Salinity Data Management Best Practices Workshop Report, August 3-4, 2005.

Abstract

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center hosted a workshop focused on data management for real-time in-situ salinity data in Charleston, South Carolina, during the first week of August 2005. Participants in the workshop included representatives from NOAA offices and representatives from regionally based coastal ocean observing systems.

The workshop’s goal was to create a “best practices” guide for users who collect, manage, and archive real-time, in-situ salinity data. This guide would include three topical areas: 1. Accurate quality control of salinity data 2. Management of metadata 3. Effective data dissemination to various users

Unfortunately, the goal was not quite met. Each of the workshop’s topics required more in-depth discussions and debate than time allowed. Yet, the workshop made significant progress. The participants approved a concise set of quality control parameters for salinity. They narrowed the vast list of metadata parameters to a manageable level that future workshops can more fully address. Finally, the group formed a working group to focus on a data access and dissemination routine based on Web services. While salinity data will be the focus of this working group’s efforts, the workshop attendees realize that data access and dissemination is a wide-ranging topical area that cuts across many oceanographic variables, and will require input and support from the broader coastal and oceanographic community. This report presents the results of the salinity workshop, as well as some recommendations for future, similar workshops.