International Polar Year Data Management Activities at NSIDC

1. International Polar Year Data Management Activities at NSIDC World Data Center for Glaciology, Boulder Facilitating the international exchange of snow and ice data Mark A. Parsons PoDAG Boulder, Colorado 16 February 2005

2. What is IPY? A Review • Intensive burst of internationally coordinated, interdisciplinary, scientific research and observations focused on the Earth’s polar regions • March 2007 through March 2009 • 6 Themes: • Current Status of Polar Regions • Change in the Polar Regions • Global Linkages • New Frontiers • Polar Regions as Vantage Points • The Human Dimensions IPY Data Management Activities at NSIDC; PoDAG, 16 February 2005

3. http://www.ipy.org http://dels.nas.edu/us-ipy/ IPY Data Management Activities at NSIDC; PoDAG, 16 February 2005

4. Organization of IPY Data Management Data Policy & Management Subcommittee • scientists • data managers • funding agencies IPY Joint Committtee eGY Programme Office Data & Information Service Users Projects Data Centers, Virtual Observatories, etc. IPY Data Management Activities at NSIDC; PoDAG, 16 February 2005

5. What have we done? • Presentation and three posters at AGU • Coordinating IPY data management within NOAA • Submitted 4 Expressions of Intent • IPY DIS • NOAA Data Management and Change Detection • Grey Literature • Arctic Peoples Observations Center • Submitted planning proposal to NSF • Participated in eGY planning meetings • Provided material for Koni and the University to brief Congress • Much networking IPY Data Management Activities at NSIDC; PoDAG, 16 February 2005

6. What’s next? • Attend IPY Open Forum in March • More networking • Get $ • Conduct workshops to build organizational framework and strategy for IPY DIS IPY Data Management Activities at NSIDC; PoDAG, 16 February 2005

7. What else? • Polar Observatory, Library, And Rendezvous (POLAR)—M. McCaffery, M. Ungar • Antarctic Peninsula Ice and Climate System Initiative—T. Scambos • IGY+50 Antarctic Climate Change Observation through Traverse Site Remeasurement (AnCORE)—M. Fahnstock, T. Scambos • Estimating Arctic Sea Ice Thickness—W. Meir IPY Data Management Activities at NSIDC; PoDAG, 16 February 2005

8. Data Management Considerations or Themes • Manage technical innovation • Systems need people • Scientists and data managers working together • Preservation and Access—Two peas in a pod • The nature of the documentation • The nature of the data IPY Data Management Activities at NSIDC; PoDAG, 16 February 2005

9. Data Management Principles (bumper stickers) Preservation without access is pointless; access without preservation is impossible. It’s about DATA not systems Involve scientists in data management & data managers in science Think about long-term archiving NOW! Document uncertainty! Keep things simple & flexible Consider the needs of current, future, and unknown users