Global ocean data inventory and climate data base

Abstract

In response to a request by the United Nations Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) for member states to provide data management services for oceanographic data collected during the First Garp Global Experiment, (FGGE), also known as the Global Weather Experiment, the Environmental Data and Information Service of NOAA (EDIS) will serve as a Responsible National Oceanographic Data Center for the FGGE Operational Year (RNODC‐FOY. In this capacity, EDIS will (1) develop a global inventory of all ocean data collected during FOY and (2) create a global ocean climate data base of selected FOY physical oceanographic parameters. All data will be exchanged through normal international exchange channels.The global ocean data inventory will contain directory information regarding all known oceanographic data of any kind recorded during FOY (December 1, 1978 through November 30, 1979). The inventory will be available both in published form and online to computer terminal users internationally via either Tymnet or Telenet. The global ocean climate data base will include physical oceanographic data for this same period acquired by the RNODC‐FOY. Bathythermograph data, Nansen/Nisken bottle data, salinity‐temperature‐depth data, and current meter data, as well as phosphate, silicate, oxygen, and sea level data will be formated and quality controlled.