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GCC ONLINE... DATA RESOURCES: PART 2 OF 3, THE WORLD DATA CENTERS

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FROM VOLUME 10, NUMBER 11, NOVEMBER 1997

GCC ONLINE...
DATA RESOURCES: PART 2 OF 3, THE WORLD DATA CENTERS

The International Geophysical Year (IGY), 1957-1958, one of the first major post World War II international scientific projects, provided a unique opportunity for developing and exchanging scientific data and information. During the escalating years of the Cold War, the IGY spirit continued to stimulate cooperative research in the geosciences: meteorology, glaciology, geomagnetism, seismology, ionospheric studies, physical oceanography, and related disciplines.

The World Data Centers (WDCs) were established in 1957 to provide archives for data gathered during the IGY. An overview has been prepared by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/cdiac/wdca/wdcinfo.html). A more comprehensive description, A Guide to the World Data System, is available as an electronic document from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/).

WDCs operate under the auspices of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU, http://www.lmcp.jussieu.fr/icsu/) for the benefit of the international scientific community. They provide a mechanism for international exchange of data in all disciplines related to the Earth, its environment, and the Sun, and exchange data among themselves (without charge, when possible).

WDCs normally charge an individual scientist or institution for data to cover the costs of duplication and handling. A WDC may also help a scientist obtain data not explicitly described in the Guide to the World Data Center System. Each WDC must be open to visitors and guest workers from any country, and all data held under WDC auspices must be accessible to such visitors and workers. Each has a responsibility to provide other WDCs and the scientific community with a detailed description of its data.

The five major World Data Centers are:

United States (WDC-A)

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca.html

Russia (WDC-B)

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdcb/wdcb.html

http://www.wdcb.rssi.ru/WDCB

Western Europe (WDC-C1)

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdcc1/wdcc1.html

Japan (WDC-C2)

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdcc2/wdcc2.html

China (WDC-D)

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdcd/wdcd.html

Each of the five major centers has several discipline centers; those for WDC-A and WDC-B are listed below, along with their host institutions. Part 3 of this series will include further discussion of the mandates of Data Centers, and the inventories of World Data Centers C1, C2, and D.

WDC-A (UNITED STATES)

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca.html

WDC-A comprises the following 13 discipline centers and a Coordination Office, and is managed by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (http://www.nas.edu/) through its Committee on Earth Studies (http://www.nas.edu/ssb/ces1.html).

Atmospheric Trace Gases

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_atmosgas.html

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Glaciology

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_glaciology.html

National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.

Human Interactions in the Environment

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_human.html

Consortium for the International Earth Sciences Information Network (CIESIN), Saginaw, Mich.

Marine Geology and Geophysics

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_mgg.html

NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), Boulder, Colo.

Meteorology

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_meteor.html

National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), Asheville, N.C.

Oceanography

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_ocean.html

National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), Silver Spring, Md.

Paleocimatology

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_paleo.html

NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colo.

Remotely Sensed Land Data

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_remote.html

EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, S. Dakota

www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/gdwdca3.html#solar">http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/gdwdca3.html#solar

National Ge

Rockets and Satellites

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_rockets.html

National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC), Greenbelt, Md.

Rotation of the Earth

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_rotat.html

U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.

Siesmology

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_seismol.html

National Earthquake Information Service (NEIS), Denver, Colo.

Solar-Terrestrial Physics

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdca/wdca_solar.html

National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), Boulder, Colo.

WDC-B (RUSSIA)

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdcb/wdcb.html

http://www.wdcb.rssi.ru/WDCB

The seven discipline centers of WDC-B are overseen by three units: the Russian Federation Committee on Geology and Use of Mineral Resources (Marine Geology and Geophysics); the Federal Service of Russia for Hydrometeorology and Monitoring of the Environment (Meteorology, Oceanography, Rockets and Satellites, Rotation of the Earth); and the National Geophysical Committee of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Solid Earth Physics).

Marine Geology and Geophysics

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/wdc/wdcb/wdcb_mgg.html

http://www.sea.ru/cmgd/wdc.html

National Marine Geological and Geophysical Data Center, Gelendzhik, Russia