ON THE FULL AND OPEN EXCHANGE OF SCIENTIFIC

A growing trend to restrict the international exchange of scientific data is an issue of considerable concern within the U.S. environmental science research community. For example, a proposal now before the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to change the basis for the exchange of weather and climate data and information could drastically affect the way the scientific community conducts research on weather, climate, and global environmental variability and change. Recognizing the concerns of the scientific community, the State Department has requested that the National Research Council's Committee on Geophysical and Environmental Data (CGED) report on how proposed restrictions on the exchange of environmental data could affect international collaboration in programs of high priority to the United States. The CGED is charged with providing guidance to the U.S. government and World Data Centers (WDC-A)* on the management of environmental data and information from the perspective of the scientific community. Although this report focuses on data pertaining to global environmental change in general and the WMO proposal in particular, the issues discussed have relevance to all types of environmental data.

Francis Bretherton
Chair, CGED

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