Data management and data archive for the HYREX Programme

Since the mid 1980s, changes in political imperatives plus technological ch anges in computer hardware and software have heightened the awareness of th e economic value and importance of quality datasets to scientific research. The Natural Environment Research Council's (NERC) interdisciplinary Themat ic and Special Topic Programmes have highlighted the need for a coherent da ta management policy to provide and preserve these quality datasets for pos terity. The Hydrological Radar EXperiment (HYREX) Special Topic Programme b rought together multi-disciplinary researchers from UK public sector labora tories and universities. In this paper, the HYREX data management strategy, its problems and its solutions are discussed. The HYREX data archive, situ ated at NERC's British Atmospheric Data Centre, is described.