What’s Inside ...

Trends Online . . . . . . . . . . 2

New NDPs . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Popular Updates . . . . . . . . 7

New Databases . . . . . . . . . 8

Recent and Relevant . . . . . 9

Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Data Management Tool . 11

CDIAC’s Bookshelf . . . . 12

Order Form . . . . . . . . . . . 13

QSSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

A Large Experiment Tests Impacts 

of Climate Change

Changes in regional climate across the

southern United States, which are

hypothesized to occur in response to

increasing greenhouse gases in the

atmosphere, have raised concerns that

southeastern forests might be vulnerable

to future drought conditions. To provide

experimental information related to

such concerns a catchment-scale

(19,000 m2

) manipulation experiment

was initiated on the Walker Branch

Watershed (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) in

July of 1993 to modify throughfall

(precipitation passing through the forest

canopy) to an upland oak forest over

multiple growing seasons. The

Throughfall Displacement Experiment

(TDE) is being conducted by ORNL 

scientists with funding from the U.S.

Department of Energy’s (DOE’s)

Program for Ecosystem Research. The

project seeks to identify the potential

range of adjustments in physiological

processes, water use, and aboveground

and belowground growth by overstory

and understory species and to evaluate

changes in nutrient cycling and

decomposition processes in the context

of changing precipitation inputs. 

Using a passive experimental design,

the TDE treatments are implemented by

a gravity-driven displacement of

throughfall precipitation from one 

Continued on p. 3

Summer 1999

Issue No. 26

 http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/

 Co-editors: Sonja Jones

Karen Gibson

CDIAC Communications is funded by

the U.S. Department of Energy’s

Environmental Sciences Division,

Office of Biological and Environmental

Research. It is published periodically

by the Carbon Dioxide Information

Analysis Center, Environmental

Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National

Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN,

37831-6335, which is managed for the

U.S. Department of Energy by

Lockheed Martin Energy Research

Corp. under Contract No.

DE-AC05-96OR22464. CDIAC

Communications is distributed free of

charge. ISSN 1053-1106.

CDIAC’s Program Manager:

Bobbi Parra
Summer 1999

2 CDIAC Communications

Trends Online

Carbon Dioxide

Emissions from

Fossil Fuel

Consumption

(http://cdiac.esd.

ornl.gov/trends/emis/em_cont.htm)

Publications containing historical energy

statistics have made it possible to estimate fossil

fuel CO2 emissions back to 1751. Since 1751

more than 265 billion tons of carbon have been

released to the atmosphere from the

consumption of fossil fuels and cement

production. Half of these emissions have

occurred since the mid 1970s. The 1996

estimate for global CO2 emissions, 6518 million

metric tons of carbon, is the highest fossil-fuel

emission estimate ever. The 1996 estimate

represents a 1.7% increase over 1995,

continuing a trend of modest growth since a

1990-1993 decline in global CO2 emissions.

Globally, liquid and solid fuels accounted for

77.5% of the emissions from fossil-fuel burning

in 1996. Combustion of gas fuels (e.g., natural

gas) accounted for 18.3% (1196 million metric

tons) of the total emissions from fossil fuels in

1996 and reflects a gradually increasing global

utilization of natural gas. Emissions from

cement production rose to 202 million metric

tons of carbon, a twenty-fold increase since the

1920s. Emissions from gas flaring for 1996 were

estimated to be 67 million metric tons of carbon,

well below the levels of the 1970s. Collectively,

emissions from cement production and gas

flaring contributed less than 5% to the total

emissions for 1996. 

Global and Hemispheric Temperature

Anomalies–Land and Marine Instrumental

Records (P. D. Jones et al.) (http://cdiac.

esd.ornl.gov/trends/temp/jonescru/jones.html)

These temperature anomaly time series are

derived from a global database of corrected land

and marine temperature data. The land portion

of this updated database is comprised of surface

air temperature data (land-surface

meteorological data and fixed-position weather

ship data) that have been corrected for

nonclimatic errors, such as station shifts and/or

instrument changes. A reanalysis of land surface

data by the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) has

resulted in (1) the inclusion of more than 1000

additional stations, (2) a new reference period

common to all stations (1961–1990; previously

1950–1979), and (3) increased grid-box

resolution of the temperature anomalies

(5° × 5°). The marine data consist of sea surface

temperatures (SSTs) that incorporate in situ

measurements from ships and buoys. The

resulting data set has been used extensively in

various Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC) reports, and the global-mean

temperature changes evident in the record have

been interpreted in terms of anthropogenic

forcing influences and natural variability.

Trends in annual mean temperature anomalies

for the globe show relatively stable temperatures

from the beginning of the record through about

1910, with relatively rapid and steady warming

through the early 1940s, followed by another

period of relatively stable temperatures through

the mid-1970s. From this point onward, another

rapid rise similar to that in the earlier part of the

century is observed. Like 1997, 1998 has seen a

new global mean temperature record set; 1998’s

anomaly was 0.57°C above the 1961–1990

reference period mean temperature. The six

warmest years of the global record have all

occurred since 1990 and are, in descending

order, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1990, 1991, and 1994.

The record shows that the average surface air

temperature of the globe has warmed ~0.5°C

since the middle of the nineteenth century. 
Summer 1999

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 3

A Large Experiment Tests Impacts

of Climate Change

Continued from p. 1

treatment plot to another. The manipulation

yields experimental plots that have normal

rainfall inputs or one-third more or less rainfall

than typical forests in eastern Tennessee. The

TDE experiment is one of the largest terrestrial

manipulation experiments ever conducted.

Multiyear growth and physiological

observations through six years of manipulation

show that the small-stature vegetation is the

most sensitive to changing precipitation. 

Shallow-rooted dogwood saplings showed

reduced growth, water use, and increased

mortality in our dry-treatment scenario, while

mature canopy trees did not. Unlike the imposed

dry treatment, periodic natural drought events in

1993, 1995, and 1998 have resulted in maturetree growth reductions of 30-50%, but the net

impact on aboveground stand production over

six years of manipulation is limited. Foliar litter

production by the canopy has not been impacted

by the TDE treatments, and is very stable from

year to year at approximately 500 g m-2 y-1. 

Belowground root production showed a

significant increase in the dry treatment,

suggesting a potential stand-level adjustment to

the reduced precipitation scenario. 

The sensitivity of overstory tree species to soil

water deficits is ranked as follows: Yellow

Poplar > Blackgum > Maple > White oak =

Chestnut oak. This ranking is consistent among

a variety of measured properties, including

growth, canopy water use, foliar biochemistry,

and CO2 and water vapor exchange. In the

understory, dogwood is more sensitive than red

maple saplings, and dramatic increases in

mortality of dogwood under the TDE’s drytreatment scenario suggest potential future

changes in forest species diversity if such

species die out. 

Direct measurements of litter layer mass show a

significant 20-30% increase following six years

of sustained precipitation reductions. Litter

mass accumulation indicates reduced

decomposition and carbon accumulation for a

dry future, but carbon accumulation in the forest

litter layer might increase future fire hazards

and long-term reductions in nutrient availability. 

The suite of TDE measurements has led us to

conclude that differences in seasonal timing of

rainfall will have a greater impact on plant productivity (or carbon sequestration) than changes

in rainfall applied equally throughout a year. 

A key implication of this conclusion is that

accurate predictions of plant, forest-stand, and

ecosystem responses to changing regional

climates will require a concomitant

understanding of future climate dynamics. The

temporal resolution of current precipitation

change scenarios (i.e., more or less rainfall

annually) must be improved to include scenarios

of rainfall periodicity. This requirement is

essential because it is the balance between

rainfall inputs and ecosystem water use that lead

to quantification of soil water status. 

