U23A:
Going, Going, Gone: Future Proofing the Twentieth Century Record of Our Science

Note: Abstract submissions to Union sessions are by invitation only.


Session ID#: 9151

Session Description:
Research and discovery in the Earth and space sciences, particularly longitudinal studies documenting changes in our planet, are empowered by gathering, mining and building on prior research. However, much of our 20th century scientific record, especially research data and samples that the research is based on, is increasingly inaccessible and at risk of being lost forever for future studies. Research and data that are stored on early digital media are at greatest risk as the media are physically degrading and software and hardware that can read these early media and obsolete formats are rapidly disappearing. Valuable samples are being discarded as resources for their preservation are lacking.  Special efforts are required to preserve this research and ensure it can effectively contribute to the scientific debates of today and of the future. This union session will highlight current efforts and methods to future proof the 20th century record of our science.
Primary Convener:  Kerstin Lehnert, Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, United States
Conveners:  Jens F Klump, CSIRO, Mineral Resources, Perth, Australia and Lesley A Wyborn, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Chairs:  Kerstin Lehnert, Lamont -Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY, United States and Lesley A Wyborn, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
OSPA Liaison:  Jens F Klump, CSIRO, Mineral Resources, Perth, Australia
Index Terms:

1912 Data management, preservation, rescue [INFORMATICS]
1934 International collaboration [INFORMATICS]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

The Pain and the Gain of Rescuing Historic Science Data: The Nimbus Data Rescue Project (Invited) (60596)
David W Gallaher, University of Colorado Boulder, National Snow and Ice Data Center, Boulder, CO, United States and G Garrett Campbell, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
If an antelope is a document, then a rock is data: preserving earth science samples for the future (Invited) (64098)
Sarah Ramdeen, Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, United States
The Challenge of Assimilating Older Data and Samples into Digital Datasets and Sample Collections (Invited) (74621)
Margaret Leinen, UC San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States
Preserving the Science Legacy from the Apollo Missions to the Moon (Invited) (82682)
Cynthia A Evans, NASA Johnson Space Center, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, Houston, TX, United States, Nancy Stella Todd, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States, Ryan A Zeigler, NASA Johnson Space Center, Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office, Houston, TX, United States and Kerstin Lehnert, Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, United States
Curse of the Zombie Petabytes (Invited) (82131)
Jean-Bernard Honore Minster, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States

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