The WASCAL Data Management Plan (DMP) describes the data to be created in WASCAL and the measures, methods, tools, standards and rules to warrant its proper management, archiving and exchange over the long term. The DMP was written at the beginning of the WASCAL project in 2012 by using information on data collection campaigns planned by scientists in the WASCAL Core Research Program and on bio-physical time series data to be provided by observation networks in the 10 WASCAL member countries.

Within WASCAL a large number of heterogeneous data are collected. These data are mainly coming from: - different initiated research activities within WASCAL (Research Program, Graduate Studies Program) - the hydrological-meteorological, remote sensing, biodiversity and socio economic observation networks within WASCAL, - the activities of the WASCAL Competence Center in Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso. The WASCAL Data Infrastructure (the WADI) within the Competence Center will serve as a database node providing scientists and decision makers in West Africa with reliable and well accessible data and data products related to climate change and adapted land use. Furthermore, the WADI will play a substantial role as a new and innovative node in the West-African network where research programs, projects and institutions working on climate change and related topics share data and knowledge. In WADI, the WASCAL Geoportal is used by scientists to upload data files to the WASCAL database and to complement them with detailed descriptions (metadata). The metadata are uploaded into the metadata catalogue, which is searchable by using the WASCAL Data Discovery or the WASCAL Geoportal. The manual describes in detail how to create metadatasets, to manage access priveleges, to implement metadata management workflows and how to prepare data for exchange following the standards used in WASCAL.