What is BODC?

National facility concerned with looking after and

distributing marine data

Part of NOC National Marine Facilities

Serve science, education and industry, as well as the wider public

Our staff include research scientists and IT specialists

Starting premise - data must be secure and readily usable in the long

term without reference to the originator.

Roles and responsibilities – International

GEBCO Bathymetric Chart of the Ocean (GEBCO)• Operates under IOC/IHO• Host digital atlas manager and web site• Compile and distribute the GEBCO digital

bathymetry

Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS)• Conducted under JCOMM (WMO/IOC)• Delayed mode data management• Maintain GLOSS station handbook

International Argo• Near-real time processing• Delayed-mode quality control • Southern Ocean Regional Centre

Roles and responsibilities - National

National Tide Gauge Network• Remote monitoring, data retrieval, processing

and quality control

NERC Marine data centre• One of six NERC data centres• Ingest and make data available• Deliver Inspire, EIR, open access & data.gov

obligations

Project data management• ‘End-to-end’ approach

Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN)• Hosts MEDIN core team to improve access and

stewardship of marine data with 30 partners

Data Management Activities

• Quality control· Visualisation of data – “screening”· Anomalous data points marked (data unchanged)· Developing more complex

automated systems• Metadata assembly

· Oracle tables· Link data to time, position, originator, restrictions,

documentation (instrumentation, techniques, etc.)• Audit• Banking

· Final version to a secure location· Accessible via web software

Overall aim• To manage & secure marine data for the long-term through the use of

stable & maintained data formats.

Providing access to data

• Little point in data management unless the data are used – 72,205 requests 2012/13 (cf. 42,828 in 2005/06 & 6,366 in 2001/02)

• Direct contact requests by telephone & email ~700 last year (cf. 217 2001/02)

• BODC’s CD-ROMs - successful media for project data ~150 last year (total 8244)

• Online data inventories & catalogues

• Online data delivery systems

• BODC Web Services

• Published Data Library

• Download interface software

• Near-real time data via sub-webs

Online data delivery• Users now expect to search for, view & receive data via the internet

• User friendly systems with GIS interfaces

• Data automatically updated every evening

• Moving to deliver all data this way• > 88,000 “series” from 148

organisations web searchable & down load via “shopping basket”

• > 20,000 in projects soon• > 2,500,000 discrete samples soon• Allow project/organisation specific

portalsWill still support the “personal”

request service