National Antarctic Data Centre (NADC)

The Antarctic Treaty (Article III (3) (c)) states that all Antarctic Treaty signatories shall "promote international co-operation in scientific investigation by exchanging, and making freely available, scientific observations and results from Antarctica."

Further to this, ATCM XXII (1998) stated that "Consultative Parties and their National Antarctic Data Centres encourage their scientists, through a process of education, support and the development of policies and procedures, to provide in a timely manner appropriate information to their National Antarctic Data Centres for distribution through the Antarctic Data Directory System." Part of this Antarctic Data Directory system is the Antarctic Master Directory (AMD).

The purpose of the AMD is to facilitate national and international information sharing.It enables users to locate and obtain access to Antarctic science, global change and related Earth science research data sets.

The AMD database holds descriptions of these Antarctic science data sets, covering all aspects of Antarctic sciences, thereby creating a global one-stop-shop for scientific research in and about Antarctica. One can use the search box, or select from the available keywords to search for data and services.

The advantages of this system are that it:

Facilitates leverage off previous research
Maximises usage and value from the principle asset from research: the data
Minimises unnecessary duplication or repetition of costly research
Promotes inter-disciplinary research analysis
Increases cooperation between researchers
Promotes national and international programme awareness
Allows efficient planning of programme research = efficient use of funds
Mitigates environmental footprint
Recognises the value of data beyond the original reason for collection

Antarctica New Zealand is New Zealand's National Antarctic Data Centre (NADC). The NADC has the responsibility of ensuring that the appropriate information is collected and entered into the AMD.