SIR ALISTER HARDY FOUNDATION FOR OCEAN SCIENCE
| DATA POLICY STATEMENT |
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Provision of data and products - for research and other uses
1. INTRODUCTION
To facilitate access to and maintain the integrity of the results of the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey SAHFOS has produced a policy for the provision of data to the research community. This policy recognises the benefits of providing free and open access to good quality data from the CPR Survey for use in global change studies, environmental research, and operational services such as the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The aim of the new policy is to encourage the widest possible use of SAHFOS data and products, in order to best realise their potential value. As a non-profit making charitable Foundation this policy, by encouraging a continuing use of CPR data, will help ensure the long term sustainability of the survey.
2. SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS
A large number of organisations have contributed to the support of the CPR survey since its inception in 1931. These included up to 1965: University College Hull, the UK Development Commission, the Leverhulme Trust, the Fishmonger's Company, the Scottish Marine Biological Association and the US Office of Naval Research. In 1965 until 1988 the main support for the survey was taken over by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) with a major and continuing contribution after 1975 to present by the UK Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food. Since SAHFOS was established in 1990 the Foundation has been funded by an international consortium and has received support from UNESCO (IOC), UNIDO and agencies in Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, and the USA as well as the UK Ministries: DEFRA and DANI and from 1999 again, the UK NERC.
3. DEFINITION OF TERMS
data: Biological, oceanographic and environmental observations made by or for SAHFOS. This includes species and their enumeration on samples taken by CPR tows together with their relevant time, positions and oceanographic or other measurements made by electronic or mechanical instrumentation.
samples: Material of a biological, or physico/chemical nature taken by or for SAHFOS. Historically most samples are typically cut sections of the sampling silk representing 10 nautical miles of tow. These samples and tubed specimens removed from the silk are preserved in formalin, archived and available for further more detailed study.
products: All information that results from the transformation or processing of data, or from mathematical models, in the form of pictures, charts, text or data files.
subscribing bodies: Core funding for SAHFOS is derived from subscribing bodies which provide funds for its central activities including data collection on long term routes, collection of samples and maintenance of equipment.
Potential Expansion
It should be noted that at this stage the data policy refers to the core North Atlantic CPR Survey. It is possible that SAHFOS, within programmes such as the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS), could become a global repository for data and samples taken by other affiliated surveys elsewhere in the world or undertake plankton analysis for other surveys. Any expansion in the role of the Foundation will be addressed as appropriate by future amendments to this policy document.
4. OPEN ACCESS
Enquiries for access to CPR data and samples should in the first instance be made to the SAHFOS Data Manager who will forward a 'Data Licence Agreement' for signature with attached terms and conditions. Access to CPR data and samples are free.
Charges levied for non commercial applications will be restricted to bench fees and costs involved in processing requests e.g. computing and labour to remove/return samples to the archive. Through this policy SAHFOS is fully compliant with the developing data policy for GOOS.
Applications from commercial organisations will be levied service charges as above. However, for most such requests it is expected that an interpretative report will also be required; the cost for this service will be negotiated between SAHFOS and the applicant. In addition, as per the licence agreement, should a commercial company wish to sell a product or tradable commodity based on SAHFOS data a written agreement on the proposed commercial activity, and royalties to be paid, will need to be agreed in advance.
It is intended that processed data and some new near real-time data will be made freely available on the web. Other data requests will be serviced as requests arrive, but access to the whole dataset will only be available to scientists coming to work at SAHFOS. This latter requirement is to allow SAHFOS to provide an on-site briefing about the background and limitations of the raw data.
