Data reporting and sharing for ocean alkalinity enhancement research

Abstract

Effective management of data is essential for successful ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) research, as it guarantees the long-term preservation, interoperability, discoverability, and accessibility of data. OAE research generates various types of data, such as discrete bottle measurements, autonomous measurements from surface underway and uncrewed platforms (e.g., moorings, Saildrones, gliders, Argo floats), physiological response studies (e.g., laboratory, mesocosm, and field experiments, and natural analogues), and model outputs. This paper addresses data and metadata standards for all these types of OAE data. As part of this study, existing data standards have been updated to accommodate OAE research needs, and a completely new physiological response data standard has been introduced. Additionally, an existing ocean acidification metadata template has been upgraded to be applicable to OAE research. This paper also presents controlled vocabularies for OAE research, including types of OAE studies, source materials for alkalinization, platforms, and instruments. These guidelines will aid OAE researchers in preparing their metadata and data for submission to permanent archives. Finally, the paper provides information about available data assembly centers that OAE researchers can utilize for their data needs. The guidelines outlined in this paper are applicable to ocean acidification research as well.