ABSTRACT
Suppliers of data publish their formal guidelines and policies to distribute data, but it is sometimes more difficult to obtain datasets in practice. Hidden licensing issues, incompatible data formats and other unexpected problems are only raised when a data user actually attempts to obtain the information. Consequently, the ease with which data can be obtained was investigated and is reported in this chapter, using versions of projects that might be implemented in global environmental monitoring systems. The types of data that may be required for such projects were identified and an attempt was made to locate and obtain the required datasets. The restrictions and data policy issues that were raised in the course of trying to obtain the data were then recorded. These examples are simpler than such projects would be in reality, but are useful in highlighting the ease with which different data types can be located and obtained in practice. The application projects are concerned with oil spills at sea, earthquakes and climate change. In addition, this chapter also examines the case of Natura 2000 data, as it has widespread application in Europe.
