Database designs and metadata management for climate observations and Tsunami sea-level monitoring and quality control

Two major buoy networks have been added to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) as the result of the transition of Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Array with 55 TAO legacy buoys and the global establishment of the second-generation Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART®) network with 39 surface buoys and collocated subsurface bottom pressure recorders (BPR). Accordingly, their underlying data management systems were redesigned and implemented at NDBC. This paper illustrates practical designs that support the metadata management for both of the buoy networks as well as their specific needs for data management and quality control. Metadata life cycles and operational workflows are discussed and future ideas of web presentation of observation data and metadata via Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Sensor Model Language (SensorML) are considered.