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IODE: Oceanographic data and IODE: Oceanographic data and information management in an information management in an

international contextinternational context

Peter PissierssensHead, Ocean Services IOC

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This presentationThis presentation• IOC• IODE mission• Data centre network• Role of the NODC• IODE structure• IODE data policy• IODE activities• Groups of Experts• IODE Global Projects• IODE Capacity

building

• IODE yesterday. Today and tomorrow

• IODE & new technology

• IODE’s new CB model (ODIN)

• OceanTeacher• IODE Project Office• IODE-XVIII• Cooperation in the

WESTPAC region

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IOCIOC• Established in 1960, part of UNESCO• Purpose is “to promote international

cooperation and to coordinate programmes in research, services and capacity-building, in order to learn more about the nature and resources of the ocean and coastal areas and to apply that knowledge for the improvement of management, sustainable development, the protection of the marine environment, and the decision-making process of its Member States”

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IOCIOC• IOC Assembly & IOC Executive Council• 3 ‘vertical’’ major programmes:

– Ocean Sciences: HAB, GCRMN, GIPME,ICAM, …

– Ocean Services: IODE, Ocean Mapping– Operational Oceanography: GOOS

• ‘horizontal’’ programme– Regions/TEMA

• Secretariat in Paris + decentralized offices

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IODE: mission statementIODE: mission statement

Established in 1961 ‘to enhance marine research, exploitation and development by facilitating the exchange of oceanographic data and information between participating Member States and by meeting the needs of users for data and information products’

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Data Centre NetworkData Centre Network

• ~ 70 Oceanographic Data Centres• 3 World Data Centres Oceanography • 64 National Oceanographic Data

Centres• Responsible National Oceanographic

Data centres

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Role of the NODCRole of the NODC• A centralised facility for providing ocean data/

information in a usable form to users;

• Acquires, processes, quality controls, inventories, archives and disseminates data in accordance with national responsibilities;

• Charged with the responsibility for conducting international exchange;

• Traditionally, but not exclusively, deals with delayed mode data

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IODE organizational IODE organizational structurestructure

• IODE Committee– IODE national coordinators + all below

• IODE Chair and Vice-Chair• IODE Officers

– Chair, Vice-Chair, Chairs Groups of Experts, Directors WDCs Oceanography, Regional Coordinators.

• Secretariat– HQ, Project offices

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Crucial: Data policyCrucial: Data policy• IOC-XXII adopted new IOC

Oceanographic Data Exchange PolicyPreambleThe timely, free and unrestricted international exchange of

oceanographic data is essential for the efficient acquisition, integration and use of ocean observations gathered by the countries of the world for a wide variety of purposes including the prediction of weather and climate, the operational forecasting of the marine environment, the preservation of life, the mitigation of human-induced changes in the marine and coastal environment, as well as for the advancement of scientific understanding that makes this possible.

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Data policy (cont)Data policy (cont)• Recognising the vital importance of these purposes to all humankind

and the role of IOC and its programmes in this regard, the Member States of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission agree that the following clauses shall frame the IOC policy for the international exchange of oceanographic data and its associated metadata.

• Clause 1Member States shall provide timely, free and unrestricted access to all data, associated metadata and products generated under the auspices of IOC programmes.

• Clause 2Member States are encouraged to provide timely, free and unrestricted access to relevant data and associated metadata from non-IOC programmes that are essential for application to the preservation of life, beneficial public use and protection of the ocean environment, the forecasting of weather, the operational forecasting of the marine environment, the monitoring and modelling of climate and sustainable development in the marine environment.

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Data policy (cont)Data policy (cont)• Clause 3

Member States are encouraged to provide timely, free and unrestricted access to oceanographic data and associated metadata, as referred to in Clauses 1 and 2 above, for non-commercial use by the research and education communities, provided that any products or results of such use shall be published in the open literature without delay or restriction.

• Clause 4With the objective of encouraging the participation of governmental and non-governmental marine data gathering bodies in international oceanographic data exchange and maximizing the contribution of oceanographic data from all sources, this Policy acknowledges the right of Member States and data originators to determine the terms of such exchange, in a manner consistent with international conventions, where applicable.

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Data policy (cont)Data policy (cont)• Clause 5

Member States shall, to the best practicable degree, use data centres linked to IODE’s NODC and WDC network as long-term repositories for oceanographic data and associated metadata. IOC programmes will co-operate with data contributors to ensure that data can be accepted into the appropriate systems and can meet quality requirements.

• Clause 6Member States shall enhance the capacity in developing countries to obtain and manage oceanographic data and information and assist them to benefit fully from the exchange of oceanographic data, associated metadata and products. This shall be achieved through the non-discriminatory transfer of technology and knowledge using appropriate means, including IOC’s Training Education and Mutual Assistance (TEMA) programme and through other relevant IOC programmes.

