Future plans

Two major COADS updates beyond Release 1a are planned over the next few years. Release 1b, a partial update for the period since about 1947, is now planned for completion during 1996. The period for Release 1b was chosen primarily on the basis of requirements for data inputs to global reanalysis (Jenne, 1992). Release 2 will involve a consistently processed update for the total period of record, incorporating a variety of new data sources as a result of international cooperation with countries such as Canada, China, France, Germany, Norway, U.K., and Russia. Release 2 is planned to include the surprisingly small amount of U.S. merchant marine data that was apparently preserved for the data sparse periods spanning the two World Wars, which is being digitized by NCDC. The period of record might even be extended before 1854 if sufficient data can be digitized (Elms, 1992).

For Release 2, substantial improvements are also planned in quality control and product availability to better meet the needs of researchers (Diaz et al., 1992, pp. 377-383). For example, research continues toward an improved trimming procedure, which may include removal of outliers with reference to a local year-month mean in addition to climatological information. Furthermore, we are considering separations of statistics by time-of-day and platform type for selected variables, to address possible diurnal biases and biases between buoy and ship data. Availability of Release 2 is anticipated in the late-1990s. However, that schedule is dependent on the difficulty of resolving these processing and quality control issues, including availability of adequate resources to complete the task.

As a side benefit of the COADS project, the integration and comparison of many different data sources have revealed numerous data and archival problems that strongly indicate the need for improved interactions among different groups within NOAA involved with marine data, as well as among other organizations both nationally and internationally. To help strengthen interaction and provide adequate attention to issues of data continuity, we have recommended that a working group of marine data experts be established to serve as a focal point for facilitating and improving coordination with the climate research community.

Introduction | Data sources and corrections | Improvements in processing and products | Discussion | Future plans | Acknowledgements | References

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