Finding the Forest in the Trees -- Copyright -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Executive Summary -- SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS -- Addressing Barriers Deriving from the Data -- Addressing Barriers Deriving from Users' Needs -- Addressing Barriers Deriving from Organizational Interactions -- Addressing Barriers Deriving from System Considerations -- TEN KEYS TO SUCCESS -- 1 Introduction -- METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY -- ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT -- REFERENCES -- 2 Impact Assessment Project for Drought Early Warning in the Sahel -- VARIABLES MEASURED AND SOURCES OF DATA -- DATA MANAGEMENT AND INTERFACING -- Timeliness of Data Acquisition -- Accessibility of Data -- Data Quality and Verification -- Data Retention -- Data Documentation -- Importance of the Crop Calendar -- Definition of Users of Crop Modeling Results -- Creation of New Algorithms and Data Management Procedures -- Accommodation of Users' Needs for Crop Yield Estimates -- Interfacing of Disparate Databases -- Institutional and Political Constraints -- LESSONS LEARNED -- REFERENCES -- 3 The National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program -- VARIABLES MEASURED AND SOURCES OF DATA FOR THE AQUATIC PROCESSES ANDEFFECTS PORTION OF NAPAP -- MAJOR CONSIDERATIONS IN EVALUATING THE DATA MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIESOF THE AQUATIC PROCESSES AND EFFECT ... -- Users' Needs -- Study Design -- DATA MANAGEMENT AND INTERFACING IN THE AQUATIC PROCESSES AND EFFECTSPORTION OF NAPAP -- LESSONS LEARNED -- Program Planning -- Program Implementation -- Program Completion, Evaluation, and Future Activities -- REFERENCES -- 4 The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest Long-Term Ecological ResearchSite -- VARIABLES MEASURED AND SOURCES OF DATA -- DATA MANAGEMENT AND INTERFACING -- LESSONS LEARNED -- REFERENCES -- 5 The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center -- VARIABLES MEASURED AND SOURCES OF DATA.

DATA MANAGEMENT -- Selecting the Data Set -- Contacting the Principal Investigator -- Acquiring the Data -- Performing Quality Assurance and Quality Control -- Documenting the Data -- Distributing the Data -- LESSONS LEARNED -- REFERENCES -- 6 The First ISLSCP Field Experiment -- VARIABLES MEASURED AND SOURCES OF DATA -- DATA MANAGEMENT AND INTERFACING -- LESSONS LEARNED -- REFERENCES -- 7 The California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation -- VARIABLES MEASURED AND SOURCES OF DATA -- DATA MANAGEMENT AND INTERFACING -- Science -- Organization -- Results -- LESSONS LEARNED -- REFERENCES -- 8 Interfacing Diverse Environmental Data-Issues and Recommendations -- THE PROBLEM AND ITS CONTEXT -- ADDRESSING BARRIERS DERIVING FROM THE DATA -- Spatial and Temporal Scale -- Preliminary Data Processing and Statistical Uncertainty -- Data Volume -- Overcoming Data Incompatibilities -- ADDRESSING BARRIERS DERIVING FROM USERS' NEEDS -- ADDRESSING BARRIERS DERIVING FROM ORGANIZATIONAL INTERACTIONS -- Rewards, Priorities, and Ingrained Attitudes -- Data Ownership and Cooperation -- Managing Organizational Change -- ADDRESSING BARRIERS DERIVING FROM INFORMATION SYSTEM CONSIDERATIONS -- Fuzzy and Shifting Requirements -- Interoperability -- Complex Metadata -- Retracing Data Paths -- Long-term Archiving of Data -- TEN KEYS TO SUCCESS -- REFERENCES -- Appendixes -- A Case Study Evaluation Criteria -- USER NEEDS -- Identifying Users -- Understanding Users' Requirements -- Technical Aspects -- STUDY DESIGN -- Conceptual Framework -- Methodological Issues -- Data Integration -- DATA CHARACTERISTICS AND DATA QUALITY -- Data Characteristics -- Quality Control -- Data Integration -- DATA MANAGEMENT -- Up-Front Planning -- Data Management Procedures -- Planning for the Future -- INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES -- Participants -- Organization and Management -- Data Integration.

B List of Abbreviations and Acronyms.