The Global Observing Systems Information Center (GOSIC): A Comprehensive and Evolving Portal for Global Climate Data and Information

The Global Observing Systems Information Center (GOSIC), which was initiated in 1997 at the request of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Steering Committee, responds to a need identified by the global climate observing community for easier and more effective access to observational climate data and information. GOSIC manages an online portal providing an entry point for users of climate-related global observing systems data and information systems and also helps serve the needs of the World Data Center for Meteorology, Asheville. The GOSIC continues to evolve and expand its responsibilities, and this paper is an update to a similar paper (Diamond & Lief, 2009) that was presented at the 1st ICSU World Data System Conference in Kyoto, Japan in September 2011. Since 2009, there have been considerable updates made to the GOSIC portal that will be discussed in the paper.