ACCESSING AN EOSDIS DAAC
Educators and students will learn how to access and use data from an EOSDIS (Earth Observing System Data
and Information System) DAAC (Distributed Active Archive Center).
The EOSDIS receives, processes, stores, and distributes large amounts of data about the Earth system. EOSDIS
offers easy access of this information to classrooms, allowing teachers and students to conduct research, develop
models, and make assessments. EOSDIS data is warehoused at computer facilities called DAACs (Distributed
Active Archive Centers) where users can ask scientific questions about the data using specialized software tools.
These tools help locate and access data in key areas of concern such as water and energy cycles; oceans; chemistry
of the troposphere and lower stratosphere; land surface hydrology and ecosystem processes; glaciers and
polar ices sheets; the chemistry of the middle and upper stratosphere; and solid Earth. Scientists at the DAACs
generate data products, taking raw data from a satellite instrument and performing investigations until the data
become useful to the user. Both raw and value-added data sets from satellites and conventional sources are
available to individuals accessing a DAAC. The capabilities provided by EOSDIS, will foster interdisciplinary
research, support the training and educating of the next generation of Earth scientists, and expand our understanding
of our planet and global change. This excursion explores how to access a DAAC, specifically Langley
Research Center DAAC in Hampton, Virginia.
- telephone hook-up
- Internet access
The Langley DAAC is responsible for archiving and distributing NASA science data in the areas of radiation
budget, clouds, aerosols, and tropospheric chemistry. The DAAC allows users to logon, search the data inventory,
choose the desired data sets, and place an order. Data may be received either electronically (via FTP) or on
media such as 4 mm tape, 8 mm tape, or CD-ROM.
- Users with an X-Windows terminal (e.g. Motif) or a Sun Open Windows display system with access to
Internet, may log onto the system by entering:
xhost + eosdis.larc.nasa.gov (or: xhost + 126.96.36.199)
login name: ims
At the prompts, enter x for the X-Windows interface, then your display name (name of your workstation followed by “:0” or internet address followed by “:0”).
- Users with access to the World Wide Web can use the following URL address:
- Users without X-windows but with Internet access may log on by entering:
login name: ims
At the prompt, enter c for the character interface and then press return.
- Users who cannot access the system or who have any questions may contact:
Langley DAAC User and Data Services
NASA Langley Research Center
Mail Stop 157B
Hampton, VA 23681-0001
FAX: (804) 864-8807
Last modified prior to September, 2000 by the Windows Team
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