NOAA's Portfolio of Operational Climate Data Records: Input Data Dependencies and Their Implications for Long-Term Sustainability

NOAA's Climate Data Record (CDR) Program was established at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) (formerly the National Climatic Data Center) in order to develop and implement a robust, sustainable, and scientifically defensible approach to producing and preserving authoritative climate records from satellite data. Since its inception in 2009 the CDR Program has transitioned 32 CDRs developed by various research groups to an initial operating state at NCEI. As a result of each transition the CDR dataset, metadata, documentation, and source code are archived for preservation by NCEI, and made accessible to the public. The period of record of most of these datasets is being extended by the Principal Investigator with NCEI financial support and guidance. During 2016 an analysis of the input data dependencies was performed for each CDR.This analysis is based on the documentation provided by the Principal Investigators, and has yielded numerous insights, as well as some surprises and challenges. The presentation will focus on the results of this analysis and the implications for long-term sustainability of the CDR portfolio.