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IODE ActivitiesIODE Activities• Expertise: Groups of Experts

– GE-TADE (now Joint JCOMM/IODE ETDMP), GE-MIM, GE-BICH

• Global activities: – ASFA, GTSPP, GODAR, GOSUD, OceanExpert, MEDI,

marineXML, OceanPortal, Regional Ocean Portals, OIT, OceanTeacher

– Data policy

• Capacity building: – National, regional

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Groups of ExpertsGroups of Experts

• GE: Team of knowledgeable professionals selected carefully to outline, review and list priorities of tasks for implementation under IODE activities and work on specific issues arising from time to time during intersessional period under its terms of reference

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GE-MIMGE-MIM

• IODE Group of Experts on Marine Information Management

• Established 1984 (IODE-XI)• Terms of Reference:

– Advise the IODE Committee on policy, development and further implementation and find solutions to problems of a system for marine information focusing on user needs;

– Develop programmes to improve the capability of Member States, particularly developing countries, to benefit from and participate in marine information systems and keep Member States informed on how they might best have access to such systems through the application of information technology;

– Coordinate with other UN agencies, and represent IOC, on matters related to MIM (specific reference to ASFIS/ASFA and MEDI);

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GE-BICHGE-BICH• IODE Group of Experts on Biological and

Chemical Data Management and Exchange Practices

• Established: 2000 (IODE-XVI)• Terms of Reference:

– Documenting the systems and taxonomic databases currently in use in various data centres;

– Documenting the advantages and disadvantages of different methods and practices of compiling, managing and archiving biological and chemical data;

– Developing standards and recommended practices for the management and exchange of biological and chemical data, including practices for operational biological data;

– Encouraging data centres to compile inventories of past and present biological and chemical data holdings;

– Encouraging data holders to contribute data to data centres for the creation of a global integrated oceanographic profile and plankton databases

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JCOMM/IODE ETDMPJCOMM/IODE ETDMP• JCOMM/IODE Expert Team on Data

Management Practices• Established: 2003 (IODE-XVII)• Terms of Reference:

– Noting the similarity of the terms of reference for the IODE Group of Experts on the Technical Aspects of Data Exchange (GETADE) and the JCOMM Expert Team on Data Management Practices (ETDMP),

– Recommends that the IODE Group of Experts on the Technical Aspects of Data Exchange be merged with the JCOMM Expert Team on Data Management Practices,

– Further recommends that the funds allocated to the IODE programme for the organization of GETADE sessions be assigned to the organization of ETDMP sessions, thereby assuring annual sessions of the Group,

– Requests that the JCOMM Management Committee consider renaming the Group to the JCOMM/IODE Expert Team on Data Management Practices to reflect the joint contribution of both bodies,

– Further requests that the JCOMM Management Committee consider filling the vacant position on ETDMP with a representative from the IODE community.

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IODE Global ProjectsIODE Global Projects

Data management• GODAR• GTSPP• GOSUD• MarineXML• MEDI

Information management

• ASFA• BeeBox• E-Repository• OceanExpert• OceanPortal• Regional Ocean

PortalsOceanTeacher

Often projects are guided by a Steering Group

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IODE Capacity BuildingIODE Capacity Building• National & regional workshops/training

courses• Advisory missions• Internships • ODIN Regional data & information

exchange networks (RECOSCIX-WIO, RECOSCIX-CEA, ODINEA, ODINAFRICA, ODINCARSA)

• Training tools: OceanTeacher

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IODE YesterdayIODE Yesterday

• centralized data centre architecture• delayed mode operation (weeks-year)• physical oceanography data (T,S,…)• QC, data archival and dissemination

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IODE today-tomorrowIODE today-tomorrow

• distributed model • more attention to chemical,

biological data, coastal data• delayed mode + some real-time

(close links with GOOS)• E2EDM• products and service oriented

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Data acquisitio

n

NODCUser

products/

services

WDC

Traditional centralized model

1 NODC per country: full control

data

inst

archive

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Today: NODCs are not Today: NODCs are not alone!alone!

• Individual scientists, research groups or institutions collect, manage and disseminate their own data

• National and international programmes organize the management and dissemination of programme data

• Private sector (eg oil and gas companies) collect and manage their own data and disseminate products to their clients

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Result of all this:Result of all this:

• IODE Review results indicate that approximately 24% of the data collected are not submitted to NODCs

• Problem of QC and QA because each data collector may use different methods

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IODE-XVII: promotion of IODE-XVII: promotion of distributed modeldistributed model

• NODC remains final national archive• NODC is national coordinator for

data and information management• NODC provides guidelines in data

and information management methodology

• NODC promotes IOC oceanographic data exchange policy

• NODC promotes links with other programmes eg JCOMM

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Data acquisitio

nData

acquisition

Data acquisitio

nData

acquisition

NODC

Data Mgmt

User product

s/services

ModelingData Mgmt

Distributed model

WDC

NODC: coordinating, guiding role

inst

inst

inst

inst

Realtime

services

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IODE towards transversal IODE towards transversal programme?programme?

