MethaneAIR Data Policy

1. All investigators participating in MethaneAIR agree to promptly submit their final Quality Controlled data to the MethaneAIR Data Archive Center (MDAC) along with required dataset documentation at the latest within 12 months after the end of the second field phase (16 August 2022) to facilitate algorithm refinement, inter-comparison of results, quality control checks and inter-calibrations, as well as an integrated interpretation of the combined dataset. 
2. During this algorithm refinement period, defined as up to a 12 month period following the end of the MethaneAIR Field Project Deployment, MethaneAIR Principal Investigators (PIs) may have exclusive access to this data. This time period is designed to provide an opportunity to refine algorithms to reflect real-world observations and quality control the combined dataset as well as to provide the investigators ample time to publish their results. Data will be password protected upon the request of the data provider.
3. All EOL platform and instrument data will follow the EOL Data Policy.
4. All data in the MDAC will be considered Public Domain approximately 12 months following the end of the second MethaneAIR Field Project Deployment (i.e., on 17 August 2022 and thereafter). A dataset within the MethaneAIR archive can be opened to the public domain earlier at the discretion of the data provider for this particular dataset.    
5. All data shall be promptly provided to other MethaneAIR investigators upon request. All MethaneAIR investigators will have equal access to all data. A list of MethaneAIR investigators will be maintained by NCAR/EOL and will include the Principal Investigators (PIs) directly participating in the field experiment as well as collaborating scientists who have provided guidance in the planning and analysis of MethaneAIR data.
6. During the algorithm refinement period, the investigator(s) who collected the data must be notified first of the intent to use the data, in particular if data is to be provided to a third party (e.g., journal articles, presentations, research proposals, other investigators). It is strongly encouraged that PIs responsible for acquisition of data be invited to become collaborators and co-authors on any projects, publications and presentations. If the contribution of the data product is significant to the publication, the PIs responsible for generating a measurement or a data product should be offered the right of co-authorship. Any use of the data should include an acknowledgment (i.e., citation). In all circumstances, the PIs responsible for acquisition of data should be acknowledged appropriately. Following availability in the public domain, users of the data are strongly encouraged to contact the relevant PIs prior to incorporating it into peer-reviewed publications.
7. International agencies, professional societies, and research organizations are moving towards requiring researchers to formally cite data and sources that led to a given research result. To support this, DOIs or Digital Object Identifiers (considered “perpetual” identifiers) will be assigned to final datasets housed within the MDAC. These DOIs should be used in MethaneAIR related publications. DOIs will not be created for preliminary data.