Sharing Data: Building on the Traditions of Collaborative Ocean Expeditions

Abstract:

Collaborative international marine research programs over the past 60 years have built on the historic tradition of extended national expeditions during the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20^th centuries that explored new regions of the ocean and integrated knowledge: the Challenger, Albatross, and Meteor Expeditions. As oceanography matured after WWII, a new style of collaborative program emerged that focused on specific processes or problems rather than general exploration; the International Geophysical Year (IGY, 1957-58) was followed by the International Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE, 1970s). The latter set the stage for regular campaign-style oceanography focused on large-scale problems beyond the capability of individuals or small groups. These have become a staple of international oceanography and provide a framework around which oceanographers from around the world can contribute to global ocean discovery regardless of the capabilities of their individual nations. These collaborations have explored everything from processes controlling and associated with the formation of new ocean floor (RIDGE) to the Census of Marine Life. New collaborations have extended the concept of the international campaign to networks of autonomous vehicles (ARGO) in which all data are freely available. Regardless of the immediate discoveries associated with a campaign, much of its influence derives from the free availability of the data. Those research programs that have made digital data freely available have had an enormous follow-on impact as new models (digital and otherwise) are applied to the results.

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