OceanScience

TEMA

IODE

GOOS

IODE must provide the tools and services that enables observations to become information

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IODE: new TechnologyIODE: new Technology• Old problem: formats!!• Metadata standard: MEDI and

JCOMM/IODE ETDMP pilot projects (centralized repositories, decentralized metadatabases, harvesters, automated generation by instruments,…??)

• How make different systems exchange data more easily?– New solution: marineXML

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marineXMLmarineXML• marine XML will support tracking of data from

collection through to generation of integrated global and regional datasets.

• marineXML can support metadata describing the data collection, quality control and subsequent processing.

• The generation of data tagged with marineXML at the instrument level can enable automating processes like generation of metadata descriptions

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IODE involvement in IODE involvement in mXMLmXML

• ICES-IOC Study Group on the Development of Marine Data Exchange Systems using XML [SGXML]

• EU Marine XML project

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IODE Capacity Building: IODE Capacity Building: new dealnew deal

• Before: occasional training courses, internships

• Now: ODIN strategy– Linking training, equipment, operational

support– Regional context– Product and service oriented– Multi-stakeholder approach– Continuous professional development: NEW!

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 OceanScience

 GOOS

ODIN PROJECT

OceanTeacher

TEMA

IODE

The new integrated CB The new integrated CB modelmodel

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ODIN projectsODIN projects

ODINCARSA2001-…

ODINAFRICA2001-…

ODINCINDIO2004-…

ODIN-Pac.Isl

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ODINAFRICAODINAFRICA

• Started 2001• 20 African countries

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ODINAFRICAODINAFRICA

• 2001-2003: 19 NODCs established• Data products and services

developed– Data atlases, metadatabases,

national ocean awareness activities, stakeholder meetings, national coordination teams established,…

• 2004: ODINAFRICA-III

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ODINAFRICA-IIIODINAFRICA-III

3 components: 1. coastal ocean observing system 2. data/information management3. product development, end-user

communication and information delivery system

Data acquisition

User products/services

Modeling?

Data Mgmt

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ODINAFRICA-III: ODINAFRICA-III: observationobservation

• Physical– Sea-level, Water Temperature, Salinity,

Currents, Surface Waves, Changes in Bathymetry, Changes in Shoreline Position, Sediment grain size, Attenuation of solar radiation ,

• Chemical– Sediment organic content, Dissolved inorganic

nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon, Dissolved oxygen

• Biological– Benthic biomass, Phytoplankton Biomass, Faecal

Indicators

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Training Tool: Training Tool: OceanTeacherOceanTeacher

• OceanTeacher to ODIMeX (2004-2007)= single integrated e-learning and expert

system• expert and training resources for marine data

management and marine information management needed by professional ocean data and information managers and scientists involved in data management;

• provide ocean researchers and students with the necessary knowledge to interact effectively with their national oceanographic data centres

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ODIMeXODIMeX

• Distance learning technology

• Topics expansion: Remote Sensing, Biological data management, Operational oceanography data management, Modelling

• Tools expansion: GIS, Programming, XML, development of WWW based services

• Expanded audience:

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AUDIENCES

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The Binary Model

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IODE new dealIODE new deal• IODE needs to lead way in

coordinating access to marine data and information to support needs of users

• Close collaboration with sciences and operational oceanography

• Need to develop new technologies• Need to undertake major training at

global scale (existing and new DCs!)

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IODE project OfficeIODE project Office

• establish a creative environment facilitating the further development & maintenance of IODE projects, services & products with emphasis on improving the efficiency & effectiveness of the data & product/service stream between the stage of sampling & the user;

• to assist in strengthening the capacity of Member States to manage oceanographic data & information & to provide ocean data & information products & services required by users.

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-1000m2-2 meeting rooms-1 large conference/training room- broadband Internet connection-10 offices-2 D&IM lab areas- web/db servers

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IODE-XVIII: 26-30 April IODE-XVIII: 26-30 April 20052005

• Will be presented with report of IODE review and recommend actions

• Will need to review IODE structure• Will need to prioritize projects and

activities for 2005-2007

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Cooperation in the Cooperation in the WESTPAC region?WESTPAC region?

• What mechanism currently exists in the WESTPAC region to promote the management and exchange of oceanographic data and information?

• Is any capacity building required (start from zero or CPD?)

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IODE web sitesIODE web sites• http://www.iode.org• http://www.marinexml.net• http://ioc.unesco.org/medi• http://www.oceans-it.net• http://www.odinafrica.net• http://www.odincarsa.net• http://www.oceanportal.net• http://www.oceanteacher.org• http://www.oceanexpert.net

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Thank youThank you