Twenty-five years of the IPCC Data Distribution Centre at the DKRZ and the Reference Data Archive for CMIP data

Abstract

The Data Distribution Centre (DDC) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2022. The DKRZ (German Climate Computing Center; German: Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum) is the only remaining DDC Partner from the original group jointly managing the DDC. In spite of changes in prioritization, it has been supporting the IPCC Assessments and preserving the quality-assured, citable climate model data underpinning the Assessment Reports over these years over the long term. An active and engaged collaborative community achieved advances in data standardization, data management best practices, and infrastructure developments. These evolving standards are reflected in the activities of the DDC. The introduction of the IPCC FAIR Guidelines into the current Sixth IPCC Assessment Report (AR6) has significantly changed the role of the DDC Partner DKRZ from an independent partner for long-term data preservation into an active partner involved in the IPCC's Sixth Assessment cycle. As a result, the DDC has gained exposure and visibility, posing a challenge and an opportunity to operationalize the IPCC's FAIR Guidelines and long-term preservation approaches. While the value of DDC services has been recognized, DDC sustainability remains unresolved and is currently being discussed within the IPCC as part of a general AR6 review process to formulate recommendations for the AR7 data management.