Caribbean Coastal Data Centre
The Caribbean Coastal Data Centre (CCDC) of the Centre for Marine Sciences (CMS), archives data on the coastal and marine resources for more than 30 countries in the Caribbean.
The CCDC currently archives data from CARICOMP, CPACC, the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) and Reef Check in addition to short studies on coral diseases, fish surveys and the Costal Water Improvement Project (CWIP). The data are stored in relational databases developed in Microsoft Access consisting mainly of benthic cover on coral reefs, seagrass and mangrove biomass and growth measures, sea surface temperature, air temperature and rainfall data. Other non-data forms of information such a bibliographic references, abstracts, theses and scientific papers are also stored at the CCDC.
Main focus areas
The main areas of focus are the provision of data management services and technical support to coastal and marine projects in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. The current functions of the CCDC include:
- providing data archival support to various regional and international marine and monitoring programs, including data entry, error-checking and quality control.
- disseminating data, reports and summaries as required by the monitoring programmes.
- being the focal point for communication, facilitating discussion between CARICOMP Site Directors and the Steering Committee as well as other individuals and agencies.
- coordinating the Northern Caribbean and Western Atlantic node of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN).
- being the focal point for the local Jamaica Coral Reef Monitoring Network (JCRMN).
