Participation of the World Data Center for Solid Earth Physics in creation of distributed geophysical data resource in the Internet

Natalia Sergeyeva, Geophysical Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia


The World Data Center for Solid Earth Physics in Russia is a part of the WDC system established by the International Council for Science during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958. The main task of the Center is to collect, to manage, and to archive geophysical data on the underlying principles of long-term retention, assurance of the quality of scientific data, and provision of free and open access to data for scientific research.
 
Continuous development of technologies of production, processing, transmitting and storage of information, including geophysical data, leads to changes in activity of the Center which was associated with the addition of new functions, change of technical equipment, use of new methods and approaches of data management and putting data into accordance with them.

At present the global distributed geophysical data resource is formed in the Internet. It requires the network technologies to be introduced into the WDC for Solid Earth Physics activity and the remote access to be realized in the WDC's information resources.

Since 1995 the Center has own Internet site and provides the free access to solid Earth physics information resource.  Digital data, metadata, thematic and problem oriented database on seismology, gravity, heat flow, Earth magnetic field measurements and so on are available on-line at this site. Special user interface is developed to provide comfortable means for finding, reviewing, visualization, and selection data in net and assignment them to user. The interface permits to convert data from non-computer form into digital form or images if it is necessary.


Keywords: WDC, geophysical data, database, free access to data