The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility maintains a global data archive spanning almost 30 years, and the data are flowing in faster than ever. ARM crossed the 2-petabyte mark in March 2020, a little more than three years after completing its first petabyte.
Soon after reaching the 2-petabyte milestone, the ARM Data Center received a major distinction for its data management efforts. As of May 15, 2020, the ARM Data Center is a Core Trustworthy Data Repository certified by the CoreTrustSeal organization.
Established by the World Data System of the International Science Council and the Data Seal of Approval, CoreTrustSeal is an international nonprofit that promotes sustainable and trustworthy data repositories. Certification reviewers, including members of the CoreTrustSeal Standards and Certification Board, represent data organizations around the world.
Giri Prakash, who manages ARM’s data services, says that benefits of the certification are expected to include:
- improved quality and transparency of ARM’s data management processes
- benchmarks for comparing ARM data practices with internationally accepted standards such as FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data principles
- increased stakeholder and user confidence in ARM data
- greater visibility of the ARM Data Center within the international data science community.
Out of 90 CoreTrustSeal-certified data repositories in the world, 23 are in the United States. The ARM Data Center is based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
From Application to Certification
In mid-2019, the ARM Data Center applied for certification, needing to meet 16 core requirements defined by the World Data System and Data Seal of Approval. Examples of these requirements are data integrity and authenticity, documented storage procedures, conformity to FAIR principles, data quality, and security.
The ARM Data Center completed a self-assessment and provided evidence to peer reviewers that confirmed its compliance with the certification requirements. Final approval of the certification came from the CoreTrustSeal Board.
The ARM Data Center’s certification and application packet are available on the CoreTrustSeal website. The current certification ends in May 2023, but the renewal process will begin six months before the expiration date.
# # #ARM is a DOE Office of Science user facility operated by nine DOE national laboratories, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory.