c •#£ Vsaf' The National Oceanographic Data Center U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Data Service The environment is described a second, a minute, a day, a year, an epoch at a time, point by point; the portrait is always a composite one of individual observations — data. NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and its En- vironmental Data Service have the task of moving the Nation's mountain of de- scriptive information, analyzing it, stor- ing it, and distilling from it the important historical lessons taught by the physical world. The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) is one of the Environ- mental Data Service's five major facili- ties;* it contains the world's largest us- * Others are the National Climatic Center, Asheville, N.C.; the National Geophysical and Solar-Terrestrial Data Center, Boulder, Colo.; the Environmental Science Information Cen- ter, Washington, D.C.; and the Center for Experiment Design and Data Analysis, Washington, D.C. able collection of oceanographic data. Established in 1960 to acquire and dis- seminate oceanographic data, the Center was administered by the Navy until its transfer to NOAA in October 1970. It is a national service facility for the United States; it also administers World Data Center A, Oceanography. NODC serves the oceanographic data needs of researchers in Govern- ment, private institutions, and industry, of marine scientists and engineers, and of all who take their talents to the sea. The National Oceanographic Data Center receives information for all oceans, seas, and estuaries from hun- dreds of sources, domestic and foreign, including the national data centers of other countries. Under the World Data Center system, World Data Center A re- ceives material from international coop- erative expeditions (for example, the Co- operative Investigations of the Caribbean & Adjacent Regions), Declared National Programs of nations represented in UNESCO'S Intergovernmental Oceanog- raphic Commission, and other programs. Data and publications are also ob- tained by exchange between the Center and individuals and organizations in 45 countries and such groups as the ICES, the International Council for the Explora- tion of the Sea, as gifts from scientists and organizations wishing to share their data, and through the purchase of val- uable marine data collections. Incoming data are handled by the Data Preparation Division, which acces- sions, processes, and performs quality control. A records control center pro- vides inventories of all data entering the Center and notes their processing status and location. Data leave the Center through the Data Services Division, which ■r<\ I «^T^ a: ^f provides copies, summaries, and analy- sis and information services on request. Archives include automated, miniatur- ized, and hard-copy forms. The Special Projects Division interfaces with marine environmental programs to establish data management and exchange practices and acquisition procedures, as well as to maintain data inventories and data file descriptions. An IBM 360 series computer provides high-speed processing, direct- access retrieval, and cathode-ray tube displays of the holdings. The Center gathers the Report on Observations/Samples Collected by Oceanographic Programs (ROSCOP), which contains information on quantities and types of data, area of operations, and responsible personnel. Input is re- ceived from major United States activi- ties contributing to the national effort in the marine sciences. The inventory is queried through a computer system. Oceanographic Data Available From NODC • Mechanical and expendable bathy- thermograph data in analog and digital form. . Oceanographic station data for sur- face and serial depths, giving values of temperature, salinity, oxygen, in- organic phosphate, total phos- phorus, nitrite-nitrogen, nitrate-nit- rogen, silicate-silicon, and pH. • Continuously recorded salinity-tem- perature-depth data in digital form. • Surface current information ob- tained by using drift bottles or cal- culated from ship set and drift. • Biological data, giving values of plankton standing crop, chlorophyll concentrations, and rates of primary productivity; also bibliographic ref- erences to papers on marine biol- ogy- • Other marine environmental data obtained by diverse techniques, e.g., instrumented buoy data, cur- rent meter data, etc. NODC Services • Data processing. • Data reproduction, including com- puter printouts, punched cards, magnetic tapes, and other forms. • Analyses and preparation of statis- tical summaries based on archive holdings. I Evaluation of various data records for user's specific requirements. Onsite liaison services available from representatives located at La Jolla, Calif., Miami, Fla., and Woods Hole, Mass. Referral to organizations holding requested information. Provision of general marine sciences information. Supply of publications, including data processing manuals, catalogs of holdings, data reports, and atlases. a «s 6* Requests for Services Requests should define data de- sired, geographic limits involved, and such other pertinent information as a de- scription of the problem for which the data are required. They should also spe- cify format — magnetic tape, punched cards, microfilm, or hard copy (computer printouts, publications, analog charts). Cost varies with amount of ma- terial, special analysis, computer time, and other factors. Requests for small amounts of information are completed free of charge; otherwise, a cost estimate is presented to the requester before work begins, and the request is handled upon receipt of funds. The User's Guide to NODC's Data Services, available from NODC on re- quest, provides detailed information concerning data holdings. Visitors are welcome at the National Oceanographic Data Center, located at 2001 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. However, advance notice is recom- mended if visitors wish to interview staff members. Special working space and technical assistance are provided on re- quest. Call (202) 343-8921 or write: The National Oceanographic Data Center National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration Washington, D.C. 20235 PENN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES A0D007EDMmflb NOAA/PA 71052 (Rev. 1974)