Oceanography > Digital Library > Databases 

Arctic Science and Technology Information System
- University of Calgary's Arctic Institute of North America

Argo: Observing the Ocean in Real Time
A Global Array of Profiling Floats to Understand & Forecast Climate
"Argo is a global array of 3,000 free-drifting profiling floats that will measure the temperature and salinity of the upper 2000 m of the ocean.  This will allow continuous monitoring of the climate state of the ocean, with all data being relayed and made publicly available within hours after collection...part of the Global Climate Observing System/Global Ocean Ocean Observing System (GCOS/GOOS) and part of the Climate Variability and Predictability Experiment (CLIVAR) and the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE)."

Australian Institute of Marine Science

Australian Oceanographic Data Centre

Baltic Marine Environment Bibliography
"...covers bibliographic information on the Baltic Sea, i.e. all marine areas from the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia in the east and north to the Belt Sea and Kattegat in the west. It contains references to reports including "grey literature", journal articles, books, conference proceedings, dissertations etc. The bibliography covers material from the year 1970, currently ca. 11 000 references...The subject coverage includes all aspects of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea, for example ecology, fauna and flora, fisheries, hydrography, pollution, environmental impact, research, planning and administrative measures. Noticeable part of references deal with pollution problems."

Britain and Ireland Association of Aquatic Sciences Libraries and Information Centres (BIASLIC)
 "...brings together librarians and information workers in marine biology, oceanography, fisheries, aquatic ecology and freshwater scientific and technological research."

British Oceanographic Data Center (BODC)
"BODC was established in April 1989 by the Marine Science Directorate of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). It grew out of the data banking section of the Marine Information and Advisory Service (MIAS) which was set up at Bidston in 1976 and which in turn developed from the British Oceanographic Data Service (BODS), first established in 1969...To act as a world class data centre in support of UK marine science."

Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans Statistical Analysis Division

Canadian Hydrographic Service
"...established in 1883 and is the Canadian government agency responsible for the production, sale and maintenance of official Marine Navigation Charts in both paper and electronic versions, and Nautical Publications including Sailing Directions and the Canadian Tide and Current Tables."

Canadian Ice Service
"...promotes safe and efficient maritime operations and protects Canada's environment by providing reliable and timely information about ice conditions in Canadian waters."

Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE)

  • Census of Marine Life (CoML)
    "...a major international research program to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine organisms throughout the world's oceans."
    • Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS)
      "OBIS will assess and integrate biological, physical, and chemical oceanographic data from multiple sources, generate testable hypotheses about the origins and maintenance of marine biodiversity, and facilitate research on the roles of of species in ecosystem function.  Users of OBIS, including researchers, students, and environmental managers, will gain a dynamic view of the multi-dimensional oceanic world."

Coriolis Data Center - (dead link)
"...provides quality-controlled in-situ data in real-time and delayed modes. Managed data sets are mainly T-S profiles and time series from profiling floats, XBT's, thermo-salinographs, drifting and moored buoys...Data transmitted by floats are processed, checked for quality and distributed to the GTS and Internet with minimum delay (12 h)...The center aims to be one of the gateways to global ARGO data and will process floats for the European GyroScope pilot array. The center will be in situ data provider for the Mercator data assimilation project."

Database on Introductions of Aquatic Species
"The FAO database on introductions of aquatic species was initiated by R. Welcomme in the early 1980's. It considered primarily only freshwater species of fish and formed the basis for the 1988 FAO Fisheries Technical Paper no. 294. The database has been expanded to include additional taxa, such as molluscs and crustaceans, and marine species. In the mid 1990's a questionnaire was sent to national experts to gather additional information on introductions and transfers of aquatic species in their countries...The database, which contains now about 3,150 records."

DINOFLAJ - Dinoflagellate Classification Database
"...is a database system containing a current classification of fossil and living dinoflagellates down to generic rank, and an index of fossil dinoflagellates at generic, specific, and infraspecific ranks.  Dinoflagellates are single-celled organisms that have two distinctive flagella during at least part of their life cycle and/or a special type of nucleus called a dinokaryon.  They are probably best known as a principal cause of "red tides" and paralytic shellfish poisoning...The limited, free version contains the complete reference list, the suprageneric classification, the glossary, and a sample of the genera and species information."
Geological Society Canada

Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification (ETI)
The Netherlands

  • UNESCO-IOC Register of Marine Organisims
    "The register is basically only a list of species names but it is tried to add at least some additional information, including author names, vernacular names, information on geographical and bathymetrical distribution and NODC numerical codes. Synonyms are added but only if they are still in use or were used in recent times."

GEOROC - Geochemistry of Rocks of the Oceans and Continents
"...is intended to become a global geochemical database containing published chemical and isotopic data as well as extensive 'metadata' for rocks, minerals and melt/fluid inclusions...covers igneous rocks from Island Arcs, Oceanic Islands and Large Igneous Provinces."
Compiled by the database team at the Max-Planck-Institut f¸r Chemie in Mainz, Germany.

Index to Marine Geological Samples
"...also known as the Curators' Database, is a cooperative effort between nineteen oceanographic institutions and government agencies that maintain marine sample repositories to provide information on the contents of their collections to help researchers locate marine sediment and rock material for further analysis."
- World Data Center for Marine Geology & Geophysics, Boulder

International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI)

Joint Global Ocean Flux Study
A Core Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme...The JGOFS project has produced large and diverse datasets related to its core parameters and numerous cruises.

U.S. JGOFS Home Page
"...a national component of JGOFS and an integral part of global climate change research in the United States and abroad. Current funding opportunities are available for investigators interested in JGOFS-related issues."

