Decision trees are useful tools for users to quickly reference which practice to choose in various situations.

Currently, no clear guidance exists on how to design a decision tree to be effective in selecting applicable best practices. During the past OBPS workshops, participants of various working groups have demonstrated interest in the development of decision trees to support best practice documents.
The process will vary based on the purpose or application of the tree. For example, a group in the U.S.A. has been working on an initiative to develop best practices related to sea-going operations on research vessels. As part of this effort, they are working toward establishing time-based decision trees that allow a technician to identify priorities for maintenance of a particular sensor based on their availability. Additionally, the OASIS best practices and interoperability theme team has identified decision trees as a way they would like to communicate best practices related to measurements of high-priority air-sea interactions, starting with surface radiation. Those are just two examples of how decision trees may be developed and utilized based on purpose or application.
Given this is a topic of interest to much of the community, we’d like to encourage active
working groups to discuss decision trees at their upcoming meetings. 

We have established a task team made up of representatives across the various working
groups, including social scientists and subject matter experts, to work toward development
of best practices for decision trees as well as templates that can be utilized based on purpose or application.
If you are interested in participating in this initiative, we welcome all, and look forward to continuing to build a team comprised of representatives from the diverse disciplines of ocean sciences and operations.  If you are interested in joining our efforts, have any questions, comments, or would like additional information please use the contact email below.