Data Acceptance Policies

Owned by Natalie Lennard
Last updated: Jun 20, 2021
4 min read

The following are the principles for data being accepted into the GA contributing hub:

  1. GA will ensure that ownership, authorship and citation remains as identified by the contributing organisation, however GA will become the custodian (identified in the metadata) whilst GA receives, stores, integrates and distributes the data on behalf of the contributing organisation.

    1. If GA does not hold an interest in the acquisition or preparation of the data, the GA contributing hub will accept the data if it is not readily available through another publicly accessible channel. 

    2. Data can only be submitted by an agreed contributing data partner. The basis for becoming a contributing data partner can be found in the becoming a contributing partner document. 

  2. Data must be provided in the prescribed formats outlined in appendix 1. 

  3. The contributing organisation profile must be submitted at least 1month prior to submitting the data to allow for internal approval processes to be completed.

  4. Data can not be submitted without a contributing organisation profile, as this will provide GA with the right to store, distribute and process the data for its own outputs.  It is important to note:

    1. Authority to publish does not negate the need for GA to provide appropriate citation to the data.

    2. The contributing organisation is aware that the visualisation of the data may not be identical to what is supplied from them (e.g. the publishing pipeline standardizes visualisation output of any survey data, ensuring that hillshades and standard colour ramps are applied to the data).

  5. Data will only be prioritised for publication if it is supplied with appropriate metadata and conforms to the standard template that will be supplied to the contributing organisation.

  6. In order for data to be processed to a AusSeabed consistent output, data should be provided in one of the identified incoming formats outlined in the AusSeabed Guidelines ver 2.0 or should be easily converted to align with these formats. Specifically:

    1. All incoming data should include any auxiliary data required to meet the AusSeabed Guidelines. 

    2. All incoming data should include all relevant metadata outlined in the guidelines.

 

Other rough notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The AusSeaBed Data Hub implemented at Geoscience Australia has policies and processes that are influenced by both the AusSeaBed community and GA’s responsibilities as a federal government organisation.

Important GA influences to this work are:

  • PGPA Act and Accountable Authority Instructions (AAI)

    • which promotes the proper use and management of public resources/relevant property, including acquisition, custody, use, loss and disposal; and demonstrates accountability and transparency.

  • Australian Government Public Data Policy Statement

    • At a minimum, Australian Government entities will publish appropriately anonymised government data by default:

      • on or linked through data.gov.au for discoverability and availability; - Facilitated automatically by the GA Catalogue (eCat)

      • in a machine-readable, spatially-enabled format;

      • with high quality, easy to use and freely available API access;

      • with descriptive metadata;

      • using agreed open standards;

      • kept up to date in an automated way; and

      • under a Creative Commons By Attribution license unless a clear case is made to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet for another open license.

  • GA Strategy 2028

    • xxxx

  • GA Product Management Policy and Procedures

    • requires published data to be recorded in GA’s IS0 19115.3 compliant Catalogue (eCat) - with the record clearly identifying GA as Custodian as the ongoing financial obligations and risks are managed by GA. Data creators and owners are acknowledged and identified in the metadata

    • Metadata requirements

      • GA minimum (Mandatory and optional)

        • xxxxx

      • Additionally metadata requirements include the needs of the Marine Community Profile and Bathymetry specific attributes (refer to AusSeaBed minimum required metadata to encompass overall requirements)

    • Logging and Registration - Administration

 

AusSeaBed requirements are:

To account for Australia’s jurisdiction and international obligations, together, the AusSeabed Data Hubs will accept, store, manage, and deliver information that has the following characteristics: 

  • is collected by, or commissioned by Australian entities 

  • is within the legal boundaries of the Australian Continental Shelf and the Australian Charting Zone 

  • and is considered of value to the Australian marine community. 

  • is compliant with MBES Guidelines v2.0

    • Key issues to be addressed and detailed in the Guidelines: Section 7.1 - Data submission to AusSeabed relate to:

      • Data Types

        • The types of data derived from a MBES survey are:

          • bathymetry: essential

          • seabed backscatter: essential

          • water column backscatter: encouraged

          The minimum essential requirements of any seafloor mapping survey are the bathymetric data and seabed backscatter data (the collection of which may require manual activation). Water column backscatter data acquisition is encouraged if the system can collect it. In addition to scientific benefits (such as identifying gas flares and vegetation mapping), water column data is a common method used to confirm least depth over features and to identify bathymetric artefacts. It is both used in terms of 3D visualisation of the seabed and in observing oceanographic turbulence, such as internal waves, which may result in bathymetric artefacts (Hughes-Clarke, 2017b).

      • Data Levels and File Formats

        • Consistent definitions of data levels allow the community to reduce ambiguity when discussing, delivering, processing or describing data. The AusSeaBed definitions of data levels has been modelled on those prescribed by NASA for Earth Observations data products.

        • A set of data formats has been recommended for each of the data levels and types described above based on community consultation. Data submission to AusSeaBed requires that the required data follow the formats and specifications outlined in this table detailed in the guidelines. For submission of data it is required that all Priority 1 formats that are possible to be provided are provided. If this is not possible then the next highest priority format should be provided. AusSeaBed strongly supports open source technology and formats, therefore open formats (when available) are the preferred option over proprietary formats, for any sensor and at any data level. For L3 Bathymetry data provided to the AusSeaBed Data Hub it is required that both Priority 1 BAG formats and the 32-Bit Floating Point GeoTIFF files detailed in the specifications column are provided.

      • QA

      • Metadata


© Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) year of publication.

With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and where otherwise noted, this product is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode