For some years, oceanic and polar researchers have been discussing the need for a tool that allows us to share information on field projects, before heading to sea. SOOS (the Southern Ocean Observing System) is coordinating the development of a multi-disciplinary, international field projects database. This database will host details of voyage transects and of the individual project leaders working on board.
The database will include the following:
- A map of upcoming and completed fieldwork programmes;
- Capacity for voyage coordinators to upload route maps and voyage details, and edit these as more details become available;
- Capacity for project Principle Investigators (PIs) to upload details of individual projects on each voyage, and to edit these as more information becomes available;
- Spatial and text-based search functions to allow users to find voyages and projects in their areas of interest.
When resources allow, the database will be expanded so that project plans can be uploaded in bulk from national programmes, and project records can be used as the basis for discovery metadata records for the data collected in these projects. Since all research data from the Southern Ocean should have a metadata record, this will avoid duplication of data management efforts.
The project has now progressed to the beta testing stage and is looking for people to help test it. If you are interested in participating, please contact Pip Bricher, SOOS Data Officer, for more details: [email protected].
A special thank you to James Cusick and Mike Sumner from the Australian Antarctic Division who have worked with Pip on developing the database to this stage, based on needs identified through SOOS community consultation over the past year.
For more information, visit the SOOS Field Projects Database webpage.