Data Access Task Team White Paper

This document distills information gathered by the CMIP Data Access Task Team for use by the CMIP Panel, the WCRP Infrastructure Panel, and other interested readers. The team was tasked with identifying barriers to the provisioning, distribution, and use of CMIP data. In particular the task team chose not to propose solutions given that the prioritization of problems and the technical and/or organizational expertise to evaluate possible responses were both outside the team’s expertise. The task team does note that opportunities exist to refine both technical, organizational, and financial aspect of the system. The sections below describe the state of play during CMIP6 and then the barriers identified by the task team for data production, dissemination, and access respectively. Progress made for CMIP7 is described and a coda reviews alternative paths taken by another, much smaller, WCRP project.