CEOP Reference Sites Data Release Guidelines

All data users are strongly requested to follow these data release guidelines. The following six "golden rules" for a smooth and successful use of CEOP Reference Site Data should particularly be noted and followed by any data user.

1. No financial implications are involved for the CEOP reference site data exchange. See section 2.1.

2. Commercial use and exploitation of CEOP reference site data is prohibited. See section 2.2.

3. Any re-export or transfer of the original data received from the CDA archive to a third party is prohibited. See section 2.3.

4. The origin of CEOP reference site data being used for publication of scientific results must be acknowledged and referenced in the publication. See section 2.5.

5. CEOP reference site data users are strongly encouraged to establish direct contact with data providers for complete interpretation and analysis of data for publication purposes. See section 2.6.

6. Co-authorship of data users and CEOP reference site Principle Investigators on papers making extensive use of CEOP data is justifiable and highly recommended. See section 2.7.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Coordinated Energy and Water Cycle Observation Project (CEOP) was initiated as an international effort in 1998 by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Hydrometeorology Panel (GHP) in support of global climate research interests. Further details on CEOP can be found on the internet located at: http://www.ceop.net/

CEOP has two major science objectives:

1. to use enhanced observations to better document and simulate water and energy fluxes and reservoirs over land on diurnal to annual temporal scales and to better predict these on temporal scales up to seasonal for water resource applications; and

2. to document the seasonal march of the monsoon systems, assess their driving mechanisms, and investigate their possible physical connections.

As part of the strategy to meet these objectives a number of well instrumented reference sites of small to intermediate scale areas were identified in different regions and climates of the Globe where observational in situ and ground-based remote sensing data will be gathered and archived. The network of CEOP reference sites is still evolving, but the current list and details can be found at: http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/ceop/dm/insitu/sites/

The time periods for which data will be archived will cover the period 2001-2010.

Archiving all reference site data into one central CEOP Reference Site Data Archive (CDA) and creating harmonized data formats at CDA is an essential element of the CEOP data policy in order to provide easy access to reference site data for the CEOP Research Community. The latter will be referred to as data users in the following data release guidelines.

CEOP reference sites have been established and are being maintained by a variety of institutions, organizations, national services, international and national research groups, and research individuals. Henceforth, these will be referred to as data providers. Maintaining continuous, high-quality measurements during the planned CEOP periods, performing quality and error checking procedures, and submitting data and related documentation to the CDA will require substantial financial and logistical efforts of the data providers. The necessary support for these activities originate from a variety of international, national and institutional sources.

It is important to note that, while some of the CEOP reference sites have been established specifically for CEOP, most reference sites are taking measurements also in the context of other experiments or projects with possibly different objectives and rules for use and exploitation.

CEOP reference site data cover a wide spectrum of measurements and observations concerning for example the complexity of measurement techniques used and their scientific (and commercial) value for the data provider. While CEOP data users generally wish to receive all types of CEOP data in an unrestricted manner, with as little delay as possible and free of charge, the data providers' interest is generally to protect their data to a certain extent for the sake of their own (or other projects') scientific and commercial exploitation.

Considering the noted constraints and interests of the various parties involved, the CEOP Data Management Working Group drafted the following CEOP data release and dissemination guidelines. This document was discussed at the CEOP kick-off meeting held 6 to 8 March 2002 in Tokyo, Japan, and was approved at that same meeting by the CEOP Scientific Steering Committee.

2. CEOP REFERENCE SITE DATA RELEASE AND DISSEMINATION GUIDELINES

2.1 Release of Data in Compliance with WMO Resolution 40 (CG-XII) and WMO Resolution 25 (CG-XIII)

CEOP was initiated by WCRP, whose co-sponsor is WMO, as an international project. It is thus appropriate that any policy for release and dissemination of CEOP data should principally comply with the WMO policy, practice and guidelines for the exchange of meteorological, hydrological, and related data and products, as embodied in Resolution 40 of the Twelfth WMO Congress 1995 (CG-XII), and Resolution 25 of the Thirteenth WMO Congress 1999 (CG-XIII); that is, free and unrestricted exchange of essential data and products.

The no-restriction principle shall in particular mean that no financial implications are involved for the CEOP reference site data exchange. CEOP data providers shall transfer their measured data to the CDA free of charge. Also, CEOP reference site data files established at CDA shall be offered free of charge to CEOP data users.

2.2 No Commercial Use or Exploitation

It is understood that all CEOP reference site data shall be delivered to data users only for scientific studies designed to meet CEOP-WCRP objectives. Commercial use and exploitation by neither the data users nor the CDA is prohibited, unless specific permission has been obtained from the data providers concerned in writing.

2.3 No Data Transfer to Third Parties

One restriction which will be imposed on all data users concerns the re-export or transfer of the original data (as received from the CDA archive) to a third party. Such restriction shall apply to all categories of CEOP reference site data, and is in the best interests of both the data providers and the potential users. Unrestricted copying of the original data by multiple, independent users may lead to errors in the data and loss of identity of its CEOP-CDA origin and is strictly prohibited.

