The following data protocol and management issues were discussed and agreed to by the INDOEX Data Management Working Group (New Delhi Meeting, January 1997) and later approved by the INDOEX International Steering Committee. This data management strategy (i.e. protocol, schedule, data submission, and distribution) form the basis of the INDOEX data management policy discussed in this Chapter and expanded in subsequent Chapters of this document.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Resolution 40 (26 October 1995) will comprise the basis for the INDOEX data protocol to be adopted and practiced by each of the INDOEX Data Archive and Analysis Centers:
"As a fundamental principle of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and in consonance with the expanding requirements for its scientific and technical expertise, the WMO commits itself to broadening and enhancing the free and unrestricted international exchange of meteorological and related data and products".
Each INDOEX Data Archive and Analysis Center is expected to abide by this Resolution and develop procedures and practices to provide unrestricted access to the INDOEX data sets in a timely manner (according to the Project schedules set forth and described below).
All data released in the field will be considered "preliminary" data to be used for planning and operational purposes only. "Preliminary" data are defined as data that have not been thoroughly analyzed or quality assured (i.e. final instrument calibrations applied, etc.) by the PI to become "final" processed data. No distribution of the "preliminary"data outside the Operations Center will be permitted without the consent of the responsible PIs. At the end of the INDOEX IFP, no "preliminary" data will be archived (or distributed) at the Data Archive and Analysis Centers unless agreed to by the PI. Individual PIs will be responsible for the final processing, quality control, and submission of their own data sets to the Data Archive and Analysis Centers since they are best qualified to do so. The INDOEX Data Archive Centers will perform any necessary processing for the operational data sets (e.g. satellite, upper air soundings, surface observations, model output, etc.) ONLY.
All operational data sets collected in real-time ONLY (e.g. satellite, GTS upper air soundings, GTS surface observations, model output, etc.) will be available through the INDOEX Data Archive Centers 6 months following the IFP (September, 1999). All field documentation (e.g. daily operations summaries, mission summaries, status reports, mission scientist reports, etc.) will also be available by this time.
All PIs participating in INDOEX must agree to promptly (within 12 months following the conclusion of the IFP [1 April 2000]) submit their processed, quality controlled "final"data to the respective INDOEX Data Archive Centers. Complete metadata (including data set descriptions, documentation, calibrations, quality assurance results, etc.) must accompany the data. Any departures from this schedule must be strongly justified by the PI, and will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the INDOEX Project Office or the INDOEX International Steering Committee. Also, the PI can request that the respective Data Archive Center send notification when a request for his/her data is received. The requirement for PIs to submit their "final" data following 12 months after the IFP will facilitate intercomparison of results, quality control checks, inter-calibrations, and an integrated interpretation of the combined INDOEX data set (see Section 3.5).
All data shall be promptly provided to other INDOEX PIs upon request with the approval of the PI that collected the data. INDOEX PIs are defined as those included in the Science and Implementation Plan and/or those directly participating in the field experiment. Distribution can be done either directly by the PI or through the INDOEX Data Archive and Analysis Centers with the permission of the PI.
During the initial data analysis period (one year after the IFP and data have been processed to their final form and submitted to the Data Archive Centers), no data may be provided to a third party (journal articles, presentations, research proposals, other investigators) without the consent of the PI that collected the data. This initial analysis period is designed to provide an opportunity to quality control and analyze the combined data set to release a better quality product to the scientific community.
It is the intent of the INDOEX International Steering Committee that all data will be considered public domain no later than one year after the end of the field experiment (1 April 2000) and that any use of the data will include either acknowledgment or co-authorship of the PI who collected the data. General community access to the data will be available through the respective INDOEX Data Archive Centers subject to the procedures of the individual centers. These Data Archive Centers will be responsible for making arrangements on data distribution (e.g. cost, method of distribution, etc.) and coordinate data orders with the requestor. The Data Archive and Analysis Centers will exchange current inventories at least every 3 months for two years following the IFP. to keep the various Centers up to date and consistent with latest data set versions. This will also serve as a method to announce new data set availability between the Centers.