This Data Policy establishes guidelines towards a common framework for all PONEX investigators regarding the management of instrument datasets.

Timelines

1. During the PONEX campaign in January 2026, all Data Providers will provide a brief data collection summary within 3 days of a PONEX research flight to all PONEX Participants. Where possible, certain instrument datasets (e.g., aircraft position and orientation data) and instrument quick-look plots will be shared with all PONEX Participants.
   1. Summary in .pdf format is to be sent to PONEX PIs for archiving
2. Within 12 months after the campaign by (February 1, 2027) all PONEX Data Providers are required to submit their quality-controlled datasets (including processed files and quick-look figures), along with the necessary documentation (metadata and readme files), to the PONEX data archive*.
   1. NetCDF and ASCII data formats are preferred but not required. Data formats need to be sufficiently documented.
   2. Certain observations conducted during ESA EarthCARE satellite overpass flights may be submitted to ESA in GEOMS format during the embargo period, if required by ESA-ECCC agreement.
   3. Graduate students who work on the Project may disclose confidential results of the Project in order to fulfil a requirement for a degree. Data providers’ specific consent prior to such disclosure is required, but the data provider will not withhold permission for such disclosure, if
      1. the information relates directly to work that the data provider knew the student was doing (e.g., a collaboration has been established with the data provider), and
      2. the data provider is advised about the information which is intended to be disclosed at least 30 days before the disclosure, and is given an opportunity to comment on the disclosure.
3. All PONEX data access will remain restricted to PONEX Participants for an additional six months (until August 1, 2027). This embargo period is intended to allow Participants to refine algorithms, conduct quality assurance on the combined dataset, compare to other observations collected during PONEX, and prepare publications. During this six-month period all PONEX data shall be available to all PONEX Participants.
4. All data in the PONEX archive will become public domain (open access) 18 months after the campaign, on August 1, 2027.
5. Exceptions:
   1. A-ATOFMS and TRAC datasets are exempt from these deadlines and instead will operate on a best-effort basis.
   2. NASA data products (from DLH, M205 Ozone and Picarro instruments) will be publicly released 6 months after the campaign.
   3. All datasets collected at the Trail Valley Creek surface site will follow the Trail Valley Creek (Laurier University) data policy.
   4. NRC CAPS-PMsaa, IR camera, Visible camera, AMTC temperature sensor, cosmic rays measurements and any NRC instrumentation which is not part of PONEX project deliverables are exempt from this agreement and are used by NRC for internal research.

Data Access

1. During the 18-month embargo period, all data shall be promptly provided to other PONEX Participants upon request on a best-effort basis, with equal access granted to all PONEX Participants.
   1. Data providers may reserve the right to refuse access during the embargo period.
   2. The list of Participants will be maintained by the PONEX PIs.
   3. Where possible, all data shall be provided under the Creative Commons (CC) license.
2. ECCC numerical modelling datasets will be provided on a case-by-case basis to PONEX Participants, upon request.
3. Commercial use of any PONEX data is prohibited unless authorized in writing by the data provider.
4. No public release of a PONEX data product is allowed during the embargo period without permission.
5. Exceptions:
   1. All datasets collected at the Trail Valley Creek surface site will follow the Trail Valley Creek (Laurier University) data policy.

Notification / Attribution

1. If the data product constitutes a substantial part of the work, the data provider(s) should be offered co-authorship and the opportunity to collaborate.
2. Any use of PONEX data products must include an acknowledgement (citation).
   1. Approval is required during the embargo period.
   2. Notification is required after the embargo period.
   3. All PONEX-related presentations and publications should be shared with the PONEX PIs.
3. DOIs will be assigned to final data products and must be cited in publications.
4. Photos or videos of the NRC Convair-580 aircraft must not be used publicly without NRC permission.
5. Exceptions:
   1. All datasets collected at the Trail Valley Creek surface site will follow the Trail Valley Creek (Laurier University) data policy.

Timeline

*PONEX data archive: during the embargo period, all submitted PONEX datasets will be archived on the ECCC server in Dorval, QC. Upon the PONEX dataset’s release to the public domain, it will be made available via the Open Government Portal ( https://search.open.canada.ca/data/ ) (or similar) platform.