Project Summary

U.S. GLOBEC: Program Services and Data Management for Phase III of the Northwest Atlantic Georges Bank Program

Peter Wiebe and Bob Groman

The central tasks of the Program Services and Data Management office will continue to be to:

• Track data sets from the initial data gathering through final submission
• Accept "submission'' of data (object name and inventory information or data set in a format which the office can handle)
• Work with scientific investigators on quality control and assurance
• Ensure data are documented, albeit with reduced use of color images in cruise and data reports due to funding cutbacks
• Maintain inventory/global dictionary
• Provide information on proper procedures for submitting data
• Disseminate information on GLOBEC data set-- additions, changes
  Ensure final submission to data centers
• Facilitate international exchange
• Develop new software tools and enhancements to methods and the data management system.

The office will continue to assist in the development of new software specifications; the flow of information products and related programs into the system; the local data base maintenance, with special attention to the scientific users and data sources represented; and supporting the U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank Executive Committee meetings.

We will continue to hold yearly scientific investigator workshops to carry out the very essential collaborative activities of exchange of ideas, and integration and synthesis of the data. These workshops are viewed as absolutely necessary to enable the program to achieve its goals and objectives. A longer and intensive workshop is planned for the fall 2000 to provide an opportunity for the investigators to analyze, synthesize and summarize the Program's results to date. However, due to funding cutbacks, this office will only be able to provide modest funding for this conference.

We will only be able to provide modest cruise supplies. Replacement nets and other related cruise supplies required by the broad-scale cruises may not be provided due to budget cutbacks.

Hydrographic Data Processing

To ensure an edited and well calibrated CTD data set scientifically useful to all investigators in the program (and the community), D. Limeburner and R. Beardsley undertook the task of processing R/V Endeavor CTD data into edited 1-db averaged profiles for each station for each cruise before submitting this data set to the Data Center. To do this post-cruise processing, Limeburner developed a set of software programs which work well with the different CTD systems used since 1995, and has developed a simple protocol for the processing, editing, and documentation of CTD data.

D. Limeburner and R. Payne will undertake the task of processing as much of the new Endeavor CTD data as funding and time permit. D. Mountain and J. Manning (NMFS) will continue to be responsible for post-processing the CTD data collected on the broad-scale surveys and a few process-oriented cruises conducted on either UNOLS or NOAA vessels.