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THE PLAN: DATA MANAGEMENT 
Data Management 
Success with the seven science elements will depend on the quality of data management 
available to support the global change scientific community. At the center of a long-term program 
for the study of global change must be the immediate development of a data management and infor 
mation system for global change research. Management of all global-scale data sets is beyond the 
scope and resources of any single agency or country. It includes means and mechanisms to describe, 
gather, transmit, validate, process, analyze, archive, model, and disseminate the interdisciplinary 
data needed to understand the scientific interactions of Earth processes on a global scale. 
An infrastructure for data management and information systems must be shared and used by 
scientists and agencies performing research in all seven of the U.S. Global Change Research Pro 
gram science elements. The initial focus of such a system will, of necessity, be on (l) management 
of global-scale, long-term data from observation systems, (2) organization of data sets to improve 
understanding of global change processes, and (3) analyses and preparation of data sets for the 
development and validation of predictive global change models. 
Management of Global-Scale, Long-Term Data from Observation Systems. The dominant 
problem facing scientists attempting to use global change data sets is that it is extremely difficult to 
find who has what data and how good the data are. Once a research problem is decided on, tradi 
tional research begins with a review of the relevant literature to ascertain the thinking and experi 
ments of others on the topic. An analogous process for data (i.e., for scientists in the different 
science elements to begin by also reviewing the data and information resources used by others on the 
topic) is virtually impossible today. Once the architecture for an infrastructure for a data manage 
ment and information system is agreed upon, the essential precondition will be in place to improve 
understanding of global change processes and to develop successful predictive models. 
Ecological Systems 
and Dynamics 
Biogeochemical 
Dynamics 
Global Change 
Data and Information 
Human Interactions 
System 
Earth System History 
Solar Influences 
Influences 
Solid Earth Proces 
Sharing Global Change Data and Information with 
Scientists in All Science Elements 
Figure 9 Data management for thè U.S. Global Change Research Program. 
(CES, 1989b)