The TDE is slated to operate for two additional

growing seasons (1999 and 2000) to complete

observations of long-term cumulative tree and

soil responses, fill out mechanistic plant/ecosystem response relationships, and support ongoing

and externally funded collaborative research

efforts. Final results from TDE research will

yield a hierarchical integration of physiological

response mechanisms into ecosystem models

required for long-term assessments of the

influence of future precipitation change on

forest productivity and carbon sequestration. 

Original data sets covering the experimental

environment, plant growth, physiological

characteristics, and soils will be archived by

CDIAC for alternative analyses and modeling. 

Contact Paul Hanson (hansonpj@ornl.gov) for

additional information and a list of published

research papers. 
Summer 1999

4 CDIAC Communications

New Numeric Data Packages Available

CDIAC’s data holdings provide coverage in a number of areas relevant to the greenhouse effect and

global climate change. Such areas include records of the concentration of carbon dioxide and other

radioactively active gases in the atmosphere; the role of the terrestrial biosphere and the oceans in the

biogeochemical cycles of greenhouse gases; emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere; long-term

climate trends; the effects of elevated carbon dioxide on vegetation; and the vulnerability of coastal

areas to rising sea level. Data that are thoroughly checked and documented are released by CDIAC as

numeric data packages (NDPs). Recently released NDPs are described in this section. The data and

documentation text or HTML version are available from CDIAC’s Web site (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/),

from CDIAC’s anonymous FTP area (cdiac.esd.ornl.gov), and on a variety of media upon request.

Technical questions (e.g., methodology or accuracy) should be directed to the CDIAC staff member who

is responsible for preparing the individual NDP.

Carbon Dioxide, Hydrographic, and Chemical Data Obtained 

During the R/V Meteor Cruise 22/5 in the South Atlantic Ocean 

(WOCE Section A10, December 1992–January 1993)

Johnson, Kenneth M., Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York; Bernd Schneider, Baltic Sea

Research Institute, Warnemünde, Germany; Ludger Mintrop, Institute for Marine Sciences, Kiel,

Germany; and Douglas W. R. Wallace, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York

Prepared by Alexander Kozyr, CDIAC

NDP-066 (1998) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/oceans/ndp_066/ndp066.html)

Procedures and

methods that were

used to measure total

carbon dioxide

(TCO2) and total

alkalinity (TALK) at

hydrographic stations,

as well as the

underway partial

pressure of CO2

(pCO2) during the

R/V Meteor Cruise

22/5 in the South Atlantic Ocean (Section A10)

are presented in this data package. Conducted as

part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment

(WOCE), the cruise began in Rio de Janeiro on

December 27, 1992, and ended after 36 days at

sea in Capetown, South Africa, on January 31,

1993. Measurements made along WOCE

Section A10 included pressure, temperature, and

salinity [measured by conductivity, temperature,

and depth (CTD) sensor], bottle salinity, bottle

oxygen, phosphate, nitrate, nitrite, silicate,

chlorofluorocarbons (CFC-11, CFC-12), TCO2,

TALK, and underway pCO2. Knowledge of

these parameters and their initial conditions will

enable researchers to determine heat and water

transport as well as carbon transport. An

understanding of this transport will contribute to

the understanding of processes that are relevant

to climate change. This section in the South

Atlantic subtropical gyre is especially relevant

to understanding CO2 transport because it

crosses both the Brazil and the Benguela

boundary currents. 

The TCO2 was measured by using two

Single-Operator Multiparameter Metabolic

Analyzers (SOMMAs) for extracting CO2 from

seawater samples that were coupled to a
Summer 1999

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 5

coulometer for detection of the extracted CO2.

The overall precision and accuracy of the

analyses was ±1.9 μmol/kg. Samples collected

for TALK were measured by potentiometric

titration; precision was ±2.0 μmol/kg. Underway

pCO2 was measured by infrared photometry 

with a precision of ±2.0 μatm. The work aboard

the R/V Meteor was supported by the U.S.

