1993 Data Forum A Review of an Implementation Plan for U.S. Global Change Date and Information Systems (1994) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix A: Written Critiques
Appendix A: Written Critiques
Pages 23-52
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The critiques appear in the order presented, with minor editing for continuity of style. The last three critiques, written by John Pastor, Nicholas Chrisman, and Allen Hammond, were distributed at the forum, but were not presented orally.
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Global Change Data and Information Management Program Plan" . Much in the spirit of the predecessor document, this report is a statement of guiding principals and overarchiving policies for determining who is likely to use the Global Change Data and Information System, what information and data will likely get into the system, and how users will retrieve material from the system.
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the example of lowland flooding caused by rising sea level) , there is no concrete statement suggesting that data reprocessing, multi-set data assimilation and data fusion iGunctionalities will be resident in the system.
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26 1993 DATA FOku~ GCDIS ~ a bold concern. Do users ~pec~lons akoady Get pebble stem ~rlbums?
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APPENDIX A WRI 1 1 EN CRITIQUES LAAC h Let | NDIS ~' _ Census . dedicated system r tar system _ [I 27 Agency Data Systems and Strawman Interfaces NASA G EOSDIS R A N D H o M Commerce G NOAA L E N I z I N G I | DOD ~| T / F A -| DOE r E ma_ EPA I Figure 1 scientist Internet )
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28 Working Group 1 Global Observations and Data Management Long-term Observations Data Panel The IWGDMGC I L 1 Content Sran~ 1993 DATA FORUM Daily Coordination Working Group 1 Associate Scientist | Aces Subpanel Figure 2 Network Catalogue Libraries
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t" ) ~¢ ~ {WG-1 ~ Daily Ceding I At 1_ Functional Diagram of Implementation Management Scheme Fistic 3 ('it ~ I ~- ~ USERS ~ =~ Uni~/ ~ ~ / e t~adonalJ W~;~ Content ~ Standards ~ \ l Impbmentadon/ \ ~ If\ / ' one ~!
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I do not see any evidence in the plan that its authors have systematically gathered such information. Many of the most successful current activities for providing the climate community, and especially the climate modeling community, with essentially needed data have been organized through WCRP.
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. As a climate modeler, ~ have long had conversations with the various communities in need of support for the acquisition of output from climate modeling activities.
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32 1993 DATA FORUM lem that should be solved. Its solution would presumably involve these ingredients: informing the modelers as to what is needed, providing them with We additional resources they need to be able to provide that, and gaining their cooperation getting the potential modeling data user community to be more familiar with what the capabilities of the models are, and to clearly express what data they need.
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Weaknesses The Plan may facilitate improper use of observations by people unfamiliar with the limitations of the data. The absence of any coordinating structure, which interprets and integrates data across disciplines and locations makes the data set unwieldy and impractical for policy decisions.
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Researchers should be looking from natural experiments, which resemble climate change scenarios to begin to understand how economic activity and human behavior will react to climate change.
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national government is responsible for human dimensions data in the same way that NASA and NOAA are responsible for natural science data. The agencies Implementation Plans relating to human dimensions data generally lack specificity.
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CIESIN can be a hub for the multiplicity of national and international agencies that are involved. ClESIN's role in the Implementation Plan needs to be strengthened.
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The Implementation Plan can and should serve as a keystone and driver of agency initiatives for their individual data and information management programs.
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Agencies are just now taking the first steps to ensure the preservation of the marvelous data being collected by new techniques and technologies. Program oversight through the proposed committee structure seems cumbersome.
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on data quality, alternative sources and approaches is extremely important, but since useful analyses draw upon many kinds and sources of data, who will do the educating?
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40 Organizational Issues 1993 DATA FORUM Are we convinced that systemizing access to all the desired information in the absence of or in anticipation of future needs will be more effective (efficient? economic?
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. If economic and other social scientific data are included, Den economists and other social scientists (not natural scientists with social science hobbies)
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Still preliminary and difficult to judge how useful it will be until samples of final product are available Lack of information on cost of access Lack of information on funds available to users to allow access Difficult to grasp the real function of the system due, in part, to He complex, legalistic, bureaucratic style of the document Critical assessments will require critical analysis -- with exception of large visible issues, unclear by whom and how this will be developed. Suggestions It would be useful to see a more specific, detailed account of how the system would operate for one or a few specific issues that might be considered mature, for example, stratospheric ozone or regional air quality.
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APPENDIX A: WRI'l-l~N CRITIQUES 43 from general circulation models used in major assessments would be valuable. But the question is what information and from which models.
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extensive interagency cooperation Plan is ambitious in scope, interface with libraries and nonscientists is a particularly important aspect NASA's experience with large databases makes them particular appropriate implementation coordinators timetables for implementation are detailed (but a little incomprehensible)
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Biomass allocation-will determine C storage and turnover times Comments . Ecological data does not provide spatially explicit coverage of a given area.
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46 1993 DATA FORUM bases like climate data, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) , soil carbon, vegetation biomass, land use and human population.
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database structure is taken from geophysical sciencescomplete, spatially explicit, global coverage of a few variables. In contrast, ecological data is very different local, not spatially explicit, idiosyncratic, open concerned with variables other than carbon (species lists, diversity, etc)
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ecological data above. Begin pilot studies trying to assemble diverse databases, such as climate data, NDV[, soil carbon, vegetation biomass, land use, and human population.
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. High level principles: GCDTS as a system should indeed strive towards user satisfaction, but data quality and content cannot be entirely driven by user satisfaction.
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Change studies usually done in rearview mirror (no access to past environment) prevalent use of snapshot data misses access to processes .
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Yet the analysis, assessment, visualization, and active communication activities needed to transform a data program into an information program are not included in the implementation program no agency or other entity is tasked with such activities. And to produce policy-relevant information and develop the specialized information products needed for active communication to policymakers and the public or even to assemble the complex sets of physical, biological, and socioeconomic data required for policy-relevant assessments requires an institutional base (or bases)
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needed to do the job. The alternative, to parade the rhetoric while continuing to build a coordinated data program accessible primarily only to scientists, risks a severe future loss of credibility.
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