CoastGIS'99: geomatics and coastal environment
project ancl feedback is requested. A newsletter is issued two to three
times a year to inform all those involved about the IDOD database
developments. The papers published therein are sent with “request for
comments”.
For practical information on the characteristics and the transfer of data,
the IDOD team contacts the data manager assigned for each project.
Finally it must be noted that, in order to improve their knowledge of
the data acquisition process, members ot the IDOD team regularly join
scientists during sampling surveys at sea.
Inventory and acquisition of data sets
The first task of the IDOD project consisted in inventorying the existence of relevant data sets. EDMED, the European Directory ofMarine
Environmental Datasets (which is currently being updated in the
framework of the EU concerted action Sea Search, {http://www.seasearch.net}), was used as a starting point for this task.
Although MUMM has been collecting data at sea for years, its own data
sets mainly concern contaminant concentrations in seawater. Therefore,
other data sets had to be gathered to enable a description of the characteristics of all data types.
Further investigation oi the data sets collected in the frame of the programme revealed the following advantages:
- they cover a wide range of disciplines;
- data providers can be contacted for more mformation on the characteristics of the data;
- missing meta-information can be asked for, as the projects are ongoing,
resulting in an immediate impetus to laboratories for better data management and quality control.
The following strategy has been adopted: the laboratories involved are
asked to submit recently collected data in the format considered appropriate by them. The IDOD team checks the availability of the data, the
meta-information (date, time, position, sampling depth, methods and
quality control information), expected parameters and the quality of
the data set (clear description of parameter and unit, detection limit,
precision, number of significant figures). During a visit to the laboratory, the missing metadata and more explanations, especially on the
methodology, are asked for. The laboratories receive feedback on the
screening of their data.
The inventory and acquisition of datasets is a time consuming procedure. It took several months to receive the list of parameters measured
in the frame of the project from all services. When a data set is finally
received, it is often far from complete with respect to all the metainformation required.
126
project ancl feedback is requested. A newsletter is issued two to three
times a year to inform all those involved about the IDOD database
developments. The papers published therein are sent with “request for
comments”.
For practical information on the characteristics and the transfer of data,
the IDOD team contacts the data manager assigned for each project.
Finally it must be noted that, in order to improve their knowledge of
the data acquisition process, members ot the IDOD team regularly join
scientists during sampling surveys at sea.
Inventory and acquisition of data sets
The first task of the IDOD project consisted in inventorying the existence of relevant data sets. EDMED, the European Directory ofMarine
Environmental Datasets (which is currently being updated in the
framework of the EU concerted action Sea Search, {http://www.seasearch.net}), was used as a starting point for this task.
Although MUMM has been collecting data at sea for years, its own data
sets mainly concern contaminant concentrations in seawater. Therefore,
other data sets had to be gathered to enable a description of the characteristics of all data types.
Further investigation oi the data sets collected in the frame of the programme revealed the following advantages:
- they cover a wide range of disciplines;
- data providers can be contacted for more mformation on the characteristics of the data;
- missing meta-information can be asked for, as the projects are ongoing,
resulting in an immediate impetus to laboratories for better data management and quality control.
The following strategy has been adopted: the laboratories involved are
asked to submit recently collected data in the format considered appropriate by them. The IDOD team checks the availability of the data, the
meta-information (date, time, position, sampling depth, methods and
quality control information), expected parameters and the quality of
the data set (clear description of parameter and unit, detection limit,
precision, number of significant figures). During a visit to the laboratory, the missing metadata and more explanations, especially on the
methodology, are asked for. The laboratories receive feedback on the
screening of their data.
The inventory and acquisition of datasets is a time consuming procedure. It took several months to receive the list of parameters measured
in the frame of the project from all services. When a data set is finally
received, it is often far from complete with respect to all the metainformation required.
126