Department of Energy and the

Bundesministerium für Forschung und

Technologie. WDC-A database 

The International Intercomparison Exercise of Underway fCO2 Systems

During the R/V Meteor Cruise 36/1 in the North Atlantic Ocean

Körtzinger, Arne, Ludger Mintrop, and Jan C. Duinker, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany; Kenneth M.

Johnson, and Craig Neill, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York; Douglas W. R. Wallace,

University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany; Bronte Tilbrook, and Philip Towler, Commonwealth Scientific and

Industrial Research Organisation, Holbart, Tasmania, Australia; Hisayuki Inoue, and Masao Ishii,

Meteorological Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan; Gary Shaffer, University of Copenhagen,

Copenhagen, Denmark; Rodrigo Torres, Göteborg University and Chalmers University of Technology,

Göteborg, Sweden; Eiji Ohtaki, and Eiji Yamashita, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan; Alain

Poisson, Christian Brunet, and Bernard Schauer, Université Pieere et Marie Cure, Laboratoire de

Physique et Chimie Marines, Paris, France; Catherine Goyet, and Greg Eischeid, Woods Hole

Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Prepared by Alexander Kozyr, CDIAC

NDP-067 (1999) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/oceans/ndp_067/ndp067.html)

Measurements of the

fugacity of carbon

dioxide (fCO2) in

surface seawater are

an important part of

studies of the global

carbon cycle and its

anthropogenic perturbation. An important step toward the

thorough interpretation of the vast

amount of available fCO2 data is the establishment of a database system that would make such

measurements more widely available for use in

understanding the basin- and global-scale

distribution of fCO2 and its influence on the

oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2. Such an

effort, however, is based on knowledge of the

comparability of data sets from different

laboratories. Currently, however, there is not

much known about this subject. In the light of

the aforementioned situation, an International

Intercomparison Exercise of Underway fCO2

Systems was proposed and carried out by the

Institut für Meereskunde Kiel (IfMK) (Institute

of Marine Research at the University of Kiel),

Kiel, Germany, during the R/V Meteor Cruise

36/1 from Hamilton, Bermuda, to Las Palmas,

Gran Canaria, Spain. Nine groups from six

countries (Australia, Denmark, Germany,

France, Japan, and the United States)

participated in this ambitious exercise, bringing

together 15 participants with 7 underway fCO2

systems, 1 discrete fCO2 system, and 2

underway pH systems, as well as discrete

systems for alkalinity and total dissolved

inorganic carbon. This report presents only the

results of the underway measurements of fCO2. 

The main idea of the exercise was to compare

surface seawater fCO2 synchronously measured

by all participating instruments under identical

conditions. This synchronicity was accomplished by providing the infrastructure during the

exercise, such as a common seawater and
Summer 1999

6 CDIAC Communications

Locations of Stations in the U.S. HCN/D

calibration gas supply. Another important issue

was checks of the performance of the calibration

procedures for CO2 and of all equilibrator

temperature sensors. Furthermore a common

procedure for the calculation of final fCO2 was

applied to all data sets. These measures were

taken in order to reduce the largest possible

amount of controllable sources of error. 

The results demonstrated in this report show

that three of the seven underway systems agreed

to within 2 μatm throughout the cruise. This was

not only the case for seawater fCO2 measurements but also for measurements of the atmospheric mole fraction of CO2 (LCO2). It was

found that significant offsets of up to 10 μatm

occurred in underway fCO2 measurements for 

three systems under typical and identical field

work conditions. Finally, the discrete fCO2

system measurements agreed within its nominal

accuracy of 1% with the three most consistent

underway fCO2 systems data sets.

