NCEI Ocean Exploration Data Stewardship

(NOAA Collaborators:Sharon Mesick)

NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) are the stewards of ocean exploration data funded and collected by NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER). Our goal is to aid OER in stewarding internally collected oceanographic data, and data collected from Federally Funded Opportunity (FFO) grants. This task includes ongoing integration of the ocean exploration community data management requirements, scientific oversight of the end-to-end data management, gathering of OER-funded data, review of OER ocean exploration archived data, and continued implementation of data standards and metadata guidelines.

Because of the complexity of ocean exploration data, it is our responsibility to ensure the long-term archival, discoverability, and accessibility of government funded data. Implications of stewarding ocean observations encompass a broad range of topics and the integration of findings is paramount to understanding and utilizing our deep-sea resources.