**CONCRETE GUIDANCE TO DATA PROVIDERS**

(Technical guidance for data managers)

The DMAC Plan is not intended as a guide to marine data management;
rather it is a plan for interoperability among independent data
management systems. Furthermore, at the time of this writing (March
2005) the DMAC Subsystem remains very incomplete---important aspects of
interoperability remain to be addressed through community processes
described in Part II of the DMAC Plan. Yet it is possible to recommend
some concrete actions that may be taken by data and metadata managers
and product producers to coordinate early implementations and streamline
their future compatibility with IOOS. Integration of data into IOOS
implies that would-be users will more quickly and efficiently be able
to: discover data through a comprehensive search; browse and visualize
data through standard web browsers; and access data from many common
computer applications. It is understood that any recommendations made at
this time are subject to change as the DMAC Subsystem evolves.

There are two classes of solutions for sharing data that will ensure
consistency with the emerging DMAC standards, protocols, and tools:

1\. Providers of certain types of data may delegate responsibility for
managing these data to another entity. For example, a data provider may
be able to enter into an arrangement with the NOAA National Data Buoy
Center (NDBC) to perform quality-control and distribute mooring data or
with the U.S. GODAE Server to distribute operational model outputs.

2\. Providers of all types of data can make choices to manage the data
in a manner that is consistent with the emerging DMAC standards,
protocols, and tools. The following approaches to managing data and
metadata will help ensure compatibility with emerging DMAC:

• **Metadata management and data discovery**

It is recommended that all data providers:

> -- Create metadata that are compliant with Federal Geographic Data
> Committee (FGDC) standards for both current and legacy data holdings
> and inventories.
>
> -- Submit metadata to the NASA Global Change Master Directory (GCMD)
> and/or the NOAA Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC) so that data
> sets may be easily found through an open data discovery process.
>
> -- Participate in the DMAC Metadata Working Group (see Part II,
> Section 2, Metadata/Data Discovery Activity 1) to ensure that the
> special characteristics of their data will be thoroughly considered
> during the formulation of DMAC metadata standards.

• **Data Transport**

> Depending upon the nature of the data to be provided, it is
> recommended that providers of:
>
> -- ***Gridded data*** \-- install servers providing access to their
> data through OPeNDAP data access protocol.
>
> -- ***Complex data collections in a relational data base (SQL)** \--*
> make data accessible to DMAC by participating in data transport pilot
> activities to either (i) use OPeNDAP relational data base server or
> (ii) use enterprise GIS protocols. Full operational support for
> complex data collections in relational databases will be developed
> early in the evolution of DMAC.
>
> -- ***Large collections of individual files that comprise a single
> (logical) data set*** \-- if OPeNDAP servers exist for the file types
> install these servers to provide access to the individual files.
> Participate in pilot activities to develop "aggregation" capabilities
> that will provide a higher-level (more ordered) view of the
> collections.

It is recommended that all data providers:

> -- Participate in the DMAC Transport (Semantic Data Model) Working
> Group (see Part II, Section 2, Data Transport, Activity 1) to ensure
> that the special characteristics of their data (if any) will be
> thoroughly considered during the formulation of DMAC data transport
> standards.

• **Uniform On-Line Browse to all IOOS data**

It is recommended that all data providers:

> -- Install metadata-enabled, open source or commercial On-Line Browse
> tools for end users. For gridded data, the Live Access Server (LAS) is
> a recommended pre-operational Uniform On-Line Browse component of
> IOOS. For complex data collections (non-gridded), participate in pilot
> activities to utilize commercial or open source GIS web clients or the
> LAS.
>
> • **Archive**

It is recommended that all data providers:

> -- Review their current data holdings to ensure that irreplaceable
> data are archived at a responsible entity.
>
> -- Contact the archive entity that is responsible for their classes of
> data and make arrangements for archiving the data.