General conclusions and recommendations for

underway fCO2 work are based on a detailed

comparison and evaluation of this large

intercomparison data set and may serve as

background information for a successful

preparation of a coherent database of surface

ocean fCO2 values. The results of this exercise

certainly underline the need to address carefully

the important issue of the interlaboratory

comparability of fCO2 data. WDC-A database 

United States Historical Climatology Network Daily Temperature,

Precipitation, and Snow Data (1871–1997) 

D. R. Easterling, T. R. Karl, J. H. Lawrimore, and S. A. Del Greco, National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA), National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), Asheville, North Carolina

Prepared by Dale P. Kaiser and Linda J. Allison, CDIAC

NDP-070 (1999) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/ndp070/ndp070.html)

Not only an update, but an expansion of the

original 138-station

database previously

released by CDIAC

as NDP-042 in 1992,

this database contains

daily observations of

maximum and

minimum

temperature,

precipitation amount,

snowfall amount, and

snow depth from

1062 observing

stations across the

contiguous

United States. The

1062 stations in NDP-070 are a subset of the

1221-station U.S. Historical Climatology

Network (HCN), the monthly database compiled

at NCDC and distributed by CDIAC, that has

been widely used in

analyzing U.S.

climate. Data from

1050 of the NDP-070

daily records extend

into the 1990s, while

990 of these extend

through 1997. Most

station records are

essentially complete

for at least 40 years;

the latest beginning

year of record is

1948. Records from

158 stations begin

prior to 1900, with

that of Charleston, South Carolina beginning the

earliest (1871).
Summer 1999

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 7

The daily resolution of these data makes them

extremely valuable for studies attempting to

detect and monitor long- term climatic changes

on a regional scale. Studies using daily data may

be able to detect changes in regional climate that

would not be apparent from analysis of monthly

temperature and precipitation data. Such studies

may include analyses of trends in maximum and 

minimum temperatures, temperature extremes,

daily temperature range, precipitation “event

size” frequency, and the magnitude and duration

of wet and dry periods. The data are also

valuable in areas such as regional climate model

validation and climate change impact

assessment.

Popular Updates

ALE/GAGE/AGAGE (May 1999)

(http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/ndps/alegage.html)

Prinn, R., D. Cunnold, P. Fraser, R. Weiss,

P. Simmonds, F. Alyea, L. P. Steele, D. Hartley

and R. H. J. Wang

Prepared by Tom Boden, CDIAC

CDIAC released an updated database from the

global ALE/GAGE/AGAGE monitoring

network (DB1001), which provides continuous

high-frequency gas chromatographic

measurements of eight important biogenic/

anthropogenic gases, including methane (CH4);

nitrous oxide (N2O); the chlorofluorocarbons

CFCl3, CF2Cl2, and CF2ClCFCl2; methyl

chloroform (CH3CCl3); chloroform (CHCl3);

and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). This database

supports analyses and monitoring related to both

greenhouse gases and the Earth’s ozone layer

and also captures the increased growth in CH4

and N2O seen in 1998. This database provides

data from 1978 when the program began and

includes data through September 1998. Data are

available for the following sites: Cape Grim,

Tasmania; Point Matatula, American Samoa;

Ragged Point, Barbados; Mace Head, Ireland;

and Trinidad Head, California (stations also

previously existed at Cape Meares, Oregon, and

Adrigole, Ireland). WDC-A database 

Global, Regional, and National CO2

Emission Estimates from Fossil

Fuel Burning, Cement Production,

and Gas Flaring: 1751–1996

(March 1999) (NDP-030)

(http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/ndps/ndp030.html)

Marland, G., T. Boden, and A. Brenkert,

CDIAC; B. Andres, University of AlaskaFairbanks; and C. Johnston, University of

Tennessee-Knoxville

CDIAC’s database of emissions on carbon

dioxide from fossil-fuel combustion and cement

production has recently been updated. This database provides quantitative estimates of annual

CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel combustion and

cement production through 1996, with global

total emissions for each year and some national

estimates beginning in 1751. Since 1751 over

265 billion tons of carbon have been released to

the atmosphere from the consumption of fossil

fuels and cement production. The 1996 estimate

for global CO2 emissions, 6518 million metric

tons of carbon, is the highest fossil-fuel emission estimate ever. The 1996 estimate represents

a 1.7% increase over 1995, continuing a trend of

modest growth since a 1990-1993 decline in

global CO2 emissions. WDC-A database 

 Latest Release 

Atmospheric CO2 concentration records from the SIO sites (Mauna Loa, Hawaii; Barrow, Alaska; Cape

