Program Manager

Senior Associate Scientist

M.A. Candidate, University of Colorado
(planned graduation, 2009)
BSc., Cornell University, 1988

Specialties [top]

Data management processes; interdisciplinary data management; metadata; long-term data stewardship

Recent Highlights top]

Program Manager, International Polar Year Data Management at WDC, Glaciology, Boulder
Program Manager, Frozen Ground Data Center at WDC, Glaciology, Boulder
Project Manager, Cold Land Processes Experiment Data Management, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Data Scientist, NSIDC

Current Roles [top]

Mark currently leads several national and international data management projects at NSIDC. He is active in several international data committees and co-chairs the International Polar Year (IPY) Data Management and Policy Subcommittee. He is also leading an effort with many international partners to host the IPY Data and Information Service, endorsed by the ICSU/WMO Joint Committee for IPY. He publishes and presents frequently on data management issues.

Current Projects [top]

PI, International Polar Year Data and Information Service (IPYDIS)

The International Polar Year Data and Information Service (IPYDIS) is a global partnership of data centers, archives, and networks working to ensure proper stewardship of IPY and related data. The National Snow and Ice Data Center acts as a coordination office for the IPYDIS to ensure the long term preservation of broad, interdisciplinary, and non-expert access to IPY data.

Co-PI, Discovery, Access, and Delivery of Data for IPY (DADDI)

DADDI is a NASA supported project to improve the availability of Arctic coastal data. Our goal is to develop a system that can be readily extended to support the International Polar Year (IPY).

DADDI is a collaborative project between NSIDC, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center for Biogeochemical Dynamics (ORNL DAAC), the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) at Columbia University, and the Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN). We are also collaborating with the International Permafrost Association's Arctic Coastal Dynamics (ACD) project and the interagency Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH).

Co-PI, Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge in the Arctic (ELOKA)

ELOKA works to provide data management and user support to facilitate the collection, preservation, exchange, and use of local observations and knowledge of the Arctic.

Activities [top]

Associate Editor, Permafrost: Ninth International Conference 29 June - 3 July 2008.

Co-Chair International Polar Year Data Management and Policy Subcommitttee and corresponding CODATA Task Group, November 2005 – present

Member, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) Commission for Data and Information, December 2007 – present

Member, American Geophysical Union Information Technology Committee, October 2006 - present

Member, National Academy of Sciences National Research Council Committee on Archiving Environmental and Geospatial Data at NOAA, February 2006 - November 2007.

Member, U.S. Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) Data Management Working Group, January 2006 – present

Co-Chair, International Permafrost Association Standing Committee for Data, Information and Communication (Member 2003 – 2008, Co-chair 2008 – present)

Development of many data sets and collections.

Designed and implemented NSIDC’s overall data management process.

Member, American Geophysical Union, European Geosciences Union, Association of American Geographers, United States Permafrost Association, and the American Society of Information Science and Technology.

Publications [top]

Refereed Publications

Ballagh, L. M., M. A. Parsons, and R. Swick. 2007. Visualising cryospheric images in a virtual environment: present challenges and future implications. Polar Record 43:305-310.

Cline, D., K. Elder, B. Davis, J. Hardy, G. E. Liston, D. Imel, S. H. Yueh, A. Gasiewski, G. Koh, R. Armstrong, and M. A. Parsons. 2003. Overview of the NASA cold land processes field experiment (CLPX-2002). In Kummerow, C. D., J. Jiang and S. Uratuka (eds.). Microwave Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere and Environment III, 361-372. SPIE.

Duerr, R., M. Parsons, M. Marquis, R. Dichtl, and T. Mullins. 2004. Challenges in long-term data stewardship. Proc. 21st IEEE Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies. NASA/CP-2004-212750: 47-67.

Duerr, R., Parsons, M. A., and R. Weaver, 2008 (in press). A New Approach to Preservation Metadata for Scientific Data - A Real World Example. in Di, L. and H.K. Ramapriyan (eds.) Standards-Based Data and Information Systems for Earth Observations. Springer-Verlag.

NRC (National Research Council). 2006. Preliminary Principles and Guidelines for Archiving Environmental and Geospatial Data at NOAA : Interim Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

NRC (National Research Council). 2007. Environmental Data Management at NOAA: Archiving, Stewardship, and Access. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Parsons, M. A. (in press). Data archiving and distribution. in Njoku, E. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer

Parsons, M. A., M. J. Brodzik, and N. J. Rutter. 2004. Data management for the Cold Land Processes Experiment—Improving hydrological science. Hydrological Processes. 18: 3637 - 3653. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.5801.

Parsons, M.A. and R. Duerr. 2005. Designating user communities for scientific data: challenges and solutions. Data Science Journal. 4:31-38. 24, August 2005.

Parsons, M. A., S. L. Smith, V. E. Romanovsky, N. I. Shiklomanov, H. H. Christiansen, P.P. Overduin, T. Zhang, M. R. Balks, and J. Brown . 2008. Managing permafrost data: Past approaches and future directions. Permafrost Ninth International Conference 29 June - 3 July 2008 Proceedings . Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska.

Data Sets

Cline, D., R. Armstrong, R. Davis, K. Elder, and G. Liston. 2002, updated 2003. CLPX-Ground: ISA Snow Depth Transects and Related Measurements. In situ data edited by M. Parsons and M.J. Brodzik. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital Media.

Cline, D., R. Armstrong, R. Davis, K. Elder, and G. Liston. 2002, Updated July 2004. CLPX-Ground: ISA Snow Pit Measurements. Edited by M. Parsons and M.J. Brodzik. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital Media

International Permafrost Association Standing Committee on Data Information and Communication (comp.). 2003. Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System, Version 2.0. Edited by M. Parsons and T. Zhang. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology. CD-ROM.

Sodnom, N. and A. L. Yanshin, eds. 1990. Geocryology and geocryological zonation of Mongolia. Digitized 2005 by M. A. Parsons. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology. Digital Media.

Selected Presentations and Other Publications

Duerr, R., R. Weaver, and M. A. Parsons. 2006. A new approach to preservation metadata for scientific data: A real world example. In IGARSS 2006 IEEE International Conference on Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. pp 305-08.

Khalsa, S. J. S., and M. A. Parsons. 2006. Achieving semantic interoperability for the IPY. In IGARSS 2006: IEEE International Conference on Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, pp. 3835-37.

LeDrew, E., M. A. Parsons, and T. de Bruin. 2008. Securing the legacy of IPY. EarthZine, 27 March 2008. 

Parsons, M. A. 2006. Data access. The human element. Invited presentation at American Society of Information Science & Technology Annual Meeting, Austin, TX, 8 November 2006.

Parsons, M. A., 2007. Information Technology vision for data synthesis. Invited presentation at the Arctic System Synthesis Workshop: New Perspectives through Data Discovery and Modeling, Seattle, WA, 2 April 2007.

Parsons, M. A. 2007 A polar perspective on IGY+50 and eGY. Invited presentation at the official launch of the Electronic Geophysical Year, Perugia, Italy, 7 July 2007.

Parsons, M. A., 2007. Data sharing in IPY: Policy, practice, and services. Invited presentation at the Government of Canada Program for IPY Researchers Workshop, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, 18 October 2007.

Parsons, M. A., 2007. Data and scientists in a Sustained Arctic Observing Network. Invited presentation and position paper at the International Polar Year (IPY) workshop on Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks, Stockholm, Sweden, 13 November 2007.

Parsons, M. A., 2007. Exploring the new world of the Arctic: Change, trust, and data. Invited presentation at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 14 December 2007.

Parsons, M. A., 2008. Data, libraries, and scientists: Understanding the Arctic and the Earth. Invited presentation and position paper at the 2nd Global Research Library 2020 Workshop (GRL2020), Tirrenia, Italy, 27 March 2008.

Parsons, M. A. et al. 2006. Report of the International Polar Year Data Management Workshop, 3-4 March 2006. Glaciological Data 33. Boulder, CO:  National Snow and Ice Data Center. Parsons, M. A. and T. de Bruin. 2006. “Data Management for the International Polar Year.” Invited presentation at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, Austria, 4 April 2006.

Parsons, M. A. and R. G. Barry. 2006. Interdisciplinary data management in support of the International Polar Year. EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union 87: 295. 25 July 2006.

Parsons, M. A. and R. Duerr. 2005. Data management, a utility for science. Presentation at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 6 December 2005.

Parsons, M. A., R. Duerr, R. Weaver, and R.G. Barry. 2004. Data management considerations for the International Polar Year. Presentation at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 14 December 2004.

Parsons, M. A., R. Duerr, R. Weaver, and V. Papitashvili. 2007. Data for the ages: Data’s role in science over the 125-year history of IPY. Invited presentation at International Union of Geophysics and Geodesy General Assembly, Perugia, Italy, 3 July 2007.

Parsons, M. A. and B. E. Wilson. 2007. User-driven design of a data system for the International Polar Year. Eos 88:8 20, February 2007.

Related Resources [top]

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)

IPY at NSIDC

Frozen Ground Data Center

NSIDC Presentations and Posters

Contact NSIDC User Services for more information.