IEDRO

Letter of Intent between the World Data Center (WDC) for Meteorology, Asheville, and the International Environmental Data Rescue Organization (IEDRO)

The full understanding of climate change by the scientific community is incomplete. To fully understand the global environmental challenges faced by the global community, there is a need to collect and analyze as much raw data as possible. Both the WDC for Meteorology, as a formal member of the International Council for Science's (ICSU) World Data System (WDS), and IEDRO recognize this, and further recognize that there is a potential goldmine of data that resides in analog form which if saved, digitized, and made available to the world's climate databases, would help facilitate a better understanding of climate and its associated impacts.

The purpose of this Letter of Intent (LOI) is to define the conditions under which the WDC for Meteorology, Asheville (which resides at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center) and IEDRO intend to pursue cooperation and collaboration towards the goal of rescuing and digitizing such analog data from around the world. This document is not legally binding.

1. The WDC is an international environmental data center operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The main NCDC facility is located in Asheville, North Carolina. NCDC is the world's largest data archive of climate data, and develops both national and global data sets that have been used by both government and the private sector to maximize the resource provided by our climate and minimize the risks of climate variability and weather extremes. As a member of the ICSU WDS, the WDC recognizes the value of free and open access to environmental data on a global basis.

2. IEDRO is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established in 2005 for the express purpose of rescuing and digitizing at-risk historical environmental data throughout the world by: (1) Locating and rescuing weather and other environmental data stored on perishable media; (2) Digitizing historical environmental data; and (3) Ensuring the digitized data are available for operational and research applications to its host country as well as to the international scientific community.

3. It is the intention of the WDC for Meteorology and IEDRO to pursue cooperation and collaboration on the rescue and digitization of analog weather and climate data for the express purpose of making such data available to global climate databases.
4. By working together, the WDC for Meteorology and IEDRO intend to pursue:

    a. Rescuing data solely from countries that agree, prior approval, that such data would be fully and freely accessible to the public
    b. Having the WDC (via NCDC) store all resultant data and provide guidance on formats and accompanying metadata
    c. Having the WDC (via NCDC) perform the necessary Quality Assurance for the digitized data and integrating such new data into existing global databases
    d. Cooperating in new releases and publications resulting from joint data rescue and digitization efforts.

The WDC for Meteorology and IEDRO intend to meet on a periodic basis either in-person or via teleconference. Such meetings could include (but not be limited to) the presentation and discussion of possible projects and ongoing prioritization; cooperation on identifying country specific experts for each project; and cooperation on international cooperation.

5. This Letter of Intent (LOI) governs solely the cooperative efforts documented and is not a vehicle for, or an obligation on either party, involving funding or other resources. This LOI has no legal or other standing with respect to funding or other resources.

6. If the WDC for Meteorology or IEDRO, are for any reason, unable to continue their participation in this LOI, then either may terminate their participation upon notice to the other.

7. The resources required for the data activities will be discussed as part of the cooperative discussions facilitated by this LOI, but again, there is no obligation imposed on either party. Any specific projects the parties decide to pursue that involve the commitment of resources will be described, in detail, in subsequent written agreements.

8. This LOI will be effective upon signature by both parties. It is valid for five (5) years from the date of the last signature and can be renewed for further periods.

9. This LOI is to be signed between the WDC for Meteorology and IEDRO by the respective heads of organizations or their authorized delegates.
SIGNED
(On behalf of WDC for Meteorology)

[Signature]
Date: December 21, 2011
Name: Howard J. Diamond
Position: Director, WDC for Meteorology

SIGNED
(On behalf of IEDRO)

[Signature]
Date: December 21, 2011
Name: Richard I. Crouthamel
Position: Executive Director, IEDRO