Matatula, Samoa; and the South Pole) updated through 1998. (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/co2/sio-keel.htm).
Summer 1999

8 CDIAC Communications

88 91 94 97

−48

−47

−46

13C/12C of Atmospheric CH4 at Cape Grim

New Database Available

Typically, CDIAC checks all files that it receives and fully documents these files in the form of numeric

data packages (NDPs) or computer model packages (CMPs) before making them available to the general

public. CDIAC also offers databases (DBs) that have not been subjected to the normal CDIAC

quality-control procedures in order to make them available more quickly. The abstract that follows

describes the most recent database available from CDIAC. The database is available from CDIAC’s Web

site (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/), from CDIAC’s anonymous FTP area (cdiac.esd.ornl.gov), and in a

variety of media upon request. Files describing the contents of the database are provided, but no

additional documentation is available from CDIAC. Questions about accessing the database should be

directed to CDIAC; technical questions (e.g., methodology or accuracy) should be directed to the CDIAC

staff members responsible for preparing the database.

Measurements of Atmospheric Methane and 13C/12C of Atmospheric Methane

from Flask Air Samples

Paul Quay and Johnny Stutsman, School of Oceanography, University of Washington, 

Seattle, Washington

Prepared by Tom Boden and Linda Allison, CDIAC

(1999) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/ndps/quay.html)

Precise measurements of atmospheric methane

and 13C/12C in atmospheric methane from flask

air samples collected at eight sites worldwide

and aboard NOAA cruises in the Pacific Ocean

are offered in this database. The eight sites

include Olympic Peninsula, Washington; Cape

Grim, Tasmania; Fraserdale, Ontario; Marshall

Islands; Baring Head, New Zealand; Mauna

Loa, Hawaii; Point Barrow, Alaska; and

American Samoa. The measurements span the

period 1988 to mid-1996. All isotopic

measurements are reported in per mil (‰) and

have been corrected for standard drift.

These data are useful for global methane budget

analyses, for determining spatial and temporal

trends in the atmospheric isotopic composition

of methane, and for constraining the magnitude

of the fossil and biogenic CH4 source strengths.

WDC-A database 

/& LQ &+ Å

<HDU
Summer 1999

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 9

Recent and Relevant

Carbon dioxide-related publications are available from CDIAC while supplies last. Please note: Several

publications listed in prior versions of the catalog are no longer distributed by CDIAC. DOE personnel

and DOE contractors should request those copies from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information

(OSTI), P.O. Box 62, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (http://www.osti.gov/). Other individuals may purchase

copies from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) (703-487-4650 or http://www.ntis.gov/)

in microfiche or hard copy; prices will vary with the number of pages. 

Fiscal Year 1998 Annual Report

Robert M. Cushman, Thomas A. Boden, Les A. Hook, Sonja B. Jones, Dale P. Kaiser, and

Tommy R. Nelson, CDIAC

Prepared by Marvel D. Burtis, CDIAC

ORNL/CDIAC-116 (1999) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/cdiac/annintro.htm)

Each fiscal year, CDIAC staff reflect upon the

data center’s progress by producing an annual

report that documents highlights from the year

and goals for the coming year. The Fiscal Year

1998 Annual Report provides information on

new data products, publications, and additions

to CDIAC’s Web site and information on

CDIAC’s focus areas. The report provides

statistics on the center’s activities, such as the

number of requests for global-change data and

information, products requested, and citations in

the published literature of data obtained from

CDIAC. It also alerts users to new data

products that CDIAC hopes to release in

fiscal year 1999, lists awards received by

CDIAC and publications and presentations of its

staff, and names the many organizations with

which CDIAC has collaborated to produce the

data and information products it released in

fiscal year 1998.

Please note: Only a limited number of printed

copies are available upon request. 
Summer 1999

10 CDIAC Communications

Catalog of Databases and Reports

Prepared by Karen Gibson, CDIAC 

ORNL/CDIAC-34 (1999) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/catalog/index.htm) 

CDIAC’s Catalog of Databases and Reports

provides information on the data products and

reports available through CDIAC, including the

DOE-sponsored research reports, CDIAC

reports, CDIAC Numeric Data Packages (NDPs)

and Computer Model Package (CMP), and other

databases (DBs). The catalog, as well as many

of the data products and reports listed

in the catalog, are available online in enhanced

format as HTML and/or PDF documents.

A 1999 revision of the catalog is available in

PDF format and may be accessed and printed

from our Web site. The HTML version of the

catalog is revised as new products and updates

become available. 

Awards

CDIAC recently received two awards for Informational Materials and Technical Reports in the East

Tennessee Society for Technical Communications (STC) Chapter’s 1998 Technical Publications

and Art Competition.

Excellence

Catalog of Databases and Reports (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/catalog/index.htm), submitted by

Marvel D. Burtis, Karen N. Gibson, and Robert M. Cushman.

Merit

Surface Water and Atmospheric Underway Carbon Data Obtained During the World 

Ocean Circulation Experiment Indian Ocean Survey Cruises (R/V Knorr, December 1994–January

1996) (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/oceans/ndp_064/ndp064.html), submitted by Linda J. Allison,

Alexander Kozyr, Christopher L. Sabine, and Gay Marie Logsdon. 
Summer 1999

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 11

New Data Management Tool Being

Developed at ORNL

Most of the readers of CDIAC Communications

are familiar with how CDIAC operates.

Scientists, usually at the end of a study, submit

their data to CDIAC. CDIAC quality-assures

and documents the data, in many cases adding

value to the data by further analyzing or

combining the data with related data, and then

makes the data available for distribution. There

is another data-management support function,

which until recently was not supported by

ORNL. That is support for field data that were

not mature but nevertheless had value to active

scientists working on the same project.

Supporting the (limited) distribution of these

constantly changing, dynamic data sets, among

researchers on three continents, was a task that

the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) was facing for its Large

Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in

Amazonia (http://lba-ecology.

gsfc.nasa.gov/lbaeco/). NASA wanted a system

able to make field data quickly available that did

not put too many demands on scientific

investigators producing these data and that

could be built and maintained quickly and

inexpensively.

At the ORNL Distributed Active Archive Center

(DAAC), a NASA-sponsored data center

(http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/), we developed a

web-based, distributed data system we call

Mercury. Mercury provides quick information

delivery by supplying a template for creating

detailed catalog entries, furnishing an engine

that gathers data from linked web sites, and

allowing users to search linked web sites for

data. Researchers just need to make their

metadata (information about their data sets)

available on the Internet and, at night, an 

automated ‘harvester’ travels between the linked

web sites retrieving the information and finally

depositing it in an organized fashion at ORNL. 

If a scientist put a data set out at night, it would

be part of the system by the next morning. Each

night, after the system has harvested the data,

the database is rebuilt from scratch. Mercury

takes advantage of the powerful XML

(Extensive Markup Language) standard so it can

support focused, fielded searches unlike many

search engines. If the principal science

investigator chooses to make a data set invisible

to other users, it can be taken out of the database

by the next day. This is important because it

allows people to pull data from programmatic

view if they later realize that there is some

problem with them.

An initial test of Mercury began in late spring

1998. The International Geosphere-Biosphere

Programme (IGBP) tested it until September of

1998, when they adopted it as their system

(http://mercury.ornl.gov/servlet/igbp/).

Currently, NASA’s Earth Observing System

Land Validation team has also adopted Mercury.

ORNL is looking to work with NASA to expand

the system to NASA’s Earth Science

Information Partners program. The Mercury

home page is http://mercury.ornl.gov/. For a

tutorial on Mercury see http://mercury.ornl.gov/

PK/Mercury/tutorial.ppt. Open it as a

presentation in PowerPoint. 

