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V. REPORT OF THE GEOSCIENCE DATA PANEL
Pages 105-121

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From page 105... ... Shelton Alexander, Sara Graves, David Landgrebe, and Soroosh Sorooshian CONTENTS 1 Introduction, 105 2 Database Examples, 106 Retention Criteria and Related Issues, 1 15 4 Policy Considerations, 1 18 5 Summary of Recommendations, 119 Acknowledgments, 120 Bibliography, 120 1 INTRODUCTION The concerns of the Geoscience Data Panel were the long-term retention of scientific and technical data and information related to the solid earth geosciences and their applications. Spatially, the domain covered by the geosciences extends from the Earth's core to the surface and into space (for example, the effects of cosmic rays on the Earth's surface) Read the entire page →
From page 106... ... Data Center; the Water Data Storage and Retrieval System/National Water Information System-II (WATSTORE/NVVIS-II) operated by the USGS; seismic data held by several federal agencies and other institutions; and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (No) Read the entire page →
From page 107... ... Some of these data are held by a non-federal government group with some government funding, which raises the question of NARA' s responsibilities vis-a-vis the private sector. The National Snow and Ice Data Center is an example of a data repository as well as an originator of scientific projects. Read the entire page →
From page 108... ... Landsat data currently are available in either image or digital form from the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Landsat satellites were originally under the control of NASA; however, in 1980 they became the responsibility of NOAA. Read the entire page →
From page 109... ... The primary attribute of this file is the station identifier. TABLE V.2 Major WATSTORE Databases and Files Showing Size in Kilobytes and Records from 1990 Actual Annual Actual Annual Actual Size 1990 Growth RateActual 1990Growth Rate K-Bytes K-BytesRecordsRecords Header File314,640 36,830871,44471,080 Daily Values File1,210,754 24,393756,72115,246 Unit Values File383,556 11,2081,036,63730,292 Ground Water Site Inventory833,568 33,507994,32939,930 Water Quality File1,082,026 47,6183,182,428140,053 Peak Flow File75,810 5,701529,75339,815 Basin Characteristics19,950 99316,849292 Source: The 1990 data are from S.B. Read the entire page →
From page 110... ... However, it has had limited capacities for storing voluminous amounts of hydrologic data, for upgrading its functions, and for producing publication-ready manuscripts. The new system, NWIS-II, is expected to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing technological environment not only by becoming a larger archive of hydrologic data, but by becoming more capable in processing data. Read the entire page →
From page 111... ... The USGS has operated an earlier version of the present Global Seismic Network and has archived its global digital seismic data since the late 1970s. The agency's National Earthquake Information Center produces, distributes, and archives a seismic bulletin giving the location, depth, origin time, magnitude, and other information on damage for all detected earthquakes. Read the entire page →
From page 112... ... The USGS also maintains the original GDSN digital data at its facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and together with the University of California at San Diego, deploys and operates the IRIS Global Seismic Network, as well as other stations funded by the Department of Defense in support of nuclear test ban monitoring research. The data collected from DOD-funded stations and arrays initially were archived at Teledyne-Geotech's Seismic Data Laboratory in Alexandria, Virginia. Read the entire page →
From page 113... ... FDSN Federation of Digital Seismic Networks JSP Joint Seismic Program (with the former Soviet Union) Read the entire page →
From page 114... ... Examples of their use for operational activities include tsunami warnings and the rapid determination of the magnitude, location, and fault mechanism of destructive earthquakes and their after-shocks, both to inform the public and to assist in emergency response and special monitoring. On a longer time scale, the data are used for hazard reduction and seismic safety in seismogenic regions, including local zoning decisions for future development; siting and safety of critical facilities, such as nuclear power plants, including continuous monitoring of surrounding earthquake activity; and global monitoring of threshold or comprehensive test bans on underground nuclear explosions. Read the entire page →
From page 115... ... The NSIDC relies on discipline-specific scientific expertise for its effective functioning. It represents the type of government supported, active archive data center that can fulfill the long-term data access requirements of a specialized subdivision of the 3 RETENTION CRITERIA AND RELATED ISSUES Suggested Retention Criteria for Archiving Geoscience Data Sets geosciences. Read the entire page →
From page 116... ... An important issue in this regard is which of the geoscience data archived by the federal agencies are official federal records subject to NARA's control of their disposition. A case in point, illustrated in the seismic data example above, is ARPA's decision to discard some 70,000 magnetic tapes containing over two decades of recordings of U.S. Read the entire page →
From page 117... ... Such a comprehensive directory should include pointers for users on how to access the particular data sets they want. A prototypical model for a comprehensive directory is NASA' s Master Directory for global change data and information. Read the entire page →
From page 118... ... A much more practical approach by NARA for assuring the long-term viability and accessibility of geoscience data would be the designation of the various existing data centers that meet NARA standards as "Affiliated Archives" of NARA. These arrangements could be formalized through Memoranda of Understanding. Read the entire page →
From page 119... ... Rather, NARA must develop stronger ties to the scientific community and the pertinent government agencies with due consideration of the specific mandates of the agencies. In light of the existing and projected capabilities of NARA to archive electronic data, geoscience data should be archived at federal science agency data centers or at universities the primary collectors and users of the data. Read the entire page →
From page 120... ... 89-04, World Data Center A for Rockets and Satellites, National Space Science Data Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. National Archives and Records Administration. Read the entire page →
From page 121... ... National Snow and Ice Data Center. Read the entire page →

From page 105...

... Shelton Alexander, Sara Graves, David Landgrebe, and Soroosh Sorooshian CONTENTS 1 Introduction, 105 2 Database Examples, 106 Retention Criteria and Related Issues, 1 15 4 Policy Considerations, 1 18 5 Summary of Recommendations, 119 Acknowledgments, 120 Bibliography, 120 1 INTRODUCTION The concerns of the Geoscience Data Panel were the long-term retention of scientific and technical data and information related to the solid earth geosciences and their applications. Spatially, the domain covered by the geosciences extends from the Earth's core to the surface and into space (for example, the effects of cosmic rays on the Earth's surface)

V. REPORT OF THE GEOSCIENCE DATA PANEL Pages 105-121

V. REPORT OF THE GEOSCIENCE DATA PANEL
Pages 105-121