Geoscience Data Exchange launched to meet critical archiving need

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) launched the Geoscience Data Exchange (GDEX) in January 2022 at gdex.ucar.edu to address the increasing demand for archival repository space for Earth system science data. The project – an expansion and rebranding of the former DASH Repository – is a response to the need to provide open access as required by federal policy, funding agencies, and scientific publishers, and to support scientific reproducibility and secondary use of data for new research.

GDEX is designed to support NCAR projects and also external, NSF-funded projects such as Community Instruments and Facilities (CIFs), the Index of Chamber Atmospheric Research in the United States (ICARUS), and other geoscience data collections that require data archiving, preservation, and open access.

Jeff de La Beaujardière, director of CISL’s Information Systems Division, described the vision for GDEX: "Following the NSF-funded Geoscience Digital Data Resource and Repository Service Workshop hosted at NCAR in 2018, which identified a critical need for archival data repository space for Earth science data, we realized that NCAR facilities and cyberinfrastructure could be used to help meet that need. We proposed to expand our existing DASH Repository to handle more data sources and much greater data volumes."

NSF selected GDEX in 2021 to serve as the long-term data archive and public access point for CIF-generated data. Additional data sources are being planned, and interested collaborators can contact gdex@ucar.edu to discuss eligibility. GDEX will ensure that the data are publicly accessible and preserved for a minimum of 10 years. There are now nearly 700 datasets in GDEX; one example is the "CESM2 COVID and 2019/20 Australian Wildfire Simulations" visualized below.

GDEX is an element of the NCAR Digital Asset Services Hub (DASH), which also includes a comprehensive data catalog, data management plan consulting, and other services. Data previously submitted to the old DASH Repository will remain accessible through GDEX.