The World Data Centre (WDC) system was created to archive and distribute data collected from the observational programmes of the 1957–1958 International Geophysical Year by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU).Korsmo, F. L. (2010) The Origins and Principles of the World Data Center system CODATA Data Science Journal, Volume 8Dieminger, Walter; Hartmann, Gerd K. & Leitinger, Reinhart (1996) The World Data Center System, International Data Exchange, and New ICSU Programs The Upper Atmosphere Springer-Verlag pp 921–941 The WDCs were funded and maintained by their host countries on behalf of the international science community.
Originally established in the United States (WDC A),World Data Center A Report on the U.S. Program for the International Geophysical Year (1965) IGY General Report #21 section XVII National Academies Press https://doi.org/10.17226/26118 pp785–812 Soviet Union (WDC B),Lyubovtseva, Y. S., Gvishiani, A. D., Soloviev, A. A., Samokhina, O. O., and Krasnoperov, R. I. (2020) Sixtieth anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (1957–2017) – contribution of the Soviet Union History of Geo- and Space Sciences, 11, p157–171 Europe and Japan (WDC C), the WDC system expanded to other countries and to new scientific disciplines.Aronova, Elena (2017) Geophysical Datascapes of the Cold War: Politics and Practices of the World Data Centers in the 1950s and 1960s Osiris Volume 32, Number 1 The WDC system included up to 52 Centres in 15 countries, with some data centres replicating another.Strategic Committee on Information and Data ICSU 2008 p27–30WDC List NOAA All data held in WDCs were available for the cost of copying and sending the requested information. In 1968 the ICSU Panel on World Data Centers (Geophysical, Solar, and Environmental) was established to coordinate activities and to establish operating criteria for the WDCs.ICSU (1987) Guide to the World Data Center System, Part 1, The World Data Centers
At the end of 2008, following the ICSU General Assembly in Maputo (Mozambique), the World Data Centres were reformed and a new ISC World Data System (WDS) established in 2009. Expanding on the 50-year heritage of the ICSU World Data Centre system (WDC) and the ICSU Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical data-analysis Services,Open Science by Design: Realizing a Vision for 21st Century Research National Academies Press 2018 p103 most of the legacy data centers and services continued under the WDS.
List of World Data Centres and Services Centre or Service Acronym Parent Host Nation Year NotesInternational Gravimetric Bureau BGI IAG, CNESObservatoire Midi-Pyrénées France1951International Space Environment ServiceISESNatural Resources CanadaGeomagnetic Laboratory Canada1956International Service of Geomagnetic IndicesISGIIUGGObservatory for Earth Sciences (EOST) France1956Solar-Terrestrial PhysicsSTPRussian Academy of SciencesGeophysical CenterRussia1956NOAANational Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)US1957WDC A Report Upper Atmosphere Geophysics NOAA 1971 p iv NBS 1957–1964, NGDC 1965–2015, NCEINERCRutherford Appleton LaboratoryUK1979Bureau of MeteorologyIPS Radio and Space ServicesAustralia2000AirglowMinistry of EducationNational Astronomical Observatory of JapanJapan1957Cosmic RaysCRNagoya UniversitySolar-Terrestrial Environment LaboratoryJapan1957NOAANational Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)US1957University of Minnesota 1957–1966, Aeronomy and Space Data Center 1966–1972, NGDC 1972–2015, NCEIGeomagnetismKyoto UniversityGeophysical InstituteJapan1957What is 'World Data Center'? Kyoto University INTERMAGNETNOAANational Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)US1957World Data System NOAA C&GS 1957–1964, NGDC 1965–2015, NCEINERCBritish Geological SurveyUK1966DTU SpaceDanish Meteorological InstituteDenmark1957Indian Institute of GeomagnetismIndia1971GlaciologyNOAANational Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)US1957Barry, Roger G. and Gan, Thian Yew (2022) The Global Cryosphere p5, 103 AGS 1957–1969, USGS 1970–1976University of CambridgeScott Polar Research InstituteUK1957Chinese Academy of SciencesCold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (CARD)China1988IonosphereNational Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)Japan1957MeteorologyMETNOAANational Climatic Data Center (NCDC) US1957World Data Centres WMO National Weather Records Center (NWRC) 1957–1967, NCDC 1967–2015, NCEIChinese Academy of SciencesNational Meteorological Information CenterChina1988All-Russian Research Institute of Hydrometeorological InformationRussiaOceanographyNOAANational Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) US1957Moffat, Ronald (1998) WDC A Oceanography Catalogue of Data WDCA-OC-98-1 p1, 7, 26 Texas A&M 1957–1961, NODC 1961–2015, NCEIState Oceanic AdministrationNational Marine Data and Information ServiceChina1988Permanent Service for Mean Sea LevelPSMSLNational Oceanography Centre (NOC)UK1957formerly Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, LiverpoolRockets and SatellitesNASANASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA)US1957About the World Data Center for Satellite Information NASA US National Academy of Sciences 1957–1968Nuclear RadiationJapan Meteorological AgencyMeteorological Research Institute Japan1957AuroraNOAANational Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) US1957Cornell University 1957–1967, NGDC 1967–2015, NCEINational Institute of Polar ResearchJapan1981International Center for Earth TidesICETUniversity of French PolynesiaTahiti Geodetic ObservatoryFrance1966SoilsIUSSInternational Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC) Netherlands1966Solar Radio EmissionsNational Astronomical Observatory of JapanNobeyama Solar Radio Observatory Japan1969TsunamisNOAANational Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)US1969Space ScienceJAXAInstitute of Space and Astronautical ScienceJapan1969Chinese Academy of SciencesNational Space Science CenterChina1988Solid Earth GeophysicsSEGNOAANational Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)US1971Directory of US Data Repositories Supporting the International Geodynamics Project NOAA 1978 pii NGDC 1971–2015, NCEIChinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Geology and GeophysicsChina1988AstronomyIAU, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS)France1972Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing Astronomical ObservatoryChina1988Rotation of the EarthUnited States Naval Observatory (USNO)US1972ClimateUniversity of HamburgMax Planck Institute for Meteorology Germany1975Marine Geology and GeophysicsNOAANational Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) US1975NOAA (1990) The National Geophysical Data Center p77, 91 NGDC 1975–2015, NCEISolar ActivityObservatoire de Meudon France1978Atmospheric Trace GasesDepartment of EnergyCarbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC)US1982Sunspot Index & Solar InfluencesSILSO, SIDCIAURoyal Observatory of BelgiumBelgium1985World Glacier Monitoring ServiceWGMSIUGGUniversity of Zurich Switzerland1986SeismologyUSGSNational Earthquake Information Center (NEIC)US1986International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems ServiceIERSUnited States Naval Observatory (USNO)US1988PaleoclimatologyNOAANational Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)US1989NGDC 1989–2015, NCEIInternational GNSS ServiceIGSIUGGNASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryUS1994Human Interactions in the EnvironmentCenter for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)US1995International VLBI Service for Geodesy and AstrometryIVSIUGGNASA Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS)US2001Biodiversity and EcologyUSGSCenter for Biological InformaticsUS2001Marine Environmental SciencesMAREAlfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine ResearchCenter for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM)Germany2001Land Cover Data & Remotely Sensed Land DataUSGSEarth Resources Observation Systems (EROS)US2002Recent Crustal MovementsRCMInstitute of GeophysicsGeodetic Observatory PecnýCzech Republic2002–2006IAG International Center on Recent Crustal Movements (ICRCM) 1976–1996Remote Sensing of the AtmosphereRSATDLRGerman Remote Sensing Data Centre (DFD)Germany2003
See also CODATA International Polar Year WMO Global Atmosphere Watch World Data Centres data center
References
External links International Council for Science (ICSU) List of former WDCs