Skip to main content
biomass data from ORNL DAAC
daymet data from ORNL DAAC
daymet data from ORNL DAAC

ORNL DAAC

Oak Ridge National Laboratory DAAC

NASA's Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC) specializes in data and information relevant to terrestrial biogeochemistry, ecology, and environmental processes, which are critical to understanding the dynamics of Earth's biological, geological, and chemical components.

Biogeochemical Dynamics Data

ORNL DAAC archives data and model products that were generated with funding from NASA's Terrestrial Ecology program and other programs within NASA's Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems focus area. Datasets are organized by both the name of the associated NASA project and by science themes in biogeochemical and ecological research.

The mission of ORNL DAAC is to assemble, distribute, and provide data services for a comprehensive archive of terrestrial biogeochemistry and ecological dynamics observations and models to facilitate research, education, and decision-making in support of NASA's Earth Science.

Our goals are to:

  • Serve as the primary data repository for data derived from NASA's Terrestrial Ecology program and Carbon Cycle Science and Ecosystems focus area.
  • Provide ground- and aircraft-based data to assess the accuracy and uncertainty of NASA's Earth Science missions.
  • Work with NASA to develop best practices, tools, and training for scientists who generate and use NASA Earth-observing data.
  • Facilitate synthesis and analysis by providing and integrating the diverse data required to address critical questions.

ORNL DAAC regularly partners with other Earth Observation System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) data centers and the following organizations towards shared goals.

ICSU WDS

The International Council for Science World Data System (ICSU WDS) promotes stewardship and access to data and data services across a range of science disciplines.

ABoVE Working Groups

The Artic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) Working Groups define standards of data management, services, models, variables, and products for ABoVE. ORNL DAAC staff participate in the Core Variables & Standards and the Geospatial Products & Standards groups.

ESDSWG

The Earth Science Data System Working Groups (ESDSWG) is a NASA organization that focuses on the exploration and development of recommendations derived from pertinent community insights of NASA's heterogeneous and distributed Earth science data systems.

ESIP

The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) is a networked community that brings together science, data, and information technology practitioners.

USGS CSS

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) Core Science Systems (CSS) delivers natural science information to the United States in support of smart decisionmaking.

CCSI Data Centers

ORNL DAAC is a member of the ORNL Climate Change Science Institute (CCSI) and often contributes to its other data centers.

ARM

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Archive (ARM) provides observations to improve the understanding of clouds and aerosols.

NGEE Arctic

The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE Arctic) improve climate model predictions through advanced understanding of coupled processes in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems.

SPRUCE

The Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change (SPRUCE) experiment assesses the response of northern peatland ecosystems to increases in temperature and exposures to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

A preprint dataset is one which is made available prior to the completion of the ORNL DAAC's quality assurance and documentation work. This is most often done to support the peer review process for journal articles involving the data. As with a journal preprint, a preprint dataset includes the materials as received from the data provider, is subject to revision, and should be used as one would a journal preprint. Preprint datasets at the ORNL DAAC are not visible in NASA's Earthdata Search, and the ORNL DAAC attempts to prevent them from showing up in Internet search tools. Any differences in the finalized data relative to the data from the preprint version will be described in the finalized dataset documentation.

NASA facility instruments operate out of a NASA research center and support multiple science disciplines, field investigations, and NASA science objectives. Facility instruments are supported by managers in the Earth Science Division (ESD) Research and Analysis Program, and/or the Earth Observation System (EOS) Project Science Office.

TitlePlatformTypeMeasurements
Airborne Visible and InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer - 3 (AVIRIS-3)B200 - Dynamic Aviation; G-III; G-V-JSCSpectrometerRadiance from the surface and atmosphere
Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-C)ER-2 - AFRC; Proteus; Twin Otter; WB-57 - JSCSpectrometerImagery
Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 5 (AVIRIS-5) SpectrometerRadiance from the surface and atmosphere
Enhanced MODIS Airborne Simulator (eMAS)ER-2 - AFRCSpectrometerImagery
Land, Vegetation and Ice Sensor (LVIS)B200 - LARC; C-130H - WFF; Cessna 402B; Citation; DC-8 - AFRC; P-3 Orion - WFF; Gulfstream III - LaRC; Gulfstream V - JSC; Gulfstream V - NSF; B200 - Dynamic AviationLidarVegetation; Vegetation structure; surface topography; ice and sea ice elevations; ocean surface topography
MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER)B-200 - DOE - ARC; DC-8 - AFRC; ER-2 - AFRC; WB-57 - JSC; P-3 Orion - WFFSpectrometerImagery
National Airborne Sounder Testbed - Interferometer (NAST-I)ER-2 - AFRC; Proteus; WB-57 - JSCInterferometerTemperature; Relative Humidity
Next-Generation Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-NG)ER-2 - AFRC; Twin Otter; Gulfstream III - LaRC; Gulfstream G-5SpectrometerImagery
Pushbroom Imager for Cloud and Aerosol Research and Development (PICARD)ER-2 - AFRCSpectrometerImagery
Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR)Gulfstream C-20A (GIII) - AFRC; Gulfstream III - JSCRadarImagery

CoreTrustSeal Certified Repository

We are proud to be a CoreTrustSeal Certified Repository. CoreTrustSeal is an international, community based, non-governmental, and non-profit organization promoting sustainable and trustworthhy data infrastructures.

CoreTrustSeal Logo