Publishing and Archiving

The Montana Climate Office maintains a website with links to resources, and publication of MCO products for the citizens of Montana. Users typically discover the MCO through our web presence, but we often work with individuals one-on-one to address their information needs.  Climate datasets are unique in that they are cumulative, and thus do not require a separate archiving process.  The current collection is considered the most relevant dataset for both present and historic conditions.  In cases where content needs to be archived, archived products will remain within the same distribution as current datasets provided the storage space exists.  When storage space is insufficient, offline storage will be utilized.

Each product is distributed in Esri format and GeoTIFF format in a Montana State Plane projection, and a thematic GeoTIFF is created for each raster. Each raster carries complete ISO metadata.  Web services are not provided at this time, but are planned for in the coming year.

What prompts new releases? 

• New data processing techniques that improve the usability or delivery of climate data products, or the addition of a new climate product that is more appropriate for use in Montana than a current product

• Since climate data is cumulative, additions are continuously made and the data republished

• Minor revisions or corrections on an almost daily basis 

NOTE: Most patron use in 2014 is directly through the Montana Climate Office web and FTP site.  Publishing through MSL in February 2015 may drive more traffic to our FTP holdings.  In reality most users will default to the online map gallery or summary products developed by the MCO, but the MCO is also the primary user of its holdings for analyses in response to inquiries.