IODE-XX Resolutions and Recommendations

RESOLUTIONS

Resolution IODE-XX.1: REVISED TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE IODE GROUP OF EXPERTS ON BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL DATA MANAGEMENT AND EXCHANGE PRACTICES (GE-BICH)


Resolution IODE-XX.2: DEVELOPMENT OF THE HARMFUL ALGAL INFORMATION SYSTEM



RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation IODE-XX.1: REVISION OF THE TERMS OF REFERENCE
OF THE JCOMM/IODE EXPERT TEAM ON DATA MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (ETDMP)

Recommendation IODE-XX.2: THE OCEAN DATA STANDARDS PILOT PROJECT

Recommendation IODE-XX.3: THE IODE OCEAN DATA PORTAL PROJECT (IODE ODP)


Recommendation IODE-XX.4: THERMODYNAMICS AND EQUATION OF STATE OF SEAWATER. TEOS-10

Recommendation IODE-XX.5: PROGRAMME AND BUDGET FOR 2009-2011

RESOLUTIONS

The IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange,

Recognizing that the work of the Group of Experts on Biological and Chemical Data Management and Exchange Practices has evolved from the initial focus on biodiversity to a coverage of a broader range of chemical and biological data which were not well covered before,

Taking into account the decision of the IOC Executive Council on the possibility of continuation of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) under the umbrella of IOC,

Noting that the 19th session of IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE-XIX) had extended the Terms of Reference to include communication of the results of the work of GE-BICH to the wider community of data managers and data users through a web portal and through the Ocean Teacher for education of data managers and data users,

Decides that the GE-BICH adopts the following Mission Statement: “To promote greater integration of biological, chemical and physical data within IODE’s network of national data centres in support of biogeochemical research, and ecosystem studies and management.”

Further decides that the revised Terms of Reference be as follows:

i). To provide an international forum, raising awareness about new initiatives, best practices, and emerging standards for biological and chemical data management and exchange practices;
ii). To collate and compile guidelines, supporting the integrated management and quality control of biological and chemical data in IODE’s network of national oceanographic data centres;
iii). To contribute to the development of standards, controlled vocabularies, and recommended practices for the management, interoperability and exchange of biological and chemical data, supporting the scientific and operational requirements of the community;
iv). To encourage data centres to compile inventories of past and present biological and chemical data holdings, and make data available to global databases and specialised data portals;
v). To encourage data holders to contribute data to data centres for the creation of regional and global integrated oceanographic databases incorporating physical, chemical and biological data;
vi). To communicate the results from the GE to the wider community of data managers, providers and users.

Encourages IOC Member States to nominate experts having expertise in biological and chemical data management and exchange practices to the Group of Experts

Stresses the importance of:

• Continuing the close collaboration developed with OBIS within the new arrangements that will be decided on,
• Maintaining close relations with relevant IOC programmes such as HAB, IOCCP and GOOS, as well as other organizations and programmes including FAO, ICES, PICES, CIESM, ICSU, SeaDataNet.

The IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange,

Re-emphasizing the importance of high-quality oceanographic data and information,
products and services for scientific, observation and ocean based disaster warning and
mitigation programmes of the Commission, for member States, the private sector and other users,

Acknowledging the data products developed within the IOC Harmful Algal Bloom
Programme on harmful algal events, harmful algae monitoring and management systems,
current use of taxonomic names of harmful algae, biogeography of harmful algal species, and an expert directory and a bibliography;

Recalling Resolution XXIV-9 on the IOC Strategic Plan for Oceanographic Data and Information Management, and Recommendation IODE-XIX.1 through which the IODE Committee endorses the IOC Harmful Algal Information System as a joint IPHAB-IODE activity;

Recalling the need for a further development, integration and streamlining of these data products;

Having reviewed the Plan for a Harmful Algal Information System prepared by the Joint IPHAB/IODE Task Team on the development of the Harmful Algal Information System;

Endorses the Plan and its priorities;

Encourages its National Oceanographic Data Centres to contribute their expertise to the Harmful Algae Information System;

Endorses the continuation of the IOC Harmful Algal Event Information System as a joint IPHAB-IODE activity as stated in Resolution IPHAB-IX.2 by the IOC Intergovernmental Panel on Harmful Algal Blooms (IPHAB).

RECOMMENDATIONS

The IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange,

Recognizing an increasing importance of ocean and data management standards for the effective exchange and shared use of metadata, data and products from the JCOMM/IODE Data Centres.

Noting planned development of the IODE Ocean Data Portal, JCOMM and IODE Ocean Data Standards Pilot Project and WIGOS Pilot Project for JCOMM,

Recommends to revise the Terms of Reference of the Expert Team on Data Management Practices including membership procedures as described in the Annex to this recommendation;

Invites the IOC Executive Secretary in consultation with the Co-Chairs of IODE and the Chair of the JCOMM DMCG to submit the revised Terms of Reference to JCOMM-III for approval;

Encourages IOC Member States to support the ETDMP work through nomination of experts with expertise in data and information management.