Interactive Data Access and Retrieval System
A Gateway to Ocean Data and Product Information
NOAA

Integrated Taxonomic Information System - (dead link)
"...a partnership of U.S., Canadian, and Mexican agencies, other organizations, and taxonomic specialists cooperating on the development of an on-line, scientifically credible, list of biological names focusing on the biota of North America. ITIS is also a participating member of Species 2000, an international project indexing the world's known species."

International Hydrographic Organization
"...is an intergovernmental consultative and technical organization that was established in 1921 to support the safety in navigation and the protection of the marine environment."

Japan Marine Science and Technology Center

  • JAMSTEC Data Site
    Includes: Deep Seafloor Image Database ; Japan ARGO Delayed-mode Data Base ; J-CAD : JAMSTEC Compact Arctic Drifter ; MIRAI Data Web ; Research Results Report System ; Submarine Cable Data Center ; TRITON Buoy Data.

Japan Oceanographic Data Center (JODC)

Marine Geology & Geophysics
"...compiles and maintains extensive databases in both coastal and open ocean areas. Key data types include bathymetry and gridded relief, trackline geophysics (gravity, magnetics, seismic reflection), sediment thickness, data from ocean drilling and seafloor sediment and rock samples, digital coastlines, and data from the Great Lakes. In addition to operating the collocated World Data Center for Marine Geology & Geophysics, Boulder, part of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) World Data Center system, NGDC also operates the International Hydrographic Organization Data Center for Digital Bathymetry (IHO DCDB) on behalf of the Member Nations of the International Hydrographic Organization."
National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Center for Marine Geology & Geophysics, Boulder

NASA - Data and Information Services Center (DISC DAAC)
Distributed Active Archive Center

  • Ocean Color Data, Information, and Resources
    "Remote sensing ocean color data used to investigate ocean productivity, marine optical properties, and the interaction of winds and currents with ocean biology."
  • Oceanography from the Space Shuttle
    "Oceanography from the Space Shuttle is a pictorial survey of oceanic phenomenon visible to the naked eye from space. Originally published in 1989, it is now out of print and only available on this web site."
    NASA's Goddard DAAC Ocean Floor Data Support
  • Physical Oceanography - Distributed Active Archive Center [PO.DAAC]
    "...is responsible for archiving and distributing data relevant to the physical state of the ocean. Most of the products available at the PO.DAAC were obtained from satellites and are intended for use in oceanographic and interdisciplinary scientific research."

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Databases - see Oceanography - NOAA Resources

National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), USA
"The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) is one of the national environmental data centers operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The main NODC facility is located in Silver Spring, Maryland. The NODC also has field offices collocated with major government or academic oceanographic laboratories in Woods Hole, MA; Miami, FL; La Jolla, CA; Seattle, WA, and Honolulu, Hawaii."

National Sea Grant Library (NSGL)
 A Marine, Coastal, and Great Lakes Information Resource
"...an archive and lending library for Sea Grant funded documents. These documents cover a wide variety of subjects, including oceanography, marine education, aquaculture, fisheries, limnology, coastal zone management, marine recreation and law."

  • NSGL Database
     "The NSGL database is updated on a monthly basis. Full bibliographic citations and abstracts (when available) are provided for each document in the database. In addition, many documents are being digitized and are available here as full-text PDF images."

National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
"...an information and referral center supporting polar and cryospheric research. We distribute snow and ice data. We also maintain information about snow cover, avalanches, glaciers, ice sheets, freshwater ice, sea ice, ground ice, permafrost, atmospheric ice, paleoglaciology, and ice cores. We also publish several periodicals and maintain a collection of monographs, technical reports, and journals."

NOAA/NCEP WAM Global Swell Data
 Significant Wave Height and Mean Wave Direction

Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) - see Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) above.

Ocean Surface Topography
Includes data from TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1.
Sections include: Overview ; Science ; Technology ; Missions ; Newsroom ; Education ; Gallery.
NASA - Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)
"The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) Index is defined as the leading principal component of North Pacific monthly sea surface temperature variability (poleward of 20N for the 1900-93 period). Digital values of our PDO index are available from Nate Mantua's anonymous ftp directory...Nate updates the PDO index every two or three months."
See also PDO in the News.
- Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington

Physical Oceanography - Distributed Active Archive Center [PO.DAAC]
"...is responsible for archiving and distributing data relevant to the physical state of the ocean. Most of the products available at the PO.DAAC were obtained from satellites and are intended for use in oceanographic and interdisciplinary scientific research."

SeaWiFS Project
"The purpose of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project is to provide quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical properties to the Earth science community. Subtle changes in ocean color signify various types and quantities of marine phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants), the knowledge of which has both scientific and practical applications. The SeaWiFS Project will develop and operate a research data system that will process, calibrate, validate, archive and distribute data received from an Earth-orbiting ocean color sensor."
- Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA

South African Data Centre for Oceanography (SADCO)

Terra (EOS AM-1)
"...is the flagship of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS), a major international science program to monitor climate and environmental change. Terra is collecting a new global data set to enable research into the ways that Earth's lands, oceans, atmosphere, ice, radiant energy, and life function as a whole system. In February 2000, Terra reached final orbit and acquired its first images, some of which are now available to the public!"

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - See our separate USGS page.

World Data Center A, Oceanography
"acquires, catalogues, and archives data, publications, and data inventory forms and makes them available to requesters in the international scientific community. To improve user access, WDC-A provides copies of data it receives to its counterparts, World Data Center B (Obninsk, Russia) and World Data Center D (Tianjin, China). Oceanographic data contributed to WDC-A become automatically available to scientific investigators in any country."

Worldwide Ocean Optics Database
Office of Naval Research
Sections include: Metadata Info ; Data Locations ; Access Data ; Update Log ; Software ; Submit Data ; Contacts ; Optics Links.
Created and maintained at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

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