CCHDO: Almost As Good As They Think They Are

An oceanographic data facility begins operations with the tools and techniques related to the time of its inception, or may rely on even earlier versions if the group inherits legacy operations. As data volumes increase and community needs evolve, problems are typically solved with one-off solutions utilizing the methods and languages familiar to the senior staff, and often as not data remain organized as they had been prior to the adoption of modern operating systems and relational databases.

With data groups' data holdings approaching the complexity of Big Data, a realistic assessment of the influence of the origins of a data center on its current tools and procedures is necessary to design and implement new strategies and associated software utilities to curate these complex libraries of data in an efficient and interoperable manner.

This process of carefully identifying and reassessing the starting point and ultimate goals of the data center requires a continuing evolution of thinking, programming, networking, and archiving strategies; constantly evaluating and (when appropriate) utilizing the latest technologies and methodologies. This is the story of the CLIVAR and Carbon Hydrographic Data Office (CCHDO), an unfinished tale of service to its research community, told from both a technical and human perspective.