About this workshop

Agenda (PDF)
Organizers: Maria Hakuba (JPL/Caltech), James Reagan (NOAA/NCEI), Patrick Taylor (NASA Langley), Benoit Meyssignac (CNES/LEGOS)

Measuring and understanding EEI, its time variability, and long-term trend is essential to understanding the current state of our planet and predicting its future evolution. Under its Data and Analysis Panel (GDAP), the World Climate Research Programme’s (WCRP) core project Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) initiated the “Earth Energy Imbalance assessment”. The GEWEX-EEI assessment’s objective is to evaluate the quality and the uncertainty of current EEI estimates. It focuses mainly on two sources of data: 1) observations of the TOA radiative fluxes from space radiometry and 2) observations of the ocean heat content from in situ data, satellite altimetry, space gravimetry and ocean reanalysis. The surplus energy is not entirely stored in the ocean, about 9% of the energy is stored in other components of the Earth system such as the cryosphere, the continents and the atmosphere. These other energy stores are also evaluated in the framework of the assessment.

The approach adopted in the GEWEX-EEI assessment is to design an intercomparison of EEI estimates and associated uncertainty. This intercomparison enables progress on:

1. Assessing the quality of different EEI records
2. Understanding the sources of uncertainty in different EEI estimates
3. Understanding the causes for the spread in EEI estimates
4. Quantifying and understanding EEI time variability including trends
5. Improving regional earth energy and heat uptake estimates

The expected outcome of the workshop is to define an action plan for the future and converge on recommendations from the Scientific Community.

Main Goals for this workshop:

1. Assess closure of Earth’s energy budget from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean.
2. Advance our understanding of the causes of ocean heat content and energy balance variations.
3. Explain the spread across EEI estimates; derive and recommend methods that reduce and quantify EEI uncertainty.
4. Identify gaps, challenges and opportunities for the EEI observing system of the future.

EEI assessment Workshop Themes include:

Theme 1: Science of Earth's Energy Imbalance

• What is driving change in EEI, heat content and Earth’s radiation?
• Why is EEI increasing more than Earth System Models project?
• The impact of heat distribution and SST patterns on EEI variations
• Total budget constraints on Earth’s Climate Sensitivity
• Energy and water cycle linkages

Theme 2: Advances in estimating Ocean Heat Content and Earth’s heat inventory

• In-situ, satellite and model estimates of ocean heat content
• Hybrid and machine learning methods
• Uncertainty quantification
• Observational needs to close Earth’s heat inventory
• The changing heat inventory and its implications

Theme 3: Earth radiation at the TOA, surface and in the atmosphere

• Understanding EEI variability and long-term change
• Scrutinizing climate forcings and feedbacks using models and observations
• Constraining climate predictions with EEI and Radiation data

Theme 4: Future Ocean, ERB & EEI Observing Systems

• Observational and Scientific Gaps and Challenges
• New missions, concepts, and continuity
• Next US Decadal Survey

Here you can find the recommendations and workshop report of the 1st GEWEX Earth Energy Imbalance Assessment Workshop: https://www.wcrp-esa-eeia-2023.org/workshop-report

Meeting Logistics

For a full schedule, please view the agenda (PDF)

Venue: TBD

Dates: June 1-5, 2026, 8:30am – 6:00pm, Pacific Time Zone (PT).

Format: hybrid

Accommodations:

• Hotel Dena in Pasadena: A block of rooms at the 303 Cordova St, Pasadena, CA 91101 is being arranged at the government per diem rate of $191/night. Check back here for updated info and links. If you are a U.S. Federal government employee, please do not use the room block -- make your reservations directly with the hotel at 626-469-8100 or directly online requesting the government rate. This will leave the room block open for those participants who are not eligible for the special government rate. Room block reservations will be available here within the next week or so; Hotel Dena, Pasadena - JPL GEWEX EEI. The cut-off date for reservations will be 12 May 2026 at 5:00pm PST. Please email wing.sze.lui@jpl.nasa.gov if you have any questions or encounter a problem in making your reservation.
• Other hotels in the area include the Residence Inn by Marriott Los Angeles, the Courtyard by Marriott Los Angeles, or the Hyatt Place Pasadena. Other hotels in the area of Caltech can be found here: https://procurement.caltech.edu/travel#hotels-d9dbf8ee-tab

Airports: Burbank-Hollywood Airport (BUR) is the closest airport to Pasadena. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the main airport in the county.

Transfer to Pasadena:

• FlyAway Bus + Metro A:
  • Step 1: Board the FlyAway Bus at LAX toward Union Station. Look for the blue FlyAway columns on the Lower/Arrivals Level. Cost: ~$9.75 each way (either via FlyAway mobile app or arrival at Union Station). Frequency: Every 30 minutes, 24/7.
  • Step 2a: Transfer to the Metro A Line (formerly Gold Line) at Union Station. Look for the platform toward Azusa/Pomona. Cost: $1.75 (requires a TAP card, which can be added to your digital wallet for free). Pasadena Stops closest to Dena hotel: Del Mar (5-10 min walk) and Memorial Park (9-12 min walk). Travel Time: ~1 hour 15 minutes to 2 hours, depending on terminal loops and traffic.
  • Step 2b: Uber via designated passenger pickup area on the first floor of the Union Station East garage. Cost: $20-40.
• Uber/Lyft: Usually takes 40-60 minutes. Rideshare pickups are located at the LAX-it lot, accessible by a free green shuttle from the arrivals level. Cost: Typically, $60-$80, though surge pricing during peak hours can push this over $100.
• Car rental: All car rental agencies at LAX are located off-site. Head to the Lower/Arrivals level and look for the purple "Rental Car SHuttles" signs on the center island outside each terminal. Board the free shuttle for your specific rental company (e.g., Enterprise, Hertz, or SIXT). Most shuttles run every 5-20 minutes.
• Driving Directions: The drive is roughly 20-30 miles.
  • Via CA-110: the most direct route often involves taking the I-105 E to the I-110 N, which becomes the CA-110 (Arroyo Seco Parkway) and leads straight into Pasadena.
  • Via CA-134: An alternate route uses the I-105 E, I-110 N, I-5 N, and finally the CA-134 E into North Pasadena.
  • Traffic is heaviest between 7-9 AM and 4-7 PM. If you are traveling during these times, the FlyAway/Metro combination can sometimes be faster.

Dining and Retail in Pasadena: See attached map (PDF)