SEA-SEARCH = On-line data-access

All around the world research institutes and departments are getting interested or are already in the process of web-enabling their data holdings. This implies that interfaces and methodologies are being studied or developed and implemented to provide users and contributors of marine data & information with on-line data-access. This is stimulating a further exchange of valuable data resources and is supporting better science, improved marine management and wider application for industrial purposes.

However, there is not yet a clear harmonized approach towards on-line data access. Different institutes apply different data-formats, different user-interfaces, different technologies and so on. The Sea-Search partners have identified a number of online accessable databases for the North Sea, Atlantic, Baltic Sea and Mediterranean. These databases contain data varying from biological data, sea-surface data to meteorological data. The examples illustrate the present diversity of formats and user-interfaces.

EXAMPLES OF ONLINE DATA ACCESS IN EUROPE

SEADATANET

Pan-European infrastructure for Ocean & Marine Data management

SeaDataNet will succeed Sea-Search beginning in 2006. It continues the operation & maintenance of the Sea-Search directory services and expands their coverage from 30 to 36 countries in and around Europe. Moreover SeaDataNet will focus on interconnecting the existing ocean & marine data management centres and on providing transparent on-line access to available oceanographic and marine data sets and data products. It will create and operate an ef?cient Pan-European distributed marine data management infrastructure, accessible on-line through a unique portal, and in agreement with the principles of the European initiative for a spatial data infrastructure, INSPIRE.

The objective is to network the data centres and to provide integrated databases of standardized quality on-line. The development and adoption of common communication standards and adapted technology will ensure the platforms’ interoperability. The quality, compatibility and coherence of the data issuing from so many sources, will be ensured by adopting standardized methodologies for data checking, by dedicating part of the activities to training and to preparing synthesized regional and global statistical gridded products from the in-situ and remote sensing data sets made available by the participants.

The objectives of SeaDataNet are:

to provide timely, coherent and integrated access to the most comprehensive long time series of marine data;
to develop an efficient data management system for the present and future ocean observing and forecasting programmes, able to handle the diversity and large volume of data collected via the European oceanographic fleet and the new observation systems;
to secure long-term data stewardship;
to avoid unnecessary redevelopment of new heterogeneous data management systems for each new project;
to prepare synthesized value-added information products and indicators, useful for research activities, and also for management of the environment and natural resources.