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Metadata Portal
The SAMOS Data Assembly Center (DAC) has developed a new metadata specification for SAMOS data. The specification was developed with input from members of the Voluntary Observing Ship Climate project (VOSClim), the Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM), the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), and other programs involved with metadata standards for marine observations. Upon recruitment to the SAMOS initiative, each vessel will be required to complete a series of metadata forms and all pertinent metadata will be stored in a ship profile database at the DAC.

The portal provides access to metadata stored in the database for all ships providing data to the DAC. At present, the vessels listed are participating in the 2005 pilot project. A search tool allows users to select a vessel and whether they are interested in ship-specific, parameter-specific, or digital image metadata. Ship-specific metadata include general information about the vessel, vessel dimensions, and contacts for the original data provider. The parameter-specific metadata lists all measurements being provided by a vessel and allows the user to sub-select information on the variables, units, averaging methods, and instrumentation. Digital imagery includes photos of each vessel and instrument masts and also contains schematics for each vessel.

Additional search tools will be added in the future and suggestions are welcome. Please contact us if you have any questions.