2007 BADC User Survey Analysis

In September and October 2007 the BADC carried out an online survey to try and find out more about how the BADC user community found the present services as well as attempt to gather information about the user community's skills and requirements. The information obtained from the survey should provide a useful point of reference for the BADC to help target its development and to ensure that it remains focused on providing a quality service to the UK atmospheric research community. In short to meet the BADC mission statement: The British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) is the Natural Environment Research Council's (NERC) Designated Data Centre for the Atmospheric Sciences. The role of the BADC is to assist UK atmospheric researchers to locate, access and interpret atmospheric data and to ensure the long-term integrity of atmospheric data produced by NERC projects. Prior to the Survey only circumstantial evidence was available on user experience and thus the BADC felt there was a need to sound the user community in a more formal manner. The aim of the 2007 BADC User survey was three fold: 1) To determine the skills base of the BADC user community. 2) To determine the present experience of the BADC user community of its datasets and supporting services. 3) To identify those areas where the BADC should improve, those areas where the BADC is doing well and those areas where the BADC could explore/develop.