We would like to let you know that an international conference on glider data management "Connecting glider data flows in Europe and beyond" will be held on 18-20 September 2018, at the Aquario du Genova, in Genoa, Italy. This meeting intends to open a 2.5 days forum dedicated to glider data management issues. Initiated by the EuroGOOS Glider Task team and aligned with the objectives of the GOOS-endorsed program OceanGliders, it will focus on technical and strategic issues related to the Everyone's Gliding Observatories (EGO) format and real time/delayed mode, and physical as well as biogeochemical gliders data management. Particular attention will be paid on discussions and provision of guidance on data management to the new glider teams willing to contribute to the global ocean observing system. A workshop session dedicated to the installation of the data management capacity in your institution is planned. The organization of this session is at the moment an option and will depend on the number of interested persons.

To attend the meeting, please fill in the registration form. Event registration must be completed at least one month prior to the event.

Background and motivation

Over the past few years a lot of improvements have been made on real time glider data management (new format, new tools, better management of the metadata, new platforms) but a few issues still remain and the community struggles to reach a full European and global harmonization of the gliders data management and a full contribution to research, ocean monitoring and operational services.

Moreover, delayed mode data management is becoming a priority for the glider community. Many operators and PIs are putting a lots of efforts in the qualification of their data sets after recovery. Several existing data management tools are freely available through toolboxes and scientific publications. Unfortunately, there is not yet a clear agreement on how these datasets can be shared in delayed mode nor a common strategy to handle these questions at the community level.

More about the meeting

While initiated by the need to forward the European harmonization of glider data management, the meeting will also try to address compatibility issues with the US IOOS and Australian IMOS glider data formats in a more global context. Furthermore, the meeting will review the procedures and the different tools available to contribute to the international efforts of ocean data sharing and will open the discussion about the long term strategy for a better glider data contribution to the GOOS and its GRAs and sub-systems.

You can view the preliminary meeting agenda here: https://www.ego-network.org/dokuwiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=public:egodmmeeting:meeting_agenda_draft0.pdf

For more information on the meeting organizing committee and logistics, please see the meeting website here: https://www.ego-network.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=public:egodmmeeting:september2018