1. The Long Winding Road to an NDR in the United States
Christopher Keane and Marcus E. Milling
American Geological Institute
Alexandria, Virginia, USA
20 September 2005

2. Geoscience Data in the United States (2002)
Reflections from NDR4 (Stavanger)
US was substantially behind everyone in national policy
US has some of the largest historical holdings
Data awareness
Geoscience data only valued as current asset
Geoscience data entirely absent from law-maker’s agenda

3. Data Repositories in the United States
Mineral and hydrocarbon rights belong to property owner
Onshore data policy is controlled by the states, except on Federal lands
Data is the property of the operating company
Copies of data collected on federal land or offshore leases must be provided to Minerals Management Service.
MMS reported data remains proprietary for 25 years
Distributed Data Repository System: Private companies, state geological surveys, and federal agencies

4. Primary Data Holders in the US
Petroleum Companies - decreasing reliance on internal repository functions
Private Repositories - provides storage, management and access for a fee to companies
Service Companies - Collects and stores data for resale
State Geological Surveys - Stores local, largely non-proprietary data collections
Federal Government - Well records for data from federal lands and offshore leases

5. Centralizing US Data Holdings?
No historical precedent for centralization
Concern of government infringement on private companies
Data volumes make task unmanageable
Much data retains long-term strategic value to companies
Question of who covers the costs

6. American Geological Institute National Geoscience Data Repository System Objectives and Goals
Preserve geoscience data
Network existing data repositories
Improve user access to quality data
Decrease cost of data management
Reduce data redundancy

7. NGDRS 1995 Data Transfer Targets
Cores and cuttings: 17.5M linear feet
Seismic: 100M line-miles
Scout tickets: 2.5M tickets
Well logs: 6.5M logs
Paper records: 500K

8. Example Large Data Transfers
Shell Texas Bureau of Economic Geology
Facility in Midland
Cores, logs, etc. PLUS money to endow the facility
BP Texas Bureau of Economic Geology
Facility in Houston
Cores, cuttings, paleo PLUS money and property to endow the facility
BP Oklahoma Geological Survey
Brought money and data to OGS for public access
Chevron AGI USGS
Brings offshore west coast US seismic data to the public
Legal model for transfers

9. NGDRS Achievements Public and private financial support
DOE grants: $3.8M
Corporate operational contributions: $770K
Corporate capital support: $2.1M
Data transfers to date
Cores/Cuttings: 14.9M linear feet ($19.9M)
Paleo samples: 43.2M linear feet equivalent ($50K)
Seismic data: 961 line-miles ($960K)
Other data: Logs, scout tickets, etc. ($1.4M )
Integrated public data
State surveys: 330K linear feet ($440K)
Federally-held cores: 1.1M linear feet ($1.4M)
State/Federal logs: 685K Logs ($2.74M)
Total preservation investment (less public data)
$29.0M

10. Retaining Geoscience Data Value
NGDRS Program ROI was 6.5:1 for DOE investments
Transferred 74% of targeted data from at-risk proprietary status to public access and protected
Establishing stable State and regional repositories
Establishing indexing and preservation standards

11. Key Transfer Model Developments
Continued storage sometimes less expensive than transportation
Virtual catalogs allow privately-held, but accessible data to see “daylight”
In-Situ donations already demonstrated by ChevronTexaco for core.
Model is likely applicable to other data types.

12. Report from the US National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences to publish report on Preservation of Geoscience Data in April 2002
Key issues
Acknowledged the value of geoscience data to society
Called for keeping data local to the source as a priority
Called for the establishment of 3 regional repositories
Defined greatest costs in transport and indexing
Indexing quality is key for value retention

13. Sponsored Research Repositories
Publicly sponsored research data has few archiving requirements
DOSECC-related programs have generated substantial cores
Many university repositories are at-risk
NSF responds to the NRC report by identifying a repository for physical data from its funded projects.

14. Energy Policy Act of 2005 SEC. 2011
Energy Policy Act of 2005 SEC PRESERVATION OF GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL DATA
First congressional recognition of geoscience data as a national issue
(1) to archive geologic, geophysical, and engineering data , maps, well logs, and samples;
(2) to provide a national catalog of such archival material; and
(3) to provide technical and financial assistance related to the archival material.

15. Energy Policy Act of 2005 Highlights
Specifies that state agencies are to hold the data
Authorizes funds to states from the federal government to archive data from federal lands
Calls for the creation of a catalog system that integrates the data held across the state repositories
Catalog will be distinctly separate from state agency repositiories
For non-federal lands data, federal costs share can not exceed 50%

16. The Future Repository Situation
Authorization != Appropriation
Slated for $30M per year, at some point
Need to lobby on data implications in hazards
Hurricane Katrina
Terrorism

17. NGDRS Into The Future Original program went away because of success!
New program will look similar
Distributed state repositories
Central metadata catalog
Key Differences This Time Around
Congressional support
Improved technology at state surveys
Geoinformatics initiative at NSF
Sound legal transfer models
Repository space is not as critical a crisis
Multiple agency initiatives coalescing….

18. Multiple Agency Opportunities
GEOSS
USGS
NOAA
Data Preservation
Congress
Homeland Security
Data Repository Funding
Opportunities
Cyberinfrastructure
Security Monitoring
National Science
Foundation
Defense