Paul Kanciruk, Manager

Environmental Information Analysis Program

ORNL Environmental Sciences Division 
Summer 1999

12 CDIAC Communications

CDIAC’s Bookshelf

In the course of our work at CDIAC, books and announcements that are highly specialized and may not

get a broad announcement to the worldwide scientific community cross our desks, so we’d like to

mention them here. CDIAC does not stock or distribute these publications.

Our Changing Planet: The Fiscal Year 2000

U.S. Global Change Research Program

(Committee on Environment and Natural

Resources, National Science and Technology

Council, Washington, D.C., 1999, 100 pp.).

The 2000 version of this annual report explains

the major transition about to take place for the

U.S. Global Change Research Program

(USGCRP). The program will continue its

research into improving our understanding of

the changing Earth environment. A new focus is

intended to advance our knowledge of how such

change will affect society. And a global

environmental change information service will

facilitate the application of research results to

national needs.

The USGCRP is guided by five broad

objectives: determine the origins, rates, and

likely future course of natural and

anthropogenic changes; increase understanding

of the combined effects of multiple stresses on

ecosystems; understand and model global

environmental change and its processes on finer

spatial scales and across a wide range of time

scales; address the potential for surprises and

abrupt changes in the global environment; and

understand and assess the impacts of global

environmental change and their consequences

for the United States.

To meet these objectives, the USGCRP includes

five Program Elements: Understanding the

Earth’s Climate System; Biology and

Biogeochemistry of Ecosystems; Composition

and Chemistry of the Atmosphere; 

Paleoenvironment and Paleoclimate; Human

Dimensions of Global Change; and the Global

Water Cycle. The USGCRP is establishing a

Carbon Cycle Science Initiative to give

increased emphasis to that area.

The report summarizes key USGCRP

accomplishments in 1998, such as continued

progress in the National Assessment of the

Potential Consequences of Climate Variability

and Change; El Niño-Southern Oscillation

forecasting; assessment of ozone depletion; and

fire monitoring. Of special interest to readers of

CDIAC Communications, the report lists globalchange research data products newly available

in 1998. Finally, the report describes the globalchange 1998–2000 budget and program plans

for each of the ten USGCRP agencies. 

Copies of Our

Changing Planet are

available online at

http://gcrio.ciesin.

org/ocp00/ or from

the U.S. Global

Change Research

Information Office,

P.O. Box 1000, 61 Rt.

9W, Palisades, NY

10964 (914-365-8930,

fax 914-365-8922)
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Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center 15

Quality Systems Science Center

(QSSC)

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Sciences Division and located within

CDIAC, three important documents have been published online by NARSTO’s QSSC to assist ozone

researchers in ensuring the quality of their research results. These publications are available online only,

as PDF files, and may be read using Adobe Acrobat Reader

(http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/programs/NARSTO/narsto.html#qsmp).

Quality Systems Management Plan (QSMP)

ORNL/CDIAC-110

Ronald Patterson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Les Hook, Meng-Dawn Cheng, and Thomas

Boden, CDIAC

The QSMP identifies the NARSTO program quality assurance and data management requirements and

guidelines for ensuring NARSTO product credibility, reliability, accessability, and quality—the keys to

NARSTO success.

Quality Planning Handbook

ORNL/CDIAC-111

Les Hook, Meng-Dawn Cheng, and Thomas Boden, CDIAC

The planning handbook offers guidance concerning the preparation of project quality system planning

documentation and research, modeling, and assessment reports.

Data Management Handbook

ORNL/CDIAC-112

Thomas Boden, Les Hook, and Meng-Dawn Cheng, CDIAC

The data management handbook offers guidance concerning the management of data, products, and

records to help ensure the long-term utility of NARSTO products. 
CDIAC Communications

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

P.O. Box 2008, MS-6335

Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6335, U.S.A.

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