With their global capability and diverse array of sensors, the U.S. academic research fleet is an essential mobile observing platform for ocean science. Data collected on every expedition are of high value, especially given the high costs and increasingly limited resources for ocean exploration. The Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) program aims to develop comprehensive fleet-wide management of underway data to ensure preservation of and access to our national oceanographic research data resources.

The R2R Portal is a central shore-side data gateway through which underway data from oceanographic expeditions will be routinely cataloged and securely transmitted to the national long-term digital data archives including the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC). Data submission will be established through vessel operators rather than individual science parties, ensuring routine preservation of the full underway data distribution.

R2R will provide essential data documentation for every expedition along with new tools to improve documentation of the wide array of shipboard data collection activities typical of modern expeditions. Protocols will be developed for post-cruise quality assessment of high priority underway data types, to provide feedback to operators. Quality assessment of meteorological data will be implemented in near-real-time in partnership with the SAMOS program. The R2R program plan is to leverage and augment the existing centralized information resources of the UNOLS office, vessel operators, and National Data Centers to facilitate the documentation and delivery of data from “rolling deck” to “repository.”