CIESIN Thematic Guides

Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Program Data and Information System

In early 1993, the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Program (HDP) requested that the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) develop and maintain the data and information system (DIS) for the HDP. The HDP/DIS will be achieved through collaboration with existing social science archives and information providers by forming a data- and information-sharing network.

Since its inception, HDP/DIS has focused on addressing the needs of HDP research programs. A CIESIN-sponsored workshop, held April 8-9, 1993, in Graz, Austria, began the process of identifying requirements and priorities for data and strategies for sharing data and communicating information. The HDP/DIS Workshop Report provides the first tangible recommendations for guiding the development of the HDP-DIS. Some of the recommendations implicitly indicate the usefulness of satellite image data for providing repeated updates (annual) of human-imposed land-use and land-cover characteristics and for defining geographic units within nation-state entities to enable higher-resolution spatial referencing of social science variables.

The Workshop Report states that the general functions of HDP/DIS include the following:

• Developing science data and information resource requirements for HDP-focused programs and determining the sources and availability of the resources;
• Providing services in support of HDP science initiatives, including data-resource discovery, cataloging and archiving, and information services such as guides and bulletin boards;
• Identifying computer-processing and data-resource services in support of HDP science computing, analysis, and data-integration needs such as geographic information services (GIS) and decision-support and modeling capabilities; and
• Accessing extant networks and developing interoperability among the information archives and centers that will support HDP science initiatives.