PICES Technical Committee on Data Exchange

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1998

REPORT OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON DATAEXCHANGE

The Chairman, Mr. Robin M. Brown, welcomed two new TCODE members (Dr. Bernard A. Megrey who replaces Dr. William A. Karp and Dr. Tatsu Kishida who replaces Dr. Ichiro Hara). (See Endnote 1 for participants.) Dr. Yutaka Nagata (Japan) attended as an observer.

The Committee reviewed progress on this item and found that while the content of the Inventory was quite satisfactory, it was underutilized. The following actions were considered and approved:

The Committee reviewed the list and recommended a new section for "directories" or "lists" of scientists and their areas of expertise. Mr. Toshio Nagai reported that the IOC already has assembled such a directory (GLODIR) and that this was a good mechanism for searching for scientists/specialists. The following actions were approved:

Dr. Megrey reported on his efforts at matching the fields in the Bering Sea Metadatabase and the fields in the TCODE Inventory of Long Time Series. In general, the matching was very good, although the Bering Sea Metadatabase requires additional information on geographic location and contacts. The following action was approved:

Dr. Megrey reported on progress in loading the Bering Sea Metadatabase. Substantial progress has been made and there are contributions from all PICES countries. TCODE members offered to continue to assist Drs. Megrey and Macklin in the identification of data sources. The following action was approved:

Very little progress on this item was made in 1997/1998. Mr. Brown reported on descriptions of the Canadian programs listed on the Institute of Ocean Sciences web page and noted that no information was returned for other PICES nations. No further efforts will be undertaken to assemble this information.

Mr. Brown reported that Canada is planning to assemble a national database of biological/chemical oceanographic data (including plankton taxonomic data). Existing archives are very fragmented and much of this data is at risk of being lost.

Mr. Ling Tong reported on the Chinese Oceanographic Information Net. This network will link State Oceanographic Agency and Fisheries Agency laboratories. The system is now partially in place, but slow communication lines are limiting the usefulness of this system. Plans have been made to improve the communications links. The Chinese Oceanographic Information Database is at the National Marine Information Center and links to this web site to the PICES web site will be established.

Mr. Toshio Nagai reported on JODC staffing, organization and activities. JODC is now serving as the national data management office (DMO) for the Japan JGOFS program. Mr. Nagai also presented an overview of the JODC web site and capabilities for accessing oceanographic data holdings.

Dr. Tatsu Kishida reported that catch and effort statistics are available from JFA, but there is no access via the Internet. Much of these data are stored in regional laboratories and/or by principal investigators, so access is difficult.

Dr. Kee-Soo Nam reported on the restructuring of data management in Korea following the creation of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MOMAF). Oceanographic and fisheries research are conducted by government agencies (under MOMAF) and by universities (under the Ministry of Education) and there is weak data exchange between universities and government agencies. Three major institutes under MOMAF are:

Historically, data exchange amongst these agencies has been difficult, but things are improving. A master plan for integrated data services was published in July 1998. Dr. Nam also noted that there is a small data management program established to support the Yellow Sea Program and that this has provided a successful example of integrated data management.

Dr. Igor D. Rostov submitted a detailed summary of data management activities at the Pacific Oceanological Institute in Vladivostok.

Dr. Thomas C. Royer reported that the U.S. NODC seems to be healthy and active, but there are some concerns about migration of data from WOCE, JGOFS and GLOBEC programs to WDC-A/NODC as these programs wind down over the next few years. A recent review of National Science Foundation (NSF) programs called for acquisition of global data sets, including long time series. There was an emphasis on the importance of ocean salinity measurements and the conclusion was that the community was not doing a very good job of acquisition of ocean data.

Dr. Megrey reported that U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) has completed a review of the FGDC standard for metadata that will better accommodate descriptions of biological data.

Following these reports, there was a discussion of the problems that many countries are experiencing in the management and archival of ocean data. The Committee recommended the following note of concern be forwarded to Science Board and Governing Council:

The Committee also notes that the retirement of investigators and the re-structuring of government programs may endanger valuable datasets and advise that consideration of data integrity and preservation be included when research programs are re-structured.

Mr. Brown reported on the MODEL Task Team session on nutrient data and reviewed the status of the World Ocean Database 1998 and new efforts in quality control being implemented at the Ocean Climate Laboratory. He also noted that there was a very good web site (GOODbase) for extracting data from the World Ocean Database (http://oceans.ucsd.edu/goodbase/).

Mr. Brown reviewed the action to date on the issue of management of GLOBEC/CCCC data. Responses were received from the U.S.A., and Canada to the letter sent out by the CCCC-IP Co-Chairmen and the TCODE Chairman regarding national GLOBEC data management plans. The poor response may indicate future problems with GLOBEC data management and archival. TCODE will continue to work with the GLOBEC International Program Office (IPO) and the CCCC-IP to address this issue.

The MEQ Chairman was contacted to determine their interest in adding entries to the Inventory. The conclusion is that there are few contaminant datasets that would meet the criteria for inclusion in this inventory.

