International list of Voluntary Observing Ships Metadata fields & descriptions, exchange formats and code tables. Metadata Format Version 04. (Document Revision 4.1) . [SUPERSEDED by http://dx.doi.org/10.25607/OBP-771]

Abstract

The catalogue, which contains a comprehensive range of ship’s metadata, was originally available as a WMO publication, WMO-No. 47 (commonly referred to as Pub 47). Due to increasing printing and distribution costs, the publication was suspended in the late 1990s. An electronic version of the catalogue became available on the WMO website < http://www.wmo.ch/web/www/ois/pub47/pub47-home.htm > during 2003. Despite the changed method of distribution, the electronic file retains the name of the original publication.

Because of changing demands for ship’s metadata, the Ship Observations Team (SOT) formed a Task Team at SOT-II (July 2003, London, UK) to revise the metadata requirements of WMO-No. 47. The proposed changes were subsequently approved at JCOMM-II (September 2006, Halifax, Canada). This document describes the field descriptions, presentation layout and file exchange formats for WMO-No. 47, Metadata Format Version 04, approved at JCOMM-II. These changes come into effect on 1 June 2013.