2000 years of annual ice core data from Law Dome, East Antarctica

Ice core records from Law Dome in East Antarctica, collected over the the last three decades, provide high resolution data for studies of the climate of Antarctica, Australia and the Southern and Indo-Pacific Oceans. Here we present a set of annually dated records of trace chemistry, stable water isotopes and snow accumulation from Law Dome covering over the period from −11 to 2017 CE (1961 to −66 BP 1950), as well as the level 1 chemistry data from which the annual chemistry records are derived. This dataset provides an update and extensions both forward and back in time of previously published subsets of the data, bringing them together into a coherent set with improved dating. The data are available for download from the Australian Antarctic Data Centre at https://doi.org/10.26179/5zm0-v192.

A Proposed Architecture f or Placement of Cloud Data Centre in Software Defined Network Environment

Emerging technologies like IoT (Internet of Things) and wearable devices like Smart Glass, Smart watch, Smart Bracelet and Smart Plaster produce delay sensitive traffic. Cloud computing services are emerging as supportive technologies by providing resources. Most services like IoT require minimum delay which is still an area of research. This paper is an effort towards the minimization of delay in delivering cloud traffic, by geographically localizing the cloud traffic through establishment of Cloud mini data centers. The anticipated architecture suggests a software defined network supported mini data centers connected together. The paper also suggests the use of segment routing for stitching the transport paths between data centers through Software defined Network Controllers.

Establishment of data centre at Mzuzu University: A survey of anticipations and aspirations of key project stakeholders

Mzuzu University lost its Library as a result of a fire that took place on December 18, 2015. In response, the university established two processes to ensure the library services were not interrupted. The first process was to restore information services within six months by creating an interim Library. The second was to design a new library in collaboration with Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture and Design in the United States. A total of three conceptual designs were developed, from which Mzuzu University selected a final design. One key aspect of each conceptual design was a dedicated space for a data centre. The initial concept was that the data centre would support research activities at the University, within Malawi, and with international partners outside Malawi, such as Virginia Tech. This paper captures the anticipations and aspirations of the key stakeholders involved with the library design project at Mzuzu University in Malawi and Virginia Tech in the USA. Data were captured by a survey that was shared via email with 29 stakeholders. A total of 10 responded at Mzuzu University, and 12 responded at Virginia Tech. A key finding from the survey was the need to create clear plans for each aspect of the project to ensure the effective implementation of the data centre. Critical aspects to the project include staffing, equipment procurement, the management of the data centre, data literacy programming, and the long-term sustainability of the data centre. Developing a policy/process to guide the operations of the data centre was also found to be critical. The library construction began in February 2021 and is expected to end in February 2023. Having a clear plan for how the data centre could be operationalized will be essential to ensuring the centre is successful. The data centre will be a new facility for the university and this paper is a first step towards shaping the requirements of, and potential for, this new facility.

Virtualization of Research Data Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic as an Opportunity to Enhance Research Data Support

For Canadian academic libraries, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an unprecedented switch to virtual services. An abrupt halt to in-person activities required almost all libraries to utilize new technologies in order to continue serving patrons. While the Academic Data Centre (ADC) has traditionally offered both physical and online services, with the emergence of the pandemic, the ADC pivoted to exclusively online service provision. Through new initiatives such as remote desktop access to statistical software, embedded virtual spaces for consultation and breakout discussions, online workshops and teaching, and the use of social media--the Academic Data Centre emerged successful in supporting student and faculty data needs. While virtually scaling up data services was essential to avoid disrupting researchers working with data, the shift to online services also presented an unexpected opportunity to reflect meeting the data needs of users and, in turn, strategize innovative future data service delivery. Three themes emerged from our reflection: emphasis on greater accessibility; more flexible instruction; and the benefits for cultivating a data community. As emerge from the pandemic, the ADC expects to further embrace newly implemented technologies and virtual services to further scale and augment research data service support.

A process-oriented evaluation of CAMS reanalysis ozone during tropopause folds over Europe for the period 2003–2018

Tropopause folds are the key process underlying stratosphere-to-troposphere transport (STT) of ozone, thus, affecting tropospheric ozone levels and variability. In the present study we perform a process-oriented evaluation of Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reanalysis (CAMSRA) O3 during folding events, over Europe and for the time period from 2003 to 2018. A 3-D labeling algorithm is applied to detect tropopause folds in CAMSRA, while ozonesonde data from WOUDC (World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre) and aircraft measurements from IAGOS (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System) are used for CAMSRA O3 evaluation. The profiles of observed and CAMSRA O3 concentrations indicate that CAMSRA reproduces the observed O3 increases in the troposphere during the examined folding events. Nevertheless, at some of the examined sites, CAMSRA overestimates the observed O3 concentrations, mostly at the upper portion of the observed increases, with a median fractional gross error (FGE) among the examined sites > 0.2 above 400 hPa. The use of a control run without data assimilation, reveals that the aforementioned overestimation of CAMSRA O3 arises from the data assimilation implementation. Overall, although data assimilation assists CAMSRA O3 to follow the observed O3 enhancements in the troposphere during the STT events, it introduces biases in the upper troposphere resulting in no clear quantitative improvement compared to the control run without data assimilation. Less biased assimilated O3 products, with finer vertical resolution in the troposphere, in addition to higher IFS (Integrated Forecasting System) vertical resolution, are expected to provide a better representation of O3 variability during tropopause folds.