The Marine Data Archive is a new web application developed by VLIZ. The purpose is to offer scientists, scientific research groups or project participants the possibility to archive and share their data files with a selected group of people. The MDA makes it possible to store data files in a fully documented way, including all necessary metadata (data about the data files).Why archive your data using the MDA?- Availability: whenever and wherever you like via the internet- Integrity: store the raw and processed data, incl. the program used to process the raw data- BackupEach file in the MDA is stored with metadata describing the data file. This documentation guarantees that the data in the files can be interpreted correctly. The required documentation is dependent on the particular data type ADCP; Meteo data; Image tracking set; botic trawl data), but generally includes information on:- what (biological, chemical, publication, photos)- conditions of use- objectivesThe MDA provides you with three workspaces:- private workspace: files and metadata are only accessible by yourself- public workspace: files and metadata in this workspace are accessible (at least 'read only' access rights) to everyone who has access to the MDA- shared workspace: files and data shared within a scientific research group, project,…So, depending on your personal profile and the folder and workspace you are working in, the type of access rights can be 'read only', 'write' or 'admin'. This means the user can respectively access, edit or administrate the files and metadata