Award: RISE-2028291

Humans depend on the ocean for many goods and services, including fisheries and aquaculture production, natural products, water purification, shoreline protection, transportation, and recreation. Sustained ocean time series programs are critical observational resources for documenting the state of and changes in marine ecosystems in response to natural and anthropogenic climate variations. Data synthesis and modeling efforts across ocean time series represent important and necessary steps forward in broadening our view of a changing ocean and improving the return on our sustained investment in these observing programs. However, numerous disconnected databases and interfaces make data discoverability a challenge for the broad range of prospective ocean time series data users. Furthermore, a lack of standardized data and metadata reporting guidelines that have been vetted by the ocean time series community, along with limited interoperability across data systems and repositories represent a barrier to analyses within and across ocean time series programs.  

This Marine Ecological Time Series (METS) Research Coordination Network (RCN) assembled experts in ocean and data science and informatics to problem solve and co-develop tools and resources to support more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data practices for ocean time series programs. Leveraging a complementary effort focused on developing a pilot biogeochemical time series data product, this RCN has carefully assessed sampling and analytical workflows to develop metadata reporting templates for several frequently measured ecological parameters (primary productivity, chlorophyll, zooplankton biomass, particulate carbon and nutrient fluxes). Careful mapping exercises across several commonly used controlled ocean vocabularies helped improve interoperability across ocean time series data providers. The RCN also engaged with the UN Decade Activity Ocean Info Hub to expose ocean time series metadata on the web in a structured and consistent way. This resulting structured metadata record can be published by data providers and harvested by the Ocean Info Hub's Ocean Data Information System, where it can then be more discoverable by the broader international community. To build capacity around tools and practices that support FAIR data systems, the RCN also assembled relevant resources into a METS FAIR Data Primer designed specifically for ocean time series data generators.

Throughout its duration, the METS RCN has engaged with multiple organizational partners to obtain feedback and make progress towards the goal of becoming established as an organized ocean observing network. Through online and in-person activities (workshops, webinars, town hall meetings, presentations at partner program meetings, etc.), the RCN has shared these tools and resources with the broader ocean time series community. Most importantly, these activities have laid the foundation for future sustained collaborations across the international ocean time series network to share scientific discoveries, develop synthetic data products, convene joint science sessions at large international meetings, update sampling and analytical methodological best practices, and share new and emerging data analysis and visualization techniques.

 

Last Modified: 11/17/2025
Modified by: Heather Benway