Here is a list of up-to-now identified possible technical solutions for archiving of time-series datasets. Any new proposals or links to subject matter experts are welcome.

Relational database (e.g. PostgreSQL)

pros:

• flexible
• conditional verification
• SQL queries
• easy to implement

cons:

• possibly very slow and hard to maintain as an estimated annual increases is around 100 TB
• probably a need for a tool preparing some common output data file for users from the database values

ODB

pros:

• full support at ECMWF
• can be stored in ECMWF MARS and use all its capability
• SQL like queries
• compression

cons:

• generally not too known format?
• not too flexible if any re-computations are needed

NetCDF

pros:

• well known format
• compression

cons:

• not ECMWF MARS support
• not too flexible if any re-computations are needed

Other possibilities

• BUFR?
• some sort of GRIB?