The core partner data centres that are integrated in NorDataNet are listed in https://www.nordatanet.no/en/node/69. In addition to this NorDataNet harvests information on relevant datasets from a number of other data centres. The data centre responsible for the data presented is usually (but not always) listed in the discovery metadata. In essence NorDataNet is an aggregating service that combines information from a number of existing data centres.
Citation of data and service
If you use data retrieved through this portal, please acknowledge our funding source:
Research Council of Norway, project number 245967/F50, Norwegian Scientific Data Network.
Always remember to cite data when used!
Citation information for individual datasets is often provided in the metadata. However, not all datasets have this information embedded in the discovery metadata. On a general basis a citation of a dataset include the same components as any other citation:
author, title,
year of publication,
publisher (for data this is often the archive where it is housed),
edition or version,
access information (a URL or persistent identifier, e.g. DOI if provided)
All partner repositories of NorDataNet support Digital Object Identifiers (DOI), but not all datasets are minted. Whether or not minted depends often on source of the data (e.g. operational data are often yet not minted). However, all data centres support persistent identifiers according to local systems. The information required to properly cite a dataset is normally provided in the discovery metadata the datasets.
Brief user guide
The Data Access Portal has information in 3 columns. An outline of the content in these columns is provided above. When first entering the search interface, all potential datasets are listed. Datasets are indicated in the map and results tabulation elements which are located in the middle column. The order of results can be modified using the "Sort by" option in the left column. On top of this column is normally relevant guidance information to user presented as collapsible elements.
If the user want to refine the search, this can be done by constraining the bounding box search. This is done in the map - the listing of datasets is automatically updated. Date constraints can be added in the left column. For these to take effect, the user has to push the button marked search. In the left column it is also possible to specific text elements to search for in the datasets. Again pushing the button marked "Search" is necessary for these to take action. Complex search patterns can be constructed using logical operators identified in the drop down menu with and phrases embedded in quotation marks. Prefixing a phrase with '-' negates the phrase (i.e. should not occur in the results). Searches are case insensitive.
Other elements indicated in the left and right columns are facet searches, i.e. these are keywords that are found in the datasets and all datasets that contain these specific keywords in the appropriate metadata elements are listed together. Further refinement can be done using full text, date or bounding box constraints. Individuals, organisations and data centres involved in generating or curating the datasets are listed in the facets in the right column. The combination of search fields (including facets) is based on a logical "AND" combination of the fields, i.e. all conditions are fulfilled for the results provided.
This data set contains Level-2 geolocated surface elevation and canopy height measurements collected by the NASA Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS) Facility, an imaging lidar and camera sensor suite.
This data set contains surface elevation data over Alaska and Western Canada measured by the NASA Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS), an airborne lidar scanning laser altimeter. The data were collected as part of NASA's Terrestrial Ecology Program campaign, the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE).
This data set contains a bed topography/bathymetry map of Greenland based on mass conservation, multi-beam data, and other techniques. It also includes surface elevation and ice thickness data, as well as an ice/ocean/land mask.
This data set contains surface elevation data over Greenland measured by the NASA Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS), an airborne lidar scanning laser altimeter.
This data set, part of the NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) program, contains a bed topography/bathymetry map of Antarctica based on mass conservation, streamline diffusion, and other methods. The data set also includes ice thickness, surface elevation, an ice/ocean/land mask, ice thickness estimation errors, and a map showing where each method was utilized.
NOTE ON GLAS BINARY DATA: Access to all ICESat/GLAS binary data products at NSIDC DAAC was removed 01 August 2017. The Binary Data Subsetter also has been decommissioned. ICESat/GLAS data remain available in <a href="http://nsidc.org/data/glah06/versions/34">HDF5 format</a>.
The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) instrument on the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) provides global measurements of polar ice sheet elevation to discern changes in ice volume (mass balance) over time. Secondary objectives of GLAS are to measure sea ice roughness and thickness, cloud and atmospheric properties, land topography, vegetation canopy heights, ocean surface topography, and surface reflectivity.
GLAS has a 1064 nm laser channel for surface altimetry and dense cloud heights, and a 532 nm lidar channel for the vertical distribution of clouds and aerosols.
Level-1B elevation data (GLA06) include surface elevation, surface roughness assuming no slope, surface slope assuming no roughness, and geodetic and atmospheric corrections for range measurements. GLA06 is used in conjunction with GLA05 to create the Level-2 altimetry products (GLA12-15)
Each data granule has an associated browse product that users can quickly view to determine the general quality of the data in the granule. Browse products consist of image plots of key parameters and statistics. Data are in scaled integer binary format, big-endian (Unix) byte order.
This data set contains raw Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), Global Positioning System (GPS), and camera data over Gabon, Africa. The measurements were taken by the NASA Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS), an airborne lidar scanning laser altimeter. The data were collected as part of a NASA campaign, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) mission AfriSAR.
This data set is retired and no longer available for download. Please use the NSIDC Scientific Data Search to find alternative data sets.
This data set contains surface elevation data over Gabon, Africa. The measurements were taken by the NASA Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS), an airborne lidar scanning laser altimeter. The data were collected as part of a NASA campaign, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) mission AfriSAR.
This data set contains Level-2 geolocated surface elevation and canopy height measurements collected by the NASA Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS) Facility, an imaging lidar and camera sensor suite.
GLAH06 Level-1B Global Elevation is a product that is analogous to the geodetic data records distributed for radar altimetry missions. It contains elevations previously corrected for tides, atmospheric delays, and surface characteristics within the footprint. Elevation is calculated using the ice sheet parameterization. Additional information allows the user to calculate an elevation based on land, sea ice, or ocean algorithms. Each data granule has an associated browse product.
This data set contains raw Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), Global Positioning System (GPS), and camera data over Alaska and Western Canada measured by the NASA Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS), an airborne lidar scanning laser altimeter. The data were collected as part of NASA's Terrestrial Ecology Program campaign, the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE).
This data set is retired and no longer available for download. Please use the NSIDC Scientific Data Search to find alternative data sets.
GLAH06 is used in conjunction with GLAH05 to create the Level-2 altimetry products. Level-2 altimetry data provide surface elevations for ice sheets (GLAH12), sea ice (GLAH13), land (GLAH14), and oceans (GLAH15). Data also include the laser footprint geolocation and reflectance, as well as geodetic, instrument, and atmospheric corrections for range measurements. The Level-2 elevation products, are regional products archived at 14 orbits per granule, starting and stopping at the same demarcation (± 50° latitude) as GLAH05 and GLAH06. Each regional product is processed with algorithms specific to that surface type. Surface type masks define which data are written to each of the products. If any data within a given record fall within a specific mask, the entire record is written to the product. Masks can overlap: for example, non-land data in the sea ice region may be written to the sea ice and ocean products. This means that an algorithm may write the same data to more than one Level-2 product. In this case, different algorithms calculate the elevations in their respective products. The surface type masks are versioned and archived at NSIDC, so users can tell which data to expect in each product. Each data granule has an associated browse product.