Data Processing and Management at PMEL: A 50-Year Perspective

Over the last 50 years, the landscape of marine data management has been transformed. Previously, each research project held its data privately and managed them as local files on disk; today, it is standard practice to share data collaboratively over the internet, often integrated with web tools that provide a global community of scientists with ready access to data analysis and visualization. NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) developers and data managers have made and continue to make pivotal contributions toward this evolution. This article examines contributions that include a community-wide standard for metadata storage (e.g., climate and forecast [CF] metadata conventions), a widely used desktop computer tool (PyFerret), a pioneering web server providing visualization and analysis of distributed data (Live Access Server), tailor-made data management systems for uncrewed ocean platforms, and new developments in applications of machine learning to data quality control. We also describe the evolution of in-house PMEL data management, from PMEL developed tools to an open-science, interoperable data approach.