Sustaining Arctic Observing Network (SAON) is a joint activity of IASC and the Arctic Council with the purpose to support and strengthen the development of multinational engagement for sustained and coordinated pan-Arctic observing and data sharing systems. SAON promotes the vision of well-defined observing networks that enable users to have access to free, open and high quality data that will realize pan-Arctic and global value-added services and provide societal benefits.
SAON was initiated by IASC and the Arctic Council´s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) in 2007 and is now governed by a SAON Board, with the Arctic Council appointing the Chair and IASC appointing the Vice-Chair. Secretarial support is provided by AMAP and IASC.
SAON´s activities are managed by two committee: (1) the joint SAON/IASC Arctic Data Committee and (2) the SAON Committee on Observations and Networks (CON).
The biennial Arctic Observing Summit is held in conjunction with the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) and through SAON both IASC and the Arctic Council are contributing to the program.
For more information please see: www.arcticobserving.org
On November 10 and 11, 2014, the IASC Data Standing Committee and the Committee on Data and Information Services of the Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) jointly met in Potsdam, Germany. During this inaugural meeting, members of the two committees agreed to merge to form a single Arctic Data Committee (ADC).
The ADC includes representatives appointed by IASC and SAON national bodies, but is open to all interested and engaged individual and organizational participants. Additionally, relationships will be established between the ADC and other relevant data management bodies including, for example, the Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management, GEO Cold Regions and other regional initiatives. The ADC will engage with the broader community while continuing to report to the IASC and SAON Executive bodies.
For more information please see the ADC website.
Data are central to the mission of IASC. IASC promotes cooperation in all aspects of Arctic research and seeks to act as a scientific and moral authority that promotes the freedom and ethical conduct of science. In this spirit of open collaboration, the IASC Council endorsed a new Statement of Principles and Practices for Arctic Data Management.
The document asserts that all IASC-endorsed scientific results shall be verifiable and reproducible through ethically open access to all data necessary to produce those results. Data should be made fully and freely available with minimal delay and with only limited ethical, not proprietary, restrictions.
Data shall be professionally preserved and readily accessible as described in data management plans, which are required for all new IASC projects. It is also important to re-cognize the intellectual effort that goes into producing and maintaining good data. IASC encourages fair attribution and use of data and strongly promotes the practice of data citation.