PEG-BOARD: Palaeoclimate and environment data generation - building open access to research data
The PEG-BOARD project is topic-led, focusing on management of palæoclimate data, an important research area today as a result of the worldwide focus on anthropocentric climate change. This data is presently reused by many communities: palæoclimate research, predictive climate models, oceanography, atmospheric and earth science, biology and ecology, mathematics, archaeology, teaching in HE, and the media, publishing scientific communications for a global audience. The project focuses on enabling open access to historical climate data in a systematic, managed environment. PEG-BOARD explores the data management needs of a palæoclimate research group and the linked ecosystem of researchers, including named project partners and associates active in Earth Sciences (University of Leeds), Archæology (University of Southampton) and journalism/broadcasting (BBC).
Aims and objectives
- Facilitate data manipulation and analysis by the climate modellers
- Facilitate data reuse by modellers and other climate and non climate researchers
- Facilitate data discovery to enable best use of pre-existing data
- Provide clear guidelines to researcher to help manage their data
- Disseminate documents and software to wider community
- Work closely with national data centres such as BADC, to evaluate a potential migration of current infrastructure to a tiered structure as part of UKRDS role
Project methodology
The project will work closely with the researcher within the BRIDGE research group and its partners to evaluate workflow and data management needs. This evaluation will be done via workshops including the stakeholders, user surveys and interviews.
Deliverables will be disseminated internally then to the wider community for evaluation using a user-centered approach. Work on data curation and life cycle will be done in close collaboration with the DCC.
Anticipated outputs and outcomes
- Publish climate data management policies and guidelines
- Metadata schemas for palæoclimate data and experiments
- Redesigned backend infrastructure for BRIDGE research software suite
Technology / Standards used
- NetCDF file format
- CF metdata conventions for NetCDF files
- DIF metdata schema
- Evaluation of other formats after requirements gathering if required
Project Staff
Project Manager
Project team
- Professor Paul J. Valdes, Head of School, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, +44 117 33 17222, p.j.valdes@bristol.ac.uk
- Emma Tonkin, UKOLN, University of Bath
- Michael Day, UKOLN, University of Bath
- Andrew Hewson, UKOLN, University of Bath
- Dr Alan Haywood, School of Earth & Environment, University of Leeds
- Dr William Davies, Archæology, University of Southampton