The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) on Dec. 22 said a standard meteorological observatory in the township of Daesan-myeon in Gochang-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province, in a first for Korea was registered with the Global Climate Observing System. (KMA)

By Lee Jihae

A standard observatory of the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences in Gochang-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province, on Dec. 16 was the nation's first facility of its kind to be registered as a station of the GCOS (Global Climate Observing System) Reference Surface Network.

The Korea Meteorological Administration on Dec. 22 announced that the observatory in the county's township of Daesan-myeon received GCOS designation.

The observatory will churn out baseline data to analyze the traits of climate change on the Korean Peninsula and the world as well as provide a scientific basis for devising policy toward responses to the issue.

Jointly sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and International Science Council, GCOS is a global cooperative system for long-term climate observation.

The Gochang-gun observatory is one of 19 such facilities in 13 countries registered as GCOS, mostly in Europe and North America.

jihlee08@korea.kr