Geosystems Databases is intended to provide scientists with the necessary resources to assemble and use global climate change data and information efficiently and effectively for research and education. It is a program, in cooperation with other science agencies, to collect, organize, process, and assimilate with state-of-the-art models the long-term global synoptic data required to understand how the climate system functions.

Description

It is becoming increasingly clear that many traditional concepts and practices of data and information management are inadequate for global change studies. The interdisciplinary, interagency, and international aspects of these studies, coupled with the necessary long-term view, pose unprecedented challenges to the data management and research communities alike. It will require research scientists and managers of data and information to work together to find solutions and to implement them.

Substantial climate data exist as a result of past observations and research. The efficient use of those data to obtain a better understanding of global climate change is a crucial need. Criteria need to be established for the selection of data sets and subsets of data sets to be preserved for global change studies. Moreover, we need better data identification and documentation. Few historic data sets that might be widely used by researchers are adequately quality-controlled or documented. The absence of thorough and consistent documentation makes it difficult for potential users to evaluate data sets to determine which ones are most appropriate for their particular applications. These are problems that require the combined efforts of scientists and data managers. Mathematical and statistical research is also required to develop methods and techniques for assessing the representativeness and quality of data and for managing large, complex data sets.

Geosystems Databases activities include the development of long-term data sets for studying global climate change and exploratory research on value-added data products and information, e.g., model-assimilated data and information. In addition, Geosystems Databases supports facility enhancements at NCAR that strengthen the data management infrastructure available to global change researchers through, e.g., improved mass storage and retrieval capabilities for model data outputs.

Geosystems Databases is coordinated through the Global Change Data Management Working Group, a consortium of Federal agencies that support global change research.

External Link to U.S. Global Change Research Program Data Management Policy Statements: