Data Management and Services

Scientific proposals submitted to the NSF require data plans to be in place before a project begins. Project scientists rely on EOL’s Data Management and Services (DMS) to provide support through field operations and the long-term data analysis phase. At the completion of the field project, DMS provides a secure, easily accessible archive of the collected data, including those from non-EOL sources. DMS is also responsible for developing and stewarding EOL’s data services and collaborative tools. Together, our software engineers, archivists, and data services providers design and implement data management systems that allow you to spend less time worrying about your data and more time interpreting it.     

Data Planning

  • Works with the PI Team to develop a Data Management Plan and a Data Policy that facilitates data sharing amongst the investigators while ensuring project data archival and investigator attribution.

Field Support

  • Collects supporting data and products and makes them available in real-time for mission planning and in-field decision-making.
  • Provides tools for real-time monitoring and decision-making on the ground as well as aboard NSF/NCAR research aircraft.
  • Monitors the mission remotely and collaborates with the field team in real-time.

Field Catalog Integrated Data Displays

  • Provides web-based tool for collecting, organizing, and presenting reports; quick-  look data products from operational, research, and model generated sources; and status information during the field phases of observational experiments.
  • Serves as the online hub for field project operations and has links to real-time mission coordination displays and communication tools.
  • Provides real-time visualization of data from varying temporal and spatial resolutions and allow researchers to interact with one another to guide the mission from anywhere in the world.
  • Visit the archive of completed and operational field catalogs on the EOL website: catalog.eol.ucar.edu

Data Access and Archival

  • Archive data on high-performance, redundant, and fault-tolerant storage systems in collaboration with NCAR’s Computational Information Systems Laboratory.
  • Build advanced functionality, such as data searching and subsetting into our data distribution systems up front.
  • Generate metadata from datasets in a variety of formats which facilitates broad data discovery and allows data to be linked to those from other organizations, thereby spreading its use and ensuring a long-lasting scientific legacy.
  • Visit the archive of operational and research datasets collected from recent and historical projects at: www.eol.ucar.edu/all-field-projects-and-deployments