ERDDAP

ERDDAP basics: What is ERDDAP?

For many users, obtaining the ocean satellite data they need requires downloading data from several data providers, each with its own file formats, download protocols, subset abilities, and preview abilities.

A short list of ocean satellite data providers:

  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PO.DAAC)
  • NASA Ocean Biology (OB.DAAC)
  • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
  • NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research
  • NOAA CoastWatch Central Operations
  • NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations
  • NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
  • NOAA Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS)
  • European Space Agency (ESA)
  • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

The goal behind ERDDAP is to make it easier for you to get scientific data. To accomplish that goal, ERDDAP acts as a middleman, selectively channeling datasets from remote and local data sources to a single data portal. With ERDDAP as the single-source portal, you have access to a simple, consistent way to download subsets of gridded and tabular scientific datasets in common file formats, with options and make graphs and maps.

Features of ERDDAP:

  • Data in the common file format of your choice. ERDDAP offers all data as .html table, ESRI .asc and .csv, Google Earth .kml, OPeNDAP binary, .mat, .nc, ODV .txt, .csv, .tsv, .json, and .xhtml
  • ERDDAP can also return a .png or .pdf image with a customized graph or map
  • Standardized dates/times (“seconds since 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z” in UTC)
  • A graphical interface for humans with browsers
  • RESTful web services for machine-to-machine data exchange and downloading data directly into your software applications (e.g.Matlab, R, Python…) and even into web pages.

Tutorials on how to use ERDDAP servers

On the Software Code Gallery page, you’ll find individual lessons such as:

  • Using the ERDDAP Data Catalog
  • Visualizing data
  • Understanding the ERDDAP URL
  • Creating a Hovmöller plot
  • Working with wind vectors
  • Using tabular data
  • Additional resources

CoastWatch ERDDAP servers

CoastWatch

Other organizations

A more complete list is available here:
https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/download/setup.html#organizations