Making Australian Drought Monitor dataset findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable

Making agricultural research datasets Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) is an evolving priority for research organisations in Australia. Indigenous data governance standards, described in the CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility and Ethics) principles complement FAIR principles when managing research datasets. Agricultural research data have traditionally been difficult to publicly access and share due in part to conflicting interests in ownership, commerce, multiparty contracts, and diverse research practices.

As part of an agriculture digital research platform development project (AgReFed Platform project), we develop here a workflow that applies the FAIR data and CARE principles to the Australian Drought Monitor dataset, a product developed as part of the Northern Australia Climate Program (NACP), a joint project funded by Meat and Livestock Australia, the Queensland Drought and Climate Adaptation Program and the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ). We present here a complete process on how to apply the FAIR principles to the Australian Drought Monitor dataset, including a digital infrastructure development to enable its re-use in the AgReFed Platform project.