Best Practices for Data Management to Enhance Binational Availability: GLOS and GEOSS-GL

English Abstract:

A barrier to effective decision support using today’s wide array of research and monitoring data is the difficulty of discovery. There are many potentially useful data collections whose existence is not widely appreciated. One way of increasing the discoverability (and transparency) of datasets is to develop and publish standard-compliant metadata that describe the who, what, when, where, why, and how for each collection. Metadata publication through portals like the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) provides the opportunity to find datasets and evaluate their utility. Interoperability - furnishing the data as well for standards-compliant direct access - is another best practice that makes use of data easier. Examples of standards-based discoverability, transparency and interoperability will be presented from the Great lakes Observing System (part of NOAA’s Integrated Ocean Observing System) and GEOSS-GL (the Great Lakes node of GEOSS. The examples define a vision for data management that, although not inexpensive, may be the right approach for supporting complex decisions in an international context.