ABSTRACT
Summary of the data policies of environmental monitoring organisations Environmental monitoring covers a wide spectrum of organisations in which there are a variety of policies and practices. Organisations responsible for monitoring environmental degradation and pollution generally maintain ownership of their data, although this information is also made freely available to the public. Similarly, meteorological agencies maintain ownership of their data, but this is heavily influenced by international agreements and organisations such as the WMO and ECOMET. IPR are generally unrestrictive for general environmental data and ‘essential’ meteorological data. However, more restrictive conditions are maintained on other meteorological data, such as value added products produced by individual meteorological agencies. With regards to standards, meteorological agencies follow those laid down by international bodies and agreements, such as the WMO. Other forms of environmental information cover a variety of datasets and sources, in which the use of standards is variable. However, most environmental monitoring organisations aim to meet international standards and agreements where they exist. Environmental data and research is often widely published and freely distributed, particularly if it is produced using public funding. Long-term archiving of meteorological data is commonplace, as the need for detailed and long-term climate records is wellrecognised. Archiving practices for other types of environmental data are more variable, and are generally dependent on the perceived long-term usefulness of individual datasets.
