Core theme 6: Data management and distribution
During the project large amounts of various types of data describing the sea ice, atmosphere and ocean will be collected. Proper management of the data flow and access is an essential part of a successful project.
Leaders Øystein Godøy, NMI and Soren Andersen, DMI,
DAMOCLES will build on the experience gained in projects like EUMETSAT OSISAF HL (Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility, High Latitude centre) and EU projects ESOP, IMSI, IWICOS and IOMASA. Common data formats (e.g. NCSA HDF5, netCDF, XML) will be defined and filters created were appropriate. End products which are generated in WP 1, 2 and 3 will be presented to the users by use of web technology. This presentation will both be a higher order web based visualisation system like [http://seaice.dk/] and access to metadata and data files using HTTP/FTP e.g. [http://saf.met.no] and OpeNDAP [http://opendap.org/] technology. Using the above mentioned technology and standardizing formats for the data collected, easy data access for the user community is achieved. Standardizing file formats early in the project period, and delegating the responsibility of delivering standardized input to the data management and distribution system to the WPs producing data, is of vital importance to keep this work package slim and efficient.
The DAMOCLES data management has to be designed in a generic way, ensuring it is able to handle various types of data (e.g. gridded, point, transects, other types). Similarly the distribution system should be able to both support a central database, and if feasible also a distributed system.
Furthermore it is essential to identify how the data collected in DAMOCLES is taken care of after the project ends. The possibility to continue operation of the DAMOCLES Data management and distribution system (this requires some sort of funding) has to be evaluated along with the possibility of transferring data to other entities (e.g ICES, OSISAF, NSIDC, etc.).
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the Danish Meteorological Institute are partners in the EUMETSAT OSISAF project and will as such promote successful and relevant DAMOCLES end products through the OSISAF management body. If accepted by OSISAF management (and EUMETSAT) this could imply that DAMOCLES end products could be accessible through OSISAF distribution systems (e.g. the high latitude centre). The long-term policy of the OSISAF also allows assessment of the long-term consistency, in terms of continuous assessment of the data products.
In order to reduce the amount of work in WP 6, WP 1 (Sea Ice), WP 2 (Atmospheric parameters) WP 3 (Ocean contributions) and WP 4 (Modelling) will all have to comply with certain file format standards defined in cooperation with WP 6. Any influence of WP 7 on WP 6 should be identified early in the project period.
The concept of letting the data collector take care of as much of the processing chain as possible is essential for the success of this WP. However, this should not prevent data from being distributed to other partners and the European/global community. The DAMOCLES data management and distribution system assumes that the data collector in addition to data collection (including potential satellite links etc.) takes care of data consistency check, backup of raw data and Internet link (push or pull technology by choice of the data collector) of data to the Data management and distribution system.
The DAMOCLES Data management and distribution system will subsequently provide potential users (internal or external) with access to DAMOCLES deliverables (data files, documentation, visual presentation) as well as backup of the data.
This work package will be organised in 3 tasks – 1: System design, 2: Implementation and operation and 3: Future perspectives.
The observation system defined within this project fills gaps in the present observation system where the Arctic is poorly covered by in situ measurements. DAMOCLES represents a leap forward concerning the ability of numerical model validation (atmosphere, ocean, sea ice, climate, etc.), data assimilation and integration
