South American Low-Level Jet Experiment (SALLJEX)
Data Management Plan
December 2002
Compiled by:
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
Joint Office for Science Support (JOSS)
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, Colorado 80307 USA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The SALLJEX (South American Low-Level Jet Experiment program) is described in the SALLJEX science and implementation plan (Paegle et al., 2000 http://www.met.utah.edu/jnpaegle/research/ALLS.html).. Investigators associated with CLIVAR's international program on Variability of American Monsoon Systems (VAMOS) will participate in SALLJEX, with additional focus on coastal ocean-atmosphere-land interactions and continental Mesoscale Convective Systems.
The SALLJEX Field Phase plans to use one research aircraft, a NOAA WP-3D; a number of supplemental radiosonde sites, and part of the enhanced monitoring upper-air network (PIBALs) sponsored by the NOAA/OGP Pan American Climate Studies (PACS) program. The aircraft will be based at Viru Viru Airport in Santa Crúz de la Sierra, Bolivia (17.8° S, 63.2° W), the location of the SALLJEX Operations Center. The P-3 will be used to study low-level jet current along the eastern slopes of the Andes; as well as mesoscale convective system along the exit region of the jet.
Further information about SALLJEX can be found on the web page located at: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/salljex/
1.1 Data Management Philosophy
The development and maintenance of a comprehensive and accurate data archive is a critical step in meeting the scientific objectives of SALLJEX. The overall guiding philosophy for SALLJEX data management is to make the completed data set available to the world scientific community as soon as possible following the field campaign.
The SALLJEX data will be available to the scientific community through a distributed archive coordinated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Earth Observing Laboratory (NCAR/EOL), in Boulder Colorado, USA. JOSS will oversee the SALLJEX data management tasks in collaboration with the SALLJEX Science Working Group. This SALLJEX Data Management Plan describes the guiding data management policies (Section 2), the strategy and functional description of the data management systems (Section 3.0), and the implementation details of the SALLJEX data sets and the data management systems (Section 4.0). Detailed information regarding the SALLJEX Research and Operational data sets are provided in Appendix A and B, respectively.
The SALLJEX data management archive activities fall into two major areas:
2. SALLJEX Data Management Policy
The following data protocol and management issues were discussed and agreed to by the SALLJEX Science Working Group. This data management strategy (i.e. protocol, schedule, data submission, and distribution) form the basis of the SALLJEX data management policy discussed in this chapter and expanded in subsequent sections of this document.
2.1. INTRODUCTION
ii) evaluate the veracity of numerical representation (forecasts and analyses) of SALLJ against special observations and;
iii) determine improvements of initial state representation and model
parameterizations required to improve prediction.
The field observation campaign (SALLJEX) being planned between 1 November
2002 and 1 March 2003 aimed at describing many aspects of the SALLJ.
Further details on SALLJEX can be found at: http://www.clivar.org/organization/vamos/
and http://www-cima.at.fcen.uba.ar/salljex/
Performing high-quality measurements during the planned SALLJEX period, carrying out quality and error checking procedures, and submitting data and related documentation to the SDA will require substantial financial and logistical efforts of the data providers. The necessary support for these activities originates from a variety of international, national and institutional sources.
This policy was approved at the SALLJEX coordination meeting held 24 to 26 July 2002 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2.1.1 SALLJEX Data Categories
In order to set up data release guidelines which
balance the interests of both data users and data providers; it was considered
useful to divide SALLJEX data into the following two categories:
Category 2: Enhanced or
Experimental data. (e.g. SALLJEX rawinsondes, pibal balloon and aircraft
data, radar data) High exploitation value, measurement technology sophisticated
and/or of experimental nature, contacts to data providers recommended for
correct interpretation of data, high efforts necessary to maintain continuous
measurements and high quality of data. These data will be taken for specific
research purposes and maintained by a specific research group and/or the
station or instrument PI.
2.2. SALLJEX DATA RELEASE AND DISSEMINATION GUIDELINES
2.2.1 Release of Data in Compliance with WMO Resolution
40 (CG-XII) and WMO Resolution 25 (CG-XIII)
SALLJEX was initiated by VAMOS/CLIVAR/WCRP, whose
co-sponsor is WMO, as an international project. It is thus appropriate
that any policy for release and dissemination of SALLJEX data should principally
comply with the WMO policy, practice and guidelines for the exchange of
meteorological, hydrological, and related data and products, as embodied
in Resolution 40 of the Twelfth WMO Congress 1995 (CG-XII), and Resolution
25 of the Thirteenth WMO Congress 1999 (CG-XIII); that is, free and
unrestricted exchange of essential data and products.
The no-restriction principle shall in particular
mean that no financial implications are involved for the SALLJEX data exchange.
SALLJEX data files available through one of the SDA shall be offered free
of charge to the data users.
2.2.2 No Commercial Use or Exploitation
It is understood that all SALLJEX data shall be
delivered to users only for scientific studies designed to meet SALLJEX-WCRP
objectives. Commercial use and exploitation by either the data users nor
the SDA is prohibited, unless specific permission has been obtained from
the SALLJEX investigators concerned in writing.
