Sequoia 2000: a reflection on the first three years

Sequoia 2000 addresses growing worldwide concern regarding changes to the Earth´s surface, inhabitants, and atmosphere. The project is named for the Sierra Nevada´s giant trees, the largest organisms on Earth, and is driven by our need to address the gigantic data requirements of global change research. Envisioning a new computer environment for Earth science researchers and encompassing networking, storage database management systems, and visualization activities, Sequoia 2000 has been under development for three years. A second three-year phase is planned. The article discusses the project, its implementation, its objectives, how we chose to address those objectives, and specific lessons learned from this endeavor.<>