WG 11 was contacted to determine the level of interest in adding entries for Marine Birds and/or Marine Mammals to the inventory of long time series. This will be considered by the Working Group, but they are presently focussed on completing their report. Dr. Megrey noted that the Bering Sea Metadatabase already contains many entries for the N.E. Pacific and Bering Sea.

Dr. Thomas C. Royer has been appointed as the TCODE Liaison member on this Task Team.

Mr. Nagai reported on the North East Asian Regional component of the Global Ocean Observing System and the various web sites that are associated with this program.

Mr. Brown reported on the JGOFS Data Management and Synthesis meeting in Bergen, Norway, in September 1998. As JGOFS moves into the Synthesis and Modeling phase, the systems for archival and retrieval of JGOFS data are being put to the test and the results have not been as good as expected. The JGOFS Steering Committee has established three priorities for data management in JGOFS:

Although JGOFS and GLOBEC are similar programs, the JGOFS project is more mature and can provide insight into the problems that the GLOBEC project will face in the next few years. TCODE will monitor the efforts of the JGOFS project to create a searchable inventory of JGOFS metadata and make recommendations to the CCCC-IP, based on our analysis of the JGOFS experience.

The GLOBEC International Program Office (IPO) has been established, but the staff positions have not been filled yet. GLOBEC plans to have some data management function at the IPO, but the details are not yet available. TCODE will monitor activities at the IPO and make recommendations to the CCCC-IP as the data management requirements are defined.

Mr. Brown reported on revised rules for PICES Committees which were passed by Governing Council during PICES VII. For TCODE, the major change is that the term of service for the Chairman has been set at three years, with the start date set as October 1998. The PICES Secretariat will print the revised PICES Handbook, and Handbook for Chairmen and Convenors, early in 1999 and printed copies will be available on request from the PICES office. These documents will also be posted on the PICES web site.

Dr. Megrey presented a proposal for a session on data visualization to be held at the next PICES Annual Meeting (Vladivostok -October, 1999). After receiving support for this proposal from TCODE, the proposal was also presented to Scientific Committees (POC, BIO and FIS) who were also supportive. This proposal has been accepted for the PICES VIII Annual Meeting. Convenors/organizers will be Drs. Bernard A. Megrey, Igor I. Shevchenko and Thomas C. Royer. Dr. Shevchenko has also volunteered to look after the local technical arrangements for this session.

TCODE reviewed this proposal and decided that it was not appropriate for TCODE to make a recommendation.

This Working Group proposed that PICES support two significant data management-related activities:

TCODE enthusiastically supported these initiatives, and suggested that it was important for a TCODE member to attend the data intercomparison workshop.

The JGOFS North Pacific Task Team (NPTT) met prior to PICES VII and requested support for two PICES representatives to attend the JGOFS Synthesis and Modeling Workshop in Taipei in March 1999. They suggested that the Co-Chairmen of WG 13 and Chairman of TCODE should attend as PICES representatives.

TCODE recommends that a single PICES representative (one of the Co-Chairmen of WG 13) should be supported.

Mr. Brown reported on discussions about creating a position for a North Pacific Global Ocean Observing System Coordinator, which would be housed at the PICES Secretariat. There is a broad base of support for this and PICES has offered to provide office space and logistical support, but there is still no firm plan to actually create and staff such a position. The major problem appears to be finding funds to pay the salary for this position.

At the REX Task Team meeting, a suggestion was made that a database of researchers and their areas of expertise would be a useful contribution for PICES activities. Mr. Nagai reported that such a database (GLODIR) already exists and is supported by IOC/IODE. This database is available on the IOC web site (http://ioc.unesco.org/iode/activities/info_man/glodir.htm). The application allows individual researchers to create and maintain their personal entries in this database.

TCODE agreed to provide links to this directory (and any similar directories) in the TCODE "Other Internet Resources" web page.

Dr. Nagata presented some documents describing the Environments of the Northwest Pacific Region Project (NOWPAP), which included plans for database and information management system as well as plans for collaborative monitoring. This is an IOC/UNEP sponsored program that involves Japan, China, Korea and Russia. These documents will be copied and distributed to TCODE members for information.

TCODE members reviewed the recommendations of the Publication Study Group and supported their recommendation to form a permanent Publications Committee. The committee noted that the composition of this committee may need careful review, should PICES decide to produce a new peer-reviewed scientific journal.

The Committee adopted the following workplan for 1998:

TCODE will work with the CCCC-IP, national GLOBEC committees and the GLOBEC International Program Office to develop a data management plan that will ensure proper archival and allow for exchange of GLOBEC data amongst the participants. TCODE will also monitor the data management activities of the JGOFS project to identify successful strategies.

2. Organizing the Data Visualization Workshop at PICES VIII
3. Assist MONITOR Task Team to assemble a detailed list of ongoing monitoring activities (by time and location)
4. Assist BASS Task Team to identify planned cruises in the open North Pacific in order to allow for sharing of ship time and improved program integration

Canada

Robin M. Brown (Chairman)

Kee-Soo Nam

China

Ling Tong

Igor I. Shevchenko

Japan

Tatsu Kishida

Toshio Nagai

Bernard A. Megrey

Thomas C. Royer