OGS NODC Meta-data standardization, discovery and reporting from a relational database

The use of technology constitutes a critical aspect in the oceanographic data management like in other research fields. The Department of Oceanography of the OGS has a high level experience in collecting oceanographic data obtained through involvement in several national and international programmes. The Oceanographic database managed by the OGS National Oceanographic Data Centre archives measurements of physical and biogeochemical parameters, of current and wave motion, of sea levels and meteorological data described by correlated meta-data from the beginning of the 1900’s until now. All the data and meta-data are currently contained in an Oracle relational database. Access to all the meta-data is public whereas access to the data is subject to a Data Policy defined at data set level. In accordance with the SeaDataNet project, whose target is to create an integrated network of European oceanographic data centres, the OGS NODC is developing a standardization of the meta-data using XML and Web Services technologies thanks to the high flexibility of its relational database.The OGS NODC provides a discovery and reporting service through dedicated web pages that allows different kinds of users to obtain information about the oceanographic field they are interested in.