CDA will offer CEOP reference site data files to potential data users through electronic means, (e.g. the internet) or other designated media (e.g. CD ROMs). The CDA shall install technical means to keep protocol on all data transfers to data users thus maintaining a catalogue of all data users, and the data files they have obtained.

2.4 Timing for Release of CEOP Reference Site Data from the CDA Archive

The timing issue clearly involves some conflicting aspects. The data user will obviously be interested in obtaining data as soon as possible after the time of measurement. The data provider as well as the CDA will wish to ensure the highest attainable quality of the data. The latter will generally be time consuming, particularly in view of the shortage of manpower in many cases.

In addition, the data provider, or the reference site or instrument Principle Investigator (PI), may have for good reasons an interest to exploit the respective reference site data, or part of it, for his/her own scientific interest, or for another funded project or experiment, before these data are made openly available to a larger community.

Ideally, data should be ready for general release after some specific period following its acquisition, during which the exchange process between the data provider and the CDA, including quality control and assurance, will have been completed. Six months is generally a suggested guideline as an appropriate length for this data turn-around period.

It is nevertheless recognized that there may be instances when this turn-around time shall deviate from six months. This may be the case in particular for protecting the data provider's own interest for the data of a specific instrument (or several instruments) at his/her site. In order to avoid a too complex data availability system, it is suggested that all reference site data taken for CEOP shall be categorized into standard (category 1) and enhanced or experimental (category 2) data. See section 3 for definition of these categories. Standard data shall be freely open to the science community after the basic turn-around period of six months. Enhanced or Experimental data shall be freely open to the science community after a prolonged turn-around period of 15 months at maximum.

Each CEOP reference site will be responsible to divide the site's data provided to the CEOP- CDA into the mentioned category scheme (Section 3). In cases of conflict, it is the data provider who decides on the category of specific data at the respective site.

It shall be possible in special cases for a potential data user to establish direct contact to a data provider (or a PI at the data provider) in order to agree on exceptions (i.e. shortenings of the turn-around period) to these rules for specific data or data periods. It is suggested that these communications shall be performed with co-ordination of the CDA.

2.5 Acknowledgement and Citation

Whenever CEOP reference site data distributed by CDA are being used for publication of scientific results, the data's origin must be acknowledged and referenced. A minimum requirement is to reference CEOP and the CDA. If only data from one reference site (or a limited number of reference sites) has been used, additional acknowledgement to the reference site(s) and its (their) maintaining institutions or organizations shall be given.

Maintaining continuous, high-quality measurements, performing quality and error checking procedures, and submitting data and related documentation to the CDA will require substantial financial and logistical efforts of the data providers. The necessary support for these reference site activities originate from a variety of international, national and institutional sources. The CDA shall make proper reference to all CEOP data providers and, if required, to their funding sources.

2.6 Co-operation between CEOP Data Users and CEOP Reference Site Principal Investigators (PIs)

Data users of CEOP reference site data are encouraged to establish direct contact with PIs at data providers for the purpose of complete interpretation and analysis of data for publication purposes. This is in particular recommended for category 2 data.

2.7 Co-Authorship for CEOP Reference Site Principal Investigators (PIs)

CEOP reference sites are equipped with sophisticated, state-of-the-art instrumentation and shall comply with strict requirements of station maintenance, exposure of instruments, calibration, quality assurance procedures and the like, in order to achieve the highest attainable standards of measurement, accuracy, representativeness, stability and repeatability. To ensure that this goal is reached, PIs who are leading experts for the instruments used at respective CEOP sites are often taking responsibility for individual instruments operated at the respective CEOP reference site.

Co-authorship of CEOP reference site PIs on papers making extensive use of CEOP data is justifiable and highly recommended, in particular, if a PI has responded to questions raised about the data's quality and/or suitability for the specific study in question, or has been involved in directly contributing to the paper in other ways. It is highly recommended that any data user should contact the responsible PI and ask him/her if he/she wants to become co- author, or if an acknowledgement (see section 2.5) would be sufficient. If co-authorship is requested, the PI and the data user should establish a basis for collaboration. A PI in this context means the responsible site or instrument scientist or any person (student, collaborator) that he/she may suggest.

2.8 CEOP Publication Library

Whenever CEOP reference site data distributed by CDA are being used for publication of scientific results, the author(s) shall sent a copy of the respective publication, preferably in electronic form, to the CDA in order to build up a CEOP publication library. CDA will maintain this library and will it make public, for example via CDA's web site, for a continuous monitoring of the CEOP reference site data applications and CEOP's achievements in general.

3. CEOP REFERENCE SITE DATA CATAGORIES

In order to set up data release guidelines which balance the interests of both data users and providers in the light of the above mentioned constraints it was considered useful to divide CEOP reference site data into the following two categories:

Category 1: Standard data. (e.g. Rawinsonde, surface standard meteorology)
Low or common exploitation value, measurement technology common, generally well understood, little or no problems with data interpretation.

Category 2: Enhanced or Experimental data. (e.g. flux or tower data, soil profile data, wind profiler)
High exploitation value, measurement technology sophisticated and/or of experimental nature, contact to PIs recommended for correct interpretation of data, high efforts necessary to maintain continuous measurements and high quality of data. These data are often taken for specific research purposes and always maintained by a specific research group and/or the station or instrument PI.