5. SAHFOS COMMITMENT
The Foundation:-
i) Will identify those data and products which are to be stored in view of potential future use. Such identification to be carried out in consultation with subscribing bodies to ensure maximum consistency and that appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent loss of key data and samples.
ii) Will retain those data and products so identified in a form, which makes them accessible and useable.
iii) Will participate in relevant activities involved in data provision, development of standards and quality assurance, and of techniques, hardware and software required for the storage and manipulation of data.
iv) Believes that all users will recognise that there are costs associated with the collection of data and production of products. The maintenance of CPR routes, sample collection, quality assurance, creation and maintenance of datasets in an accessible and useable form are necessary and expensive activities. Furthermore, the development of new instrumentation, operational systems, and the curation/storing of samples are also essential.
v) Will make available data and products to research and education communities for bona fide use in non commercial activities on terms which recover the cost of extraction, handling and transmission. All other conditions, usually associated with a commercial transaction such as restrictions on further dissemination, will remain valid and form part of any agreement to supply.
vi) Recognises that there are commercial applications for such data and products whether by commercial concerns or research institutes. In such cases royalties will be negotiated, will reflect market conditions and will at least cover full economic cost so that SAHFOS can benefit from the commercial exploitation of the data.
vii) Will implement reciprocal agreements between SAHFOS and other agencies where mutual benefit may thereby result. Such agreements may allow access to data free of charges. Such reciprocal arrangements will be audited from time to time to ensure that reciprocity is being maintained.
viii) Will endeavour to ensure that the design of the SAHFOS database interfaces smoothly with the developing GOOS and its requirements for data collection, quality control, processing and information technology infrastructure.
6. DATA ARCHIVE
To the end of 1957 all records of CPR analysis were written in "analysis books"; subsequent to then, records were stored by route on analysis sheets. The original log forms from towing ships and the mechanical records of CPRs are also retained. A computerised version of the data archive is housed on two IBM compatible PCs and stored in both a relational (Microsoft Access) and file based (Fortran) database systems. To ensure that both paper and computerised records are adequately protected against accidental loss or damage paper records are housed in fireproof cabinets and computer records are regularly backed up and stored offsite.
7. SAMPLE ARCHIVE
All CPR samples are preserved and archived and available for more detailed study. A sample catalogue is being prepared and improvements in the storage, curation and maintenance of the archive are planned in partnership with the UK Marine Biological Association (MBA) which shares the current storage site.
In most cases alternate samples are analysed. All samples may be analysed for specific projects and the prioritisation of routes to be analysed may be changed by special contractual agreement.
Samples which have been analysed by the CPR team may be used by other scientists for non-destructive study, by approved procedures; such work is to be carried out on site in SAHFOS facilities.
Non-analysed samples can be made available for other research, at the discretion of the Director. The use of such samples will be subject to availability of surplus material and the need to maintain a comprehensive and complete archive.
8. LIBRARY ARCHIVE
Most of the historic documents from the survey were lost when the CPR programme was closed by NERC in 1988. A salvage operation has been put in place and copies of available old correspondence and other documents are being archived when they become available
9. LICENCING
To gain access to SAHFOS data or products all researchers will be required to complete and sign a SAHFOS Data Licence Agreement. The licence is designed to protect the rights of SAHFOS.
10. PUBLISHED SUMMARIES
As and when appropriate, SAHFOS may publish data products or results. In general the price of a publication will be sufficient to recover the marginal cost of its production and distribution. However, if the market will bear a higher price, which contributes to the cost of generating and copying the data and/or product, this may be levied subject to the overriding requirement that the price must not thereby severely restrict the sale of the publication.
11. DATA INVENTORIES
In order to increase awareness of the availability of CPR plankton data, SAHFOS has produced an inventory of all samples analysed and all species identified by the Survey. The aim is to provide an interactive database containing some representative sample data accessible over the internet. Using the internet scientists can already determine the sample coverage in any area they define, with a time-scale of months. The system provides a simple form for interrogation of the database, and a query returns a table of the number of samples analysed per month per year within the area. An example of such a query and output is available on the SAHFOS web site at http://www.sahfos.org.
12. BIBLIOGRAPHY
A list of CPR publications is included in the above SAHFOS website. The list is updated annually as part of the preparation for the Annual Report.
13. REVIEW PERIOD
This policy statement will be reviewed in two years time and then every five years. SAHFOS Council may however, request a review of particular aspects of the policy at Council meetings. It is recognised that the policy may be difficult to implement at times and the application of the policy should be at the discretion of the Director in consultation, when necessary, with the President.