The JCOMM/IODE Expert Team on Data Management Practices in close collaboration with JCOMM Programme Areas, WMO/CBS subsidiary bodies, IOC/IODE Officers and related experts, shall:

i. Manage the process of adopting and documenting standards and best practices to be used in JCOMM/IODE data management through the Ocean Data Standards Pilot Project (ODS);
ii. Review and assess the effectiveness of end-to-end data management practices, including integration and consideration of new techniques and approaches;
iii. In concurrence with the co-Presidents of JCOMM, Chair of the JCOMM Data Management Coordination Group (DMCG) and IODE Officers, establish Task Teams and Pilot Projects, as necessary, to undertake the work of the Expert Team on Data Management Practices;
iv. Direct and coordinate the activities of Task Teams and Pilot Projects referred to under (iii);
v. Provide advice to IODE and the Data Management Coordination Group (DMCG) and other groups of JCOMM, as required;
vi. Liaise and collaborate with other groups as needed, to ensure access to required expertise, appropriate coordination and to avoid duplication.

Membership

The membership is selected to ensure an appropriate range of expertise and to maintain an appropriate geographical representation, and includes:

i. Up to 5 experts, including the Chairperson, selected from Members/Member States with an appropriate geographical representation:
ii. Up to 4 experts with relevant expertise based on the current work plans of the Task Teams and Projects established by the ETDMP.
iii. One Co-chair of the IOC International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) Committee.
iv. Representatives of JCOMM Programme Areas and other expert bodies may be invited as appropriate with the concurrence of the co-Presidents of JCOMM and the Co-chairs of the IOC Committee on IODE and with no resource implications to the Commission.

Members of the Expert Team should have experience and skills in one or more of the following:

i. Extensive scientific and/or technical expertise in meteorology or oceanography;
ii. Experience in managing meteorological or oceanographic data in support of other WMO or IOC Programmes;
iii. Technical skills in information technology and software tools such as XML, web-technologies for distributed data system/GIS, relational databases, and computer programming languages.

The IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange,

Acknowledging that the issue of standards is one of the most critical elements for IODE and the consolidation of a set of standards will benefit every member of IODE as well as the broader oceanographic data community,

Recognizing that interoperability between NODCs will be achieved through the use of internationally endorsed standards to allow shared use of metadata, data and products, and is key to the successful development of the Ocean Data Portal,

Noting with satisfaction the work of the Ocean Data Standards Pilot Project in developing a standards process,

Encourages all IOC Member States, Programmes and relevant organizations to collaborate with the Ocean Data Standards Pilot Project, by submitting standards for consideration and contributing to the evaluation process.

Urges Member States to play an active role in the Ocean Data Standards Process and to adopt recommended standards at the earliest opportunity.

The IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange,

Noting the successful completion of the development and testing of a prototype of the IODE ODP that provides a mechanism to integrate marine data from a number of distributed sources both in the network of NODCs and from other participating systems;

Further noting that IODE and JCOMM have established collaboration through an implementation plan for the WIGOS Pilot Project for JCOMM and that IODE ODP technology will be used in the Pilot Project by some of the participating centres;

Considering that there are other similar data access systems, such as SeaDataNet, OBIS, and DMAC, being developed and that it is important for the IODE ODP Project to develop interoperability arrangements with them;

Recommends that:

i. IODE NODCs, DNAs, and other IODE projects implement the IODE ODP Project by providing access to their data resources;
ii. the IODE ODP Project works closely with the WIGOS Pilot Project for JCOMM to implement a connection between IODE centres participating in IODE ODP and meteorological centres using WIS to ensure mutual access to data and information in their respective data systems;
iii. the IODE ODP Project collaborates with other data access systems to develop technical specifications to permit mutual access to data resources of each system;
iv. the IODE Project Office and ETDMP support the IODE ODP Project operations including the technology infrastructure and training courses.

Requests the IOC Executive Secretary to invite Member States to participate in the implementation of the IODE Ocean Data Portal Project by providing access to their data resources.

The IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange,

Noting the report from SCOR WG127 that describes the significant work done on defining a new procedure to calculate the thermophysical properties of seawater;

Further noting that instrumentation that derives salinity from a measure of conductivity converts first to practical salinity and then using ancillary material and another algorithm, practical salinity can be converted to absolute salinity;

Considering that WG127 remarked that the ancillary material and the conversion algorithm from practical salinity to absolute salinity is still immature and likely to change as more data accumulate;

Further considering that the recommendation from WG127 is that:
i. principal investigators should prepare and submit salinity data in the practical salinity scale to archive centres;
ii. archive centres should continue to archive practical salinity to ensure the long term integrity of the archive;

Notes and agrees with the scientific importance of defining new thermophysical properties of seawater and expresses its interest in the outcome of considerations by the 25th IOC Assembly for its adoption;

Recommends
I. that data centres continue to archive practical salinity, not absolute or reference salinity in accordance with recommendations from WG127;
II. that WG127 widely document these practices and their rationale, similar to what was provided to IODE-XX in appropriate journals (e.g. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology) and newsletters (e.g. EOS);
III. that in communications describing the new procedures, WG127 clearly indicate that salinity be reported to data centres in practical salinity;
IV. that the scientific community be asked to provide to national and international data centres all necessary metadata, including manufacturer and model of instrumentation used to measure salinity;
V. that data centres ensure that instrument information be stored along with the practical salinity measurements;
VI. that data centres that are compelled to accept absolute salinities request from the submitters information about the versions of the algorithm and ancillary material used to convert from practical to absolute salinity.



Recommendation IODE-XX.5: PROGRAMME AND BUDGET FOR 2009-2011

Details

Created on: Monday, 18 May 2009 18:08

Last Updated on: Monday, 01 July 2013 12:20