Implementing the NOAA "Center of Data" concept at the Climate Diagnostics Center

Almost ten years ago, NOAA developed the "Center of Data" concept to augment the efforts of the NOAA National Data Centers. The purpose of a Center of Data was to provide specialized data or expertise not easily handled through the much larger data centers. As a result, many Centers of Data were designated throughout the five NOAA Line Offices, including several in the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). Each Center of Data tends to offer data sets that are unique, in substance or format, compared to the same or similar data found elsewhere. In addition, Center of Data staff tend to be specialists in the origin and use of the data they provide.

The NOAA Climate Diagnostics Center (CDC) has operated a "Center of Data" for the past decade, specializing in gridded global climate data sets, such as COADS and the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis. Each of the data sets offered have been chosen primarily to satisfy the internal needs of CDC researchers. As such, the data format, metadata, and derived quantities that are maintained in the on-line CDC data archive have been selected because of largely internal considerations. However, to the extent that external users find these data of value and interest, CDC makes them available to the broader research community.

This paper will present an outline of the structure and procedures used at CDC to operate and maintain their Center of Data, which has grown over the years to include over 500-GB of on-line data and which distributes some 6-TB of data each year through its anonymous FTP and web interface.