The NAS Data Portal enables you to share large, multi-gigabyte datasets with either the public or, for restricted datasets, with specified collaborators. After you submit a dataset, it will be reviewed by the Principal Investigator (PI) for your project and the NAS Data Publication and Discovery team; if approved, it will be made available for download. Once your dataset is published, you can modify it at any time. Please note that you as the data owner will responsible for maintaining backup copies of the dataset. While NAS will keep the data as current and consistent as possible, there might be issues with other uncertainties beyond our control. We recommend you copy critical files to the tape archives.

To learn how to submit a dataset for sharing, update your submitted datasets, and download datasets shared by other NAS users, see:

• Submitting Datasets to the NAS Data Portal
• Submitting Datasets to the NAS Data Portal's THREDDS server
• Updating Datasets in the NAS Data Portal
• Downloading Datasets from the NAS Data Portal

Dataset Types

You can share raw or processed datasets, either with the public or with specified collaborators. Each dataset type is associated with specific security restrictions.

Raw or Processed

When you submit a dataset, you must specify whether it contains raw data or processed data:

• Raw datasets contain data unaltered from their original form.
• Processed datasets contain data that have been modified, reduced, filtered, or interpreted in some way.

At any time, you can edit or append new data to raw or processed datasets (for example, new time series data). In both cases, the modified dataset will be made available for download once the change is approved.

Public or Restricted

You can choose to make your dataset public, which means it is open and available to anyone, or restricted, which means it is available only to certain collaborators that you specify (currently, only those with a NASA identity).

Both public and restricted datasets must be hosted on one of the Lustre /nobackup filesystems. Both types of datasets should be left in a hierarchical directory structure, but they must all reside under one top-level directory placed under a directory called either "public" (for public datasets) or "private" (for restricted datasets). For example:

• Public: /nobackupp8/username/public/datasetname
• Private: /nobackupp8/username/private/datasetname

To migrate your dataset files to a /nobackup filesystem, use the shiftc command, which automates the required file striping.

Notes:

• If it is not feasible to house all of the dataset files in this recommended directory structure (for example, if they are spread across multiple filesystems), you can indicate this in the form when you submit a new dataset or amend an existing one. The NAS team will contact you to discuss the dataset locations.
• If your dataset needs to be modified at regular intervals (more than a few times a year), please contact the Data Portal team to set up a system for frequent updates.

If you choose to make your dataset restricted, and you want to share it with non-NASA collaborators, those individuals will be provided guest accounts via the Launchpad authentication system used to login to the Data Portal. Once the guest accounts are set up, the collaborators can log in to access to the shared dataset files.

Security Requirements for Each Dataset Type

Datasets shared on the NAS Data Portal must not contain any Sensitive-But-Unclassified (SBU) data, or data that is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Each dataset type carries its own set of security restrictions, summarized in this table:

Public (Raw) Datasets

Before you share a public dataset containing raw data, you must ensure that it meets these security requirements:

• The dataset must be public ("non-excepted" per NASA Policy Directive [NPD] 2230.1).
• The dataset must not contain Sensitive-But-Unclassified (SBU), TS, ITAR/EAR, or Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data.
• There must be no restrictions on data release due to agreements between various project members/organizations.

Public (Processed) Datasets

For any public dataset with processed data that does not contain any NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI), follow the guidelines listed above for public (raw) datasets.

For all public datasets with processed data that does contain STI, a NASA Scientific and Technical (STI) Document Availability Authorization—NASA Form 1676B—is required. This form is used to ensure that your dataset contains only public domain data, and that none of the data is subject to export control restrictions.

The completed form must be attached when you submit a public, processed dataset that contains STI data. You can access the form here: NASA Form 1676B (requires login to NASA's Access Launchpad).

For more details, refer to "excepted" data per NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 2230.1.

Restricted Datasets

A restricted dataset is shared only with specified collaborators (both NASA and non-NASA).

If your restricted dataset is to be shared with non-NASA collaborators, either a NASA Form 1676, or Space Act Agreement (SAA), or Software Usage Agreement (SUA) will be required depending on the individuals it’s being shared with. Please contact the Data Portal team for further assistance.

Status API for the Data Portal

Each dataset on the Data Portal is accompanied with an endpoint that will return the status of the dataset when it is queried. The return value provided by this feature is a JSON message that will indicate the availability status of the dataset that is being queried, along with a general message regarding the dataset. Specific datasets will provide further granularity into specific subsets of the data. To retrieve the JSON, add status.php to the end of your Data Portal URL. For example:

https://data.nas.nasa.gov/dataset/status.php