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Capitol Updates

New Interagency Working Group on Data Management for Global Change 

"At the center of a long-term program for the study of global change must be the immediate development of an information system for earth system science designed to facilitate the acquisition, reduction, and analysis of integrated data sets and to make both data and suitably analyzed products readily available for current and future research. 

"On the basis of our experience, the Earth System Science initiative will founder on the rocks of indifference to data information management unless an aggressive and supportive new approach is taken--beginning now."
(Earth System Science: A Closer View)

Spurred on by these words and many others like them, NASA, NOAA, NSF, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) held an exploratory meeting in June 1987 to discuss possible mechanisms that would lead to an interagency dialogue on data management for global change. The result was a high-level commitment by each agency to participate in an Interagency Working Group on Data Management for Global Change. The group has now been joined by the Navy and the Department of Energy (DOE). Principals of the group are: Shelby Tilford, NASA; Robert Winokur, Navy; Thomas Pyke, Jr., NOAA; Robert Corell, NSF; Raymond Watts, USGS; and Helen McCammon, DOE. The work of the committee is organized and carried out by agency contacts as follows: Eni Njoku and Dixon Butler, NASA; Gregory Withee and Kenneth Hadeen, NOAA; Jay Fein, NSF; Douglas Posson, USGS; and David Slade, DOE. Francis Bretherton, NCAR, has agreed to serve as the liaison between the Interagency Working Group and the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Global Change. The charge of this working group is to make it as easy as possible for scientists and others to acquire data needed for the study of global change.  

The goal is to establish, in essence, a national data and information system for global change research by 1995 that is consistent across agencies and involves and supports the university and other user communities. The data system that is envisioned will build upon experimental and prototype data systems already underway with the National Data Centers, NASA's Pilot Data Systems, and university and other data groups, as well as upon various networks and procedures for international data exchange. It will also complement information-system requirements needed for other purposes. Work has already begun in four areas: directories, catalogs, and inventories; status of data observation, collection, archiving, and distribution; data pricing and policies; and international data exchange agreements. The working group intends to accomplish three major tasks:

• Continue to improve interconnectivity and interoperability between existing agency data systems. This will require the identification of different classes of users and access systems, the adoption of terminology and network standards, the 

[[flow chart]] 

Aspects of an Information System for Earth System Science


  __________________________________________________                                                                                                    
 |         |         |          |                    |
 |         |         |          |                    |
 |        Data       |       Research           Networks and
 |       Sources     |         and              Communications 
 |                   |      Operational           Channels
 |                   |        Users
 |________           |__________
          |
          |
        Real-            National and            Research
        Time             Mission Data              and
     Distribution         Centers:              Operational
       Systems           University               Users
                         Data Banks
 
 
 
 



[[/flow chart]]

creation of a national inventory and directory of data sources, and recommendations for the data storage technology needed for user access and archiving. Other facets of the interagency data problem include the need for easy communication between systems, the adoption of emerging concepts such as Geographic Information Systems, and funding arrangements and user fees. 

• Establish data and information requirements and develop standards for quality control and confidence limits. This will require the documentation of systems currently in use, the specification of key variables (beginning with those recommended in Earth System Science: A Closer View), the determination of limits in space and time for which data are needed, end-to-end system performance evaluations, and consideration of value-added products and model-assimilated data. 

• Define a set of standardized requirements for data inputs, including documentation standards, policies for the release of data, and particular issues involving international data exchanges. The working group intends, where possible, to make every use of existing mechanisms. This will require close communications with existing groups that store or provide data and the creation of a management structure for coordination and implementation. They also intend to adopt plans and strategies that will be consistent with the evolving international framework for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and to employ expert advisory groups for guidance and oversight. 

Further information on the activities of this group can be obtained by contacting Gregory W. Withee, National Oceanographic Data Center, 1825 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., 20235, USA; 202/673-5594; NODC.WDCA (OMNET); G. WITHEE (NESDIS); NODC::GWITHEE (SPAN). Q

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