The General Assembly 2025 of the EGU is held at the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) in Vienna, Austria and online, from 27 April–2 May 2025 and brings together geoscientists from all over the world to one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, planetary, and space. A short course on “Reference measurements for climate studies and applications” (Session SC 4.16) will be held on April 29th from 10:45-12:30 (CEST).
Accurate, reliable observational data are essential for understanding climate dynamics, assessing climate change impacts, and informing adaptation strategies. But to ensure data quality, standardized measurement protocols and thorough uncertainty assessments are key.
This Short Course will deepen your knowledge of reference measurements—the only measurements traceable to the International System of Units (SI), backed by robust uncertainty quantification.
This activity has been organized within the Copernicus contract “Comprehensive Upper-Air, Baseline and Reference in situ observations”, coordinated by IMAA.
Participants will be introduced to the theory, context, and potential applications of using reference measurements to characterize the atmosphere and investigate climate variability. Practical examples of how to use reference measurements will be presented and discussed, including an exploration of the Copernicus Climate Data Store, which currently provides several reference datasets.
Each subtopic will consist of two parts, one lecture and a demo. The material used for the demo will be share with the participants after the meeting through the Copernicus Climate Change service website.
Students, phd students and researchers who are handling climate datasets will benefit from this SC.
Speakers and Topics:
– Ruud Dirksen, DWD (Deutscher Wetterdienst): “Reference Upper Air Measurements”
– Graziano Coppa, INRiM (Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica): “Near Surface Reference Measurements”
– Olivier Bock, IPGP (Institut de physique du globe de Paris: “Precipitable Water Vapour from GNSS Timeseries”
Convener: Monica Proto (CNR-IMAA), monica.proto@cnr.it
Co-convener: Fabio Madonna (UniSA), fmadonna@unisa.it
Link to the programme: Session SC 4.16
C3S is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission.