IOC Ocean Data and Information System

"Catalogue of Sources"

The ODIS "Catalogue of Sources" aims to be an online browsable and searchable catalogue of existing ocean related web-based sources/systems of data and information as well as products and services. It will also provide information on products and visualize the landscape (entities and their connections) of ocean data and information sources.

Click on one of the source types below or go to the search page to search in all types.

It will contribute to the objectives of the Agenda 2030, and in particular the UN Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

The Catalogue is not an ocean database or metadata repository. The catalogue includes descriptive information such as the URL, title, description, language, point of contact, geographic scope, available technologies for machine-to-machine interaction, keywords, etc. and can be searched on many of these fields.

Why the ODIS "Catalogue of Sources"?

The IODE network of NODCs has been collecting, managing and serving data for decades. This effort has yielded an extensive, but distributed and heterogeneous collection of data and information sources. Additionally, the low threshold for technical capabilities required to offer data and information over the Internet means that many of the hosted resources are not readily discoverable through NODCs, regional or international data and information systems

ODIS will provide an online catalogue of (ideally) all online data/information sources (and, where possible, metadata on off-line sources as well). Many regional and international programmes and projects have developed online data/information services but there is currently no "one-stop shop" where users are offered an overview and/or common data/information discovery interface.

There are currently 3138 sources ( 2193 are searchable ) catalogued in the system.

How does it work?

  • If you host a web-based ocean data or information service: you should first of all make sure that you are registered in the IOC OceanExpert database (http://oceanexpert.org). If you are then click on the login box (top right) and enter your credentials. You will then see the search page showing you the last 10 entries or your own records if there are any. By clicking on the add tab at the top of the page you will be guided to enter information on a new source. As long as you are logged in you will be able to edit sources you entered previously.
  • If you wish to recommend a site to be included in the Catalogue then simply email Peter Pissierssens including the URL of the source and, if you know it, the name of the person managing the source.

Current version: 0.5.8 (19 Oct. 2023)
Technical contact: odiscat@ioc-unesco.org