of greenhouse gases, and (2) it provides a common and consistent mechanism through which all signatory countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change can estimate emissions and compare the relative contribution of different emission sources and greenhouse gases to climate change. Moreover, systematically and consistently estimating emissions at the national and international levels is a prerequisite for evaluating the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of pursuing possible mitigation strategies and implementing emission-reduction technologies.

This report presents estimates by the United States Government of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks for 1990 to 1993. It also discusses the methods and data used to calculate these emission estimates.

The emission estimates are presented on both a full molecular basis and on a carbon-equivalent basis to show the relative contribution of each gas to total radiative forcing. The information provided in this inventory is presented in accordance with the IPCC Draft Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories unless otherwise noted. Annexes provide additional data on calculations that are not included in the main text. This inventory is organized into six parts, corresponding to the six major source categories:

• All energy activities, including fuel combustion activities (industry, transportation, residential, commercial/institutional, electric utilities, and biomass for-energy) and fuel production, transmission, storage, and distribution (crude oil, natural gas, and coal mining)
• Other industrial production processes (chemicals, non-metallic mineral products, and other substances)
  
• Solvent use
  
• Agriculture, including enteric fermentation in domestic animals, manure management, rice cultivation, agricultural soils, and agricultural crop waste burning
  
• Land-use change and forestry
  
• Wastes and waste-treatment processes, including landfills, wastewater treatment, and waste combustion

Climate Action Report (United States of America, Washington, D.C., nd, 200 pp.)

This document represents the first formal U.S. communication required under the Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is a snapshot, a description of the current U.S. program. It does not seek to identify additional policies or measures that might ultimately be taken as the United States continues to move forward in addressing climate change, nor is it intended to be a revision of the U.S. Climate Change Action Plan. It is designed, rather, to meet the formal reporting requirements in the Climate Convention. It was developed with the methods and format agreed to in the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

This publication briefly describes the climate-system science that sets the context for U.S. action, and then provides an overview of the U.S. program. Information is included on

• national circumstances, providing a context for action;
  
• an inventory of U.S. greenhouse-gas-emission mitigation programs;
  
• adaptation programs;
  
• research and education programs;
  
• international activities, including contributions to international financial mechanisms that address climate change;
  
• progress in meeting the U.S. Climate Change Action Plan's milestones; and
  
• a brief discussion of the future direction of the U.S. effort.

To date, more than 700 utilities have pledged to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in their service territories.

The Climate Wise program has recruited several large U.S. corporations as pledge participants.

The Green Lights program is growing rapidly and has recruited more than 1500 new participants and 4.5 billion square feet of building floor space (more than 5% of all U.S. industrial space).

The Energy Star Showcase Buildings program has exceeded its initial recruitment goal by signing on 25 members.

Both the Coalbed Methane Program and AgSTAR (the partnership with livestock producers to reduce and recover methane emissions) have been launched.

Review of the transportation efficiency strategy is under way.

More than 280 companies have made significant commitments to reduce solid waste and increase recycling as part of the Waste Wise program.

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kng 02/15/96