2.2.3 No Data Transfer to Third Parties
One restriction, which will be imposed on all data
users, concerns the re-export or transfer of the original data (as received
from the archive) to a third party. Such restriction shall apply to all
categories of SALLJEX data, and is in the best interests of both the SALLJEX
investigators and the potential users.
Unrestricted copying of the original data by multiple,
independent users may lead to errors in the data and loss of identity of
its SALLJEX-SDA origin and is strictly prohibited.
SDA will offer SALLJEX data files to potential data
users through electronic means, (e.g. the Internet) or other designated
media (e.g. CD ROMs). The SDA shall install technical means to keep protocol
on all data transfers to data users thus maintaining a catalogue of all
data users, and the data files they have obtained.
2.2.4 Timing for Release of SALLJEX Data from SDA
The timing issue clearly involves some conflicting
aspects. The data user will obviously be interested in obtaining data as
soon as possible after the time of measurement. The data providers, as
well as the SDA, will wish to ensure the highest attainable quality of
the data. The latter will generally be time consuming, particularly in
view of the shortage of manpower in many cases.
In addition, the data providers may have for good reasons an interest
to exploit the respective data, or part of it, for his/her own scientific
interest, or for another funded project or experiment, before these data
are made openly available to a larger community.
Ideally, data should be ready for general release
after some specific period following its acquisition, during which the
exchange process between the data provider, the SDA and also the other
data providers, including quality control and assurance, will have been
completed. Six months has been considered as the appropriate length
for this data turn-around period.
All data taken for SALLJEX, shall be categorized
into standard (category 1) and enhanced or experimental (category 2) data.
See section 2.1.1 above for definition of these categories. Standard data
shall be freely open to the science community after the basic turn-around
period of six months. Enhanced or experimental
data shall be freely open to the science community after a prolonged turn-around
period of 15 months at maximum.
Each data providers will be responsible to divide
data provided to the SALLJEX- SDA into the mentioned category scheme (Section
2.1.1). In cases of conflict, it is the data provider who decides on the
category of specific data at the respective site.
It shall be possible in special cases for a potential data user to establish direct contact to a data provider in order to agree on exceptions (i.e. shortenings of the turn-around period) to these rules for specific data or data periods. It is suggested that these communications shall be performed with co-ordination of the SDA.
2.2.5 Acknowledgement and Citation
Whenever SALLJEX data distributed by SDA are being
used for publication of scientific results, the data's origin must be acknowledged
and referenced. A minimum requirement is to reference SALLJEX and the SDA.
If only data from one specific source of SALLJEX data (or a limited number
of them) has been used, additional acknowledgement to the data provider
and its (their) institutions or organizations shall be given.
Maintaining continuous, high-quality measurements,
performing quality and error checking procedures, and submitting data and
related documentation to the SDA will require substantial financial and
logistical efforts of the SALLJEX investigators.
The SDA shall make proper reference to all data
providers and, if required, to their funding sources.
2.2.6 Co-Authorship for Principal Investigators
(PIs)
Co-authorship of SALLJEX participants on published
papers making extensive use of SALLJEX data is justifiable and highly recommended,
in particular, if a PI has responded to questions raised about the data's
quality and/or suitability for the specific study in question, or has been
involved in directly contributing to the paper in other ways. It is highly
recommended that any data user should contact the responsible PI and ask
him/her if he/she wants to become co- author, or if an acknowledgement
(see section 2.5) would be sufficient. If co-authorship is requested, the
PI and the data user should establish a basis for collaboration. A PI in
this context means the responsible site or instrument scientist or any
person (student, collaborator) that he/she may suggest.
Data users of SALLJEX data are encouraged to establish
direct contact with PIs and SALLJEX investigators for the purpose of complete
interpretation and analysis of data for publication purposes. This is in
particular recommended for category 2 data.
2.2.7 SALLJEX Publication Library
Whenever SALLJEX data distributed by SDA are being
used for publication of scientific results, the author(s) shall sent a
copy of the respective publication, preferably in electronic form, to the
SALLJEX Project Office in order to build up a SALLJEX publication library.
The Project Office will maintain this library and will make it public,
for example via the SALLJEX website, for a continuous monitoring of the
SALLJEX data applications and SALLJEX's achievements in general.
2.4. SALLJEX Data Management Functional Description
and Strategy
The general approach to data management support for SALLJEX is summarized
in a data flow diagram (see Fig. 1). It is important that the SALLJEX data
management strategy be responsive to the needs of the investigators, assuring
that data are accurate and disseminated in a timely fashion. It is also
important that the investigators know what is expected of them in this
process. A time line of critical dates in the sequence of SALLJEX data
management tasks are included in Fig. 2. After a description of the Data
Archive Center (Section 3.1), each step in the SALLJEX data management
process is discussed in more detail.
