The goals of the MagIC (Magnetics Information Consortium) project have been to develop an open community digital data archive for rock and paleomagnetic data with web portals that allow users free access to archive, search and download data in a broad range of formats. Part of the project has involved the transition of existing databases developed under the auspices of the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) to the new archive. This award provides funds for the continued development and maintenance of the MagIC facility and for continued integration of the PI?s efforts to operate with other online databases. The PIs believe that access to all magnetic data in a single online data-base and the capacity to link up with data from other disciplines, will radically change the way rock and paleomagnetic data contribute to Earth sciences today. In this funding period the PIs will implement enhanced interoperability with GPlates and IODP and also with initiatives like EarthChem and Geochron, to provide seamless access to complementary geochemistry information and radiometric ages on the sample data stored in MagIC. All this will be accomplished through the use of unique IGSN sample numbers.
The Magnetics Information Consortium (http://earthref.org/MAGIC) was established in 2002 to improve the research capacity in the Earth sciences by maintaining an open community digital data archive for rock and paleomagnetic data with web portals that allow users free access to archive, search, visualize and download these data. MagIC supports the international rock and paleomagnetic communities and strives to bring data out of the private archives and personal computers of researchers, making them accessible to everybody and useable for new creative and collaborative research and teaching activities. Our vision for MagIC places it firmly within larger Cyberinfrastructure goals of the Earth Sciences as articulated under the aegis of NSF’s EarthCube initiative (http://nsf.gov/geo/earthcube/). Existing capabilities lay the groundwork for extremely broad impacts, allowing researchers to cross disciplinary boundaries in a seamless fashion and to draw on a broad range of data types for studying Earth’s structure, evolution and composite interactions. MagIC in particular supports six grand challenges in magnetic research that would benefit most from a comprehensive and versatile cyberinfrastructure to compile, visualize and analyze data sets reported in a large number of disparate publications: The Geomagnetic and Thermal History of the Earth True Polar Wander and Mantle Plumes Understanding Interactions between the Magnetic Field and Climate Biogeomagnetism Environmental Magnetism, Dust and Rainfall Magnetism at High Pressures and in Extraterrestrial Bodies Over the last decade MagIC has focused on the reuse of computer software components. This allows MagIC's developments to be easily deployed in other databases residing under the EarthRef.org umbrella website and any external Earth Science database that stores data that are sample-based or analytical in nature. To this extent the entire MagIC search engine is now API (Application Programming Interface) supported allowing for interoperability amongst various Earth Science websites, databases and software applications. These new approaches were successfully demonstrated during the MagIC 2014 Workshop held at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla (http://earthref.org/events/MAGIC/2014/). Firstly, this workshop provided a forum for the paleo- and rock magnetic community to discuss the latest scientific achievements and new research directions for these disciplines. Secondly, the more than 40 participants were apprised of the latest MagIC upgrades, whereafter on the last meeting day they participated in a hands-on workshop with an emphasis on data uploading and learning how to efficiently use the new search interface. During the last two years MagIC has seen a surge of activity from new visitors as well as a strong increase in its data holdings. As of November 2014 more than 5,700 peer-reviewed publications reside in the MagIC database including data from more than 223,000 sites and 3,700,000 measurements. In total over 74,000 plots and about 1,500 images are associated with these contributions. Google maps are available for all sites. Finally, 181 uploads are available where MagIC contributors have stored geomagnetic models and other kinds of contributions. Developments in geoinformatics and information technology have significantly changed the way we do science. Over the past decade MagIC has significantly changed the way how the paleomagnetics and rock magnetics communities are approaching their grand scientific challenges, which more and more are dependent on the use of large amounts of data collected over the globe, by many different researchers and with ever expanding different techniques. The all-in-one browser interface that MagIC has become provides a critical tool in the everyday toolbox of a magnetist.
