Overview
The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) Office of Polar Programs to operate the U.S. Antarctic Data Coordination Center. The goal of this project is to improve access to U.S.-funded Antarctic scientific data by creating descriptions of these data and entering them into the Antarctic Master Directory (AMD), a node of the International Directory Network/Global Change Master Directory (IDN/GCMD). The AMD is a Web-based, searchable directory of thousands of data descriptions submitted by scientists from over 20 countries.
The Antarctic Treaty calls on parties to exchange and make freely available scientific observations and results from Antarctica. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) formed the Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management (JCADM) in order to establish an Antarctic Data Directory System (ADDS). The ADDS is comprised of National Antarctic Data Centers linked to an Antarctic Master Directory (AMD). Researchers are requested to submit Data Interchange Format (DIF) entries to the AMD.
NSF and the USADCC have been leaders in the establishment of the international framework for this activity. In 1997, the SCAR/COMNAP Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management, consisting of representatives from participating countries, SCAR, COMNAP and the AMD host (the Global Change Master Directory), now meets annually to respond to the call from SCAR/COMNAP to improve access to scientific data, and to provide newly participating countries with guidance and justification for establishing National Antarctic Data Centers.
