The large climate change oceanographic programs JGOFS (Global Ocean Flux Study) and WOCE (World Ocean Circulation Experiment) now being implemented require data management systems which will make possible the exchange and synthesis of diverse and widely spread data sets. Substantial progress on a data management system for JGOFS (and potentially other programs such as WOCE and other global change initiative) which: can be easily used as a simple, but flexible, database on microcomputers and workstations; will have common database features for combining and manipulating data sets, and have non-common but scientifically useful features such as interpolating one data set against another; will be "extensible," meaning that new features or operations can be added at any time without requiring the alteration of existing software or operations; can be easily used to import data from other PI's and data archives, both national and international, over a network; will impose minimal format restrictions on user's data; and will give users of larger machines simple procedures for gathering data from many sources over networks without regard to the originator's or end user's data format. In addition, a number of data sets which will be of interest in JGOFS planning and synthesis work are being gathered, edited and placed on-line. This part of the effort, in addition to its scientific value, provides a number of diverse data sets for testing and demonstrating the capabilities of the system. This current renewal effort will complete the development and installation of this system.
