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Part III. Appendix 3: Data Archive and AccessData PreservationAll four component data centers of the IOOS Archive System will be responsible for acquiring andproviding data, but only the archive centers will be primarily responsible for preserving data longterm (i.e., much longer than the typical funding period of an oceanographic research project or thecareer of a principal investigator). To qualify as an archive center, a data center must be able to performthe following functions related to data preservation:• Create and manage multiple copies of the data and metadata,• Verify and generate metadata as well as preserve it with its associated data,• Frequently check data integrity,• Plan for evolution of technology.Archive centers must be able to create and manage one or more copies of all IOOS data andmetadata, both online and offline, according to the specified IOOS data category and according toNARA and other Federal guidelines. Initially, a working group, with balanced representation fromthe science and archive management communities, will categorize each extant IOOS data set. TheIOOS categorization will become part of the standard metadata. As new data sets become availablethey will be categorized by the same criteria and requirements.The selection of data category requires careful consideration, because it determines the minimumtime period for preservation and the minimum number of copies that must be maintained. Table 1summarizes the four data categories and the number of archival copies required to meet the minimumIOOS Archive System standards.• Irreplaceable Data—Maintain two copies in separate archive centers in perpetuity.Irreplaceable data have the most stringent maintenance requirement because these data areunique and impossible to retake. All satellite and in situ measurements and some difficult-toreproducedata products (e.g., long-term global atmospheric reanalysis or primary productivityfields from blended in situ and satellite data) are in this category. Historically, irreplaceabledata have not always been archived in perpetuity (e.g., to reduce data storage and prepare forsubsequent calculations observed ocean profile data were discarded after they were reduced toestimates at standard levels). Modern technologies now allow for all observational data to bepreserved so current and future researchers can derive products based on the original data.The two copies of irreplaceable data will be preserved in separate facilities under independentdata management. One facility will be designated as the primary archive center for a particulardata set, and the other as the secondary archive center. The primary and secondary archive centersstoring irreplaceable data may operate as mirror sites, both offering the same level of access,203