REVIEW OF NOAA’S NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL DATA CENTER
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Contract No. 50-DGNA-1-90024, Task Order T0012. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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COMMITTEE TO REVIEW NOAA’S NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL DATA CENTER
FERRIS WEBSTER, Chair,
University of Delaware, Lewes
J.-BERNARD MINSTER, Vice-Chair,
University of California, San Diego
TIMOTHY K. AHERN,
IRIS Data Management System, Seattle, Washington
CLAUDIA J. ALEXANDER,
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
JEREMY BLOXHAM,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
DAVID S. GOLDBERG,
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, New York
RAYMOND A. GREENWALD,
Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Maryland
PATRICK E. MANTEY,
University of California, Santa Cruz
CHRISTOPHER T. RUSSELL,
University of California, Los Angeles
DEBORAH K. SMITH,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
National Research Council Staff
ANNE M. LINN, Study Director
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Administrative Associate
MONICA R. LIPSCOMB, Research Assistant
SHANNON L. RUDDY, Senior Project Assistant
COMMITTEE ON GEOPHYSICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DATA
J.-BERNARD MINSTER, Chair,
University of California, San Diego
ROGER C. BALES,
University of Arizona, Tucson
MARY ANNE CARROLL,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
JEFF DOZIER,
University of California, Santa Barbara
DAVID GLOVER,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
MARK J. MCCABE,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
JOHN M. MELACK,
University of California, Santa Barbara
ROY RADNER,
New York University, New York
National Research Council Staff
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer
SHANNON L. RUDDY, Senior Project Assistant
BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES
GEORGE M. HORNBERGER, Chair,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
JILL F. BANFIELD,
University of California, Berkeley
STEVEN R. BOHLEN,
Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Washington, D.C.
VICKI J. COWART,
Colorado Geological Survey, Denver
DAVID L. DILCHER,
University of Florida, Gainesville
ADAM M. DZIEWONSKI,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
WILLIAM L. GRAF,
University of South Carolina, Columbia
RHEA GRAHAM,
New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, Albuquerque
V. RAMA MURTHY,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
DIANNE R. NIELSON,
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Salt Lake City
RAYMOND A. PRICE,
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
MARK SCHAEFER,
NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia
BILLIE L. TURNER II,
Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
THOMAS J. WILBANKS,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
National Research Council Staff
ANTHONY R. DE SOUZA, Director
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Officer
TAMARA L. DICKINSON, Senior Program Officer
DAVID A. FEARY, Senior Program Officer
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer
RONALD F. ABLER, Senior Scholar
KRISTEN L. KRAPF, Program Officer
LISA M. VANDEMARK, Program Officer
YVONNE P. FORSBERGH, Research Assistant
MONICA R. LIPSCOMB, Research Assistant
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Administrative Associate
VERNA J. BOWEN, Administrative Associate
RADHIKA CHARI, Senior Project Assistant
KAREN L. IMHOF, Senior Project Assistant
SHANNON L. RUDDY, Senior Project Assistant
TERESIA K. WILMORE, Project Assistant
WINFIELD SWANSON, Technical Editor
Acknowledgments
This report has been reviewed by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Dwain Butler, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, Mississippi
John Foster, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston
Robert Grossman, University of Illinois, Chicago
Larry Mayer, University of New Hampshire, Durham
Richard Sailor, Northrop Gruman, Boston, Massachusetts
Barbara Tewksbury, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York
J. Ronald Wilson, Marine Environmental Data Service (retired), Ontario, Canada
Although the individuals listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions and recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its
release. The review of this report was overseen by Fred N. Spiess, emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Preface
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) collects, disseminates, and archives marine, solar-terrestrial, and solid earth data on behalf of NOAA and the environmental science community. This report focuses on how well the center is performing these functions, serving its user communities, and supporting NOAA’s mission. In particular, the report addresses the questions posed by Gregory Withee, assistant administrator for satellite and information services, responsible for the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) (see Appendix B). At Dr. Withee’s request the committee did not review the National Snow and Ice Data Center, which receives funding through NGDC but is not part of the center.
To prepare for the review the committee modified criteria that had been developed by its parent Committee on Geophysical and Environmental Data, which has been reviewing data centers since 1967. The review committee added criteria to address issues of leadership, vision, and mission, which are more prominent in this review compared with previous data center reviews. Ten-year trends were emphasized because NGDC has not been assessed by the external user community since 1993. The criteria for review were used to evaluate NGDC at a November 13-15, 2002, site visit in Boulder, Colorado. The committee also gathered information at an August 13-14, 2002, meeting with NESDIS managers and in teleconferences, e-mail questionnaires, and meetings with managers from other parts of NOAA. These include the Forecast System Laboratory, National Climatic Data Center, National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanographic Data
Center, Office of Coast Survey, and the Space Environment Center. The committee met on February 6-7, 2003, to prepare its report.
The review took place at a time of transition at NGDC. The director, Michael Loughridge, retired in December 2002, and Christopher Fox from NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory was named interim director. As a result the review presents a snapshot of NGDC as it existed in 2002. The committee hopes that its findings will help the new director guide the center in the future.
The committee would like to acknowledge the individuals who briefed the committee or provided input to the study, including Charles Challstrom, David Clark, Mai Edwards, David Epp, Christopher Fox, Mary Glackin, Ernest Hildner, Allen Hittelman, Tom Karl, Maureen Kinney, John Kinsfather, Herbert Kroehl, Michael Loughridge, Alexander MacDonald, Kurt Schnebele, George Sharman, Gregory Withee, and Charles Wooldridge. Thanks also go to the NGDC staff, who prepared the background material and figures requested by the committee, spoke openly with the committee during the site visit, and answered numerous questions during the committee’s writing phase. Their hard work and cooperation greatly facilitated this review. Finally, the committee thanks the study director, Anne Linn, for her efficient organization of the study process and her outstanding performance in producing this report.
Ferris Webster, Chair
Bernard Minster, Vice-chair