The SALLJEX data will be available to the scientific community through a designated SALLJEX Data Archive Center located at UCAR/JOSS, Boulder, Colorado, USA. All data sets collected for SALLJEX will be available through the existing interactive EOL Data Management System (EMDAC). EMDAC offers scientists access to research and operational data. It provides the means to identify data sets of interest, facilities to view data and associated metadata, and the ability to automatically obtain data via internet file transfer or magnetic media. The user may browse data to preview selected data sets prior to retrieval. Data displays include time series plots for surface parameters, thermodynamic diagrams for soundings, and GIF images for model analysis products and satellite imagery. CODIAC users can directly retrieve data. They can download data via Internet directly to their workstation or personal computer or request delivery of data on magnetic media. Data may be selected by time or location and can be converted to one of several formats before delivery. EMDAC automatically includes associated documentation concerning the data itself, processing steps, and quality control procedures.
Contact Information:
3.2 Data ProcessingContact: EMDAC ( data@eol.ucar.edu ).Mailing Address: P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO, USA, 80307
Shipping Address: 3450 Mitchell Lane (Suite 2000), Boulder, Colorado, USA, 80307
Telephone: (303) 497-8168 [FAX (303) 497-2044]
Internet Access: http://data.eol.ucar.edu/
NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory (NCAR/EOL) has developed the capability of maintaining a web-based field catalog. The on-line catalog capability allows investigators limited perusal and display of preliminary data products during the field phase. The catalog will also provide in-field documentation of project activities (daily or otherwise as required) and summarize data collection. The field data catalog will provide access to daily operations summaries at the Santa Crúz Operations Center, as well other remote sites.
The SALLJEX field catalog can be reached at http://catalog.eol.ucar.edu/salljex/
.
4.- SALLJEX Datasets
Processing and preparation of precipitation datasets will be the responsibility of the individual countries. Digital datasets and reformatting of files will be the responsibility of CIMA at the University of Buenos Aires. The final archive will be delivered to SALLJEX data center (EOL/CDS) for distribution.
Satellite data will be ingested and archived at EOL and at the Centro de Previsão de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos (CPTEC) , Brazil. A browsable GIF image archive will be available at the SALLJEX Data Center, as well as raw binary files collected from either ingest ground station location.
Surface and uper-air data that are routinely transmitted via GTS will be captured and archived at EOL.
Research-quality radiosonde data of the highest resolution available will be processed and quality checked by the NCAR/EOL. This will include operational National Weather Service sites and supplemental SALLJEX sites.
Pilot balloon data will be processed at the National Severe Storms Laboratory. The NSSL has maintained an enhanced monitoring network of pilot balloon observations since 1997. Final datasets will be sent to the archive data center for distribution.
Data from the NOAA research aircraft will be distributed at EOL. The EOL will be responsible for the flight level datasets and the NSSL will process any airborne radar data collected during the experiment. Static images of airborne radar composites will be will also be available at the data center.
4.2 Status Update Requirements and Procedures
Communications with remote sites will be via telephone, facsimile or electronic mail. Receipt of preliminary data from these sites will be also be accomplished in a similar manner, as operations needs dictate.
4.3 Coordination with other countries
Participanting countries will have a primary contact responsible for
coordination of SALLJEX resources in that country.
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5.0 SALLJEX Field Operations Center
The primary function of the Field Operations Center is to support the activities of the SWG and other participating scientists in meeting the scientific objectives of SALJJEX. To accomplish the required tasks, the Field Operations Center will conduct daily meetings, at a time specified by the SWG, to review the present and extended forecasts, monitor all aspects of the experiment, facilitate the coordination of the activities of the participants, ensure adequate communications among the SWG and research platforms, including particpants in other countries, and maintain a data catalog during the field phase.
The venue of the Operations Center is the 3rd Floor Conference Rooms at the Buganvillas Hotel, Santa Crúz de la Sierra, Bolivia. http://www.bolivianet.com/buganvillas/
JOSS will install at the a local area network (LAN) and telecommunications capabilities of adequate bandwidth to support the activities of the participants at the Operations Center. There will be an area for meetings and forecast briefings and the daily mission selection process; as well as an area for the Mission Director, the Operations Director and his staff to execute the operational and logistical responsibilities during any science mission.
5.2 Internet Connectivity
The primary connection to the Internet will be a 1.024MB-per-second link. Within the Operations Center will be a LAN composed of a combination of 10-megabit-per-second and 100 megabit per second Ethernet, with standard RJ-45 twisted-pair connectors. The standard connection provided to SALLJEX participants will be 10baseT. Participants requiring 10base2 (ThinNet) connections should contact the JOSS systems administrator, Mark Bradford ( mark@ucar.edu ) to make special arrangements.
The supported network protocol family will be TCP/IP. IP addresses and TCP/IP configurations will be assigned to participants' computers dynamically, via DHCP. If a participant's computer does not support DHCP, or if it is required that a particular computer have a constant numeric address, the PI must contact the Mark Bradford who will assign a static configuration.
Due to the possible modest bandwidth of the Internet connection, a limited amount of network traffic will be permitted over this link. The highest priorities will be given to data critical for the SALLJEX mission and to electronic mail. The size of e-mail messages may be limited to XX megabyte. Interactive login sessions might not be permitted except in special circumstances after coordination with the JOSS Network Administrator, Mark Bradford, (mark@ucar.edu).