What Happens to the Data? Archiving and Distribution

September 8, 2009 · Filed Under 2009, Journey

Jennifer Henderson, CIRES/NOAA-NGDC

I was quite excited about the opportunity to sail on the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy since I am a newly hired seismic data manager for NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) in Boulder, Colorado. In a job that entails archiving and distributing geophysical data to the public, it is extremely beneficial to also be a part of the collection and processing of that same data.

NGDC is a nationally and internationally designated archive, integration, and distribution point for public marine geological and geophysical data, including data collected with US National Science Foundation funds. Data archiving means to preserve data so future generations can both access and understand the data. This involves secure on- and off-site copies of data, migrating to new media every five to seven years, describing the data so it can continue to be understood even 50 years after collection, maintaining current formats and technology, and keeping data accessible.

Data management and archiving must continuously change to keep pace with technology, scientific campaigns, and research needs. In 2006, our total archive of marine geophysical data was less than six terabytes. Today, NGDC stewards over 14 terabytes of new data every three months. A terabyte is 1,024 gigabytes, an allocation of data storage capacity applied most often to hard disk drives.

Examples of the specific data types we maintain and archive are bathymetric, seismic, gravity, magnetic, and data from ocean drilling and seafloor sediment and rock samples. However, data centers not only archive original data and information describing that data but also the derived products (visualizations, assessments, and compilations) that may be generated at the data center for multiple communities and users. Examples of these products include sediment thicknesses, coastal relief models, and hazard assessments, especially related to tsunamis caused by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. We also work with scientists and science centers to automate data description and quality assurance, to develop common formats, and to develop and implement various tools.

NGDC is one of many agencies involved with the ongoing Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) project that has previously been explained on this blog. NGDC has been given the responsibility from the United States ECS Task Force to establish and maintain a system to manage ECS-related data, track changes made to that data, support ECS data analysis and finally to archive all data and related projects and information.

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