OB.DAAC data products are available to data users registered with an Earthdata Login. Agreements between OB.DAAC and our European Commission partners require limited restrictions on specific data collections and are defined here.

General Conditions for Utilizing ESA's EO data

I. Definitions
ESA / "the Agency" means the European Space Agency.

The PI (Principal Investigator) means the duly empowered representative of the entity having
registered for the use of data within his/her project and accepted the Terms and Conditions.

Project means the proposed and ESA-accepted use of data by the PI.

The ESA Earth Observation data (ESA's EO data) means the data generated by the ERS,
Envisat and Earth Explorer missions. The ESA EO data can be split into two major groups:
a) The free dataset including data collections available on-line without any technical or
financial constraints attached. The free dataset comprises most of the data generated by
the ESA EO missions.
b) The restrained dataset for which access priorities are managed differently, due to
technical and financial constraints. The restrained data set comprises the data which are
acquired or processed after specific PI demand (mainly the SAR data originating from the
ERS and Envisat missions) and the datasets of very large volume (i.e. not suitable for
transfer via Internet).

A. Data Supply
A.1. ESA provides the agreed amount and type of ESA data to the PI on-line for the free
dataset and on-line or on media for the restrained dataset.
A.2. ESA, while duly considering the interests of the PI, reserves the right to review, modify,
suspend or terminate delivery of data at any time during the Project in the event that
a) Funding of ESA mission or associated processing facilities operations cannot be
sustained
b) Satellite or related ground system failure occurs
c) Planned activities of related ESA systems are suspended or cancelled in order to
carry out special activities that ESA consider of high priority
d) Status check of the respective satellite(s) or performance evaluation is needed.
ESA may modify their mission operation plan(s) at any time, should they consider such
corrective action necessary for ensuring mission success.
A.3. The PI accepts to modify, suspend or terminate the utilization of ESA Data for the Project
when so requested by ESA. The PI shall have no right whatsoever to claim for
compensation or damage as a consequence of ESA's decision to terminate or suspend the
delivery of ESA data.
A.4. ESA does not guarantee the suitability of ESA data for the purpose of the Project and
shall not be held liable for any damage derived from the use of such data by the PI or any
third party.
A.5. ESA only upon request guarantees the confidentiality of communications, reports and
other documentation submitted by the PI, to the extent mutually agreed.

A.6. In the case of the restrained dataset, the PI accepts that his project has a lower priority in
case of conflict for SAR instrument planning with a project of higher priority1.

B. General conditions of data utilisation
B.1. The PI is required to accept these Terms and Conditions before being able to receive ESA
data.
For the free dataset, the registration and acceptation of these Terms and Conditions
will authorise full access on-line to the requested data sets.
For the restrained dataset, the PI is required first to submit a project proposal, which
shall be reviewed by ESA with regard to scientific relevance and required data. ESA
notifies the PI of the acceptance of the proposal, assigning a maximum quota for
instrument planning and/or for product delivery. Access to data is then granted upon
acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
B.2. The PI acknowledges and takes account of scheduling and processing constraints both at
satellite and ground segment levels.
B.3. The PI understands that acceptance of these Terms & Conditions includes general
acceptance of the related ESA Data Policy2.
B.4. The PI assumes full responsibility for the approved utilisation of data, including
utilisation with co-investigators. The PI provides ESA with a detailed list of all coinvestigators.
B.5. The PI is authorised to undertake duplication of data (sets) as necessary for the
performance of the Project, without any charges to ESA.
B.6. In the case of the free dataset, the PI may be granted the right for onward distribution by
ESA only upon request and confirmation by ESA.
B.7. The PI and all authorised co-investigators together shall, at any time, observe the
following conditions of use:
a) Use all ESA data received exclusively for purposes of