11 November, 2008

World Data Centers to be Overhauled

International scientific organizations from more than one hundred nations agreed to rework the 40-plus World Data Centers (WDC) to create a World Data System. NSIDC currently maintains the WDC for Glaciology, Boulder. The new World Data System will replace the current WDCs and Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical Services.

The World Data Centers were established as part of the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958). WDCs conduct international data exchanges in accordance with the principles set forth by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) through the ICSU Panel on World Data Centers. The World Data Center for Glaciology provides a focus for snow and ice information services, with data sets and library holdings on subjects such as glaciers, avalanches, snow cover, polar ice masses, ice cores, sea ice, and fresh water ice.

WDC for Glaciology, Boulder, receives support through a cooperative agreement between the University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and is affiliated with the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC). See WDC for Glaciology, Boulder, for more information.

To read the ICSU press release open the PDF at http://www.icsu.org/3_mediacentre/RELEASES/ICSU_29GA_Data_Information_Press_Release.pdf.

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