Turning emerging ocean observations into forecast-ready data

February 16–18, 2027

The UCAR Creating Data Pipelines for Novel Ocean Observations workshop is a collaboration among UCAR, NSF NCAR, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the Center for Ocean Leadership (COL) to develop practical workflows that make emerging ocean observing datasets easier to prepare, evaluate, and use in model-data comparison and data assimilation applications.


Data Pipeline Workshop

The initiative will host a 2.5-day Data Pipeline Workshop, February 16–18, 2027, at UCAR in Boulder, Colorado. The workshop will bring together selected observing-system partners, data providers, data managers, modelers, and data assimilation specialists to work directly on preparing datasets for CrocoLake ingestion, model-data comparison, and future data assimilation use. CrocoLake is a data platform that organizes ocean observations into analysis-ready formats for use in modeling, evaluation, and data assimilation workflows.

Interested in Participating?

The workshop will include a focused group of participants with relevant datasets, technical expertise, or use cases. Before opening formal registration, we are collecting expressions of interest to better understand potential participants, candidate datasets, technical needs, and areas of community interest.

Submit an application to attend here! Deadline: Friday, October 16.

The application form is not a registration form. Additional information about registration, participation, travel support, and workshop preparation will be shared as planning progresses.

Who Should Participate

The workshop is intended for selected participants who can contribute directly to one or more parts of the data pipeline, including:

  • Observing-system partners and data providers
  • Data managers and technical staff
  • Modelers and model-data comparison experts
  • Data assimilation specialists
  • Community partners working with gliders, uncrewed systems, and other emerging ocean observing platforms

What Participants Should Bring

Participants should be prepared to contribute a dataset, use case, technical expertise, or data-management perspective. Participants bringing datasets should be prepared to share relevant information on:

  • Data access methods
  • File formats and variable conventions
  • Metadata and quality control practices
  • Spatial and temporal sampling characteristics
  • Scientific, modeling, or data assimilation use cases
  • Known barriers to downstream reuse

Participants should also bring a laptop capable of supporting Python/Jupyter-based technical work. Additional setup guidance will be provided before the workshop.

Anticipated Workshop Outcomes

The workshop will produce the following:

  • Documented, repeatable data preparation workflows
  • At least two selected observational datasets advanced toward CrocoLake readiness
  • Initial forward-operator concepts, development plans, or prototypes, where applicable
  • A clearer roadmap for pipeline automation and expansion to additional observing platforms
  • Stronger collaboration across observing-system partners
  • A foundation for future funding, adoption, and broader community use

For any questions, please contact Nick Rome (nrome@ucar.edu)