A database referencing the location and content of data stored on magnetic medium was designed to assist in the indexing of time-series and spatially dependent marine geophysical data collected or processed by the U. S. Geological Survey. The database was designed and created for input to the Geologic Retrieval and Synopsis Program (GRASP) to allow selective retrievals of information pertaining to location of data, data format, cruise, geographical bounds and collection dates of data. This information is then used to locate the stored data for administrative purposes or further processing.
Database utilization is divided into three distinct operations. The first is the inventorying of the data and the updating of the database, the second is the retrieval of information from the database, and the third is the graphic display of the geographical boundaries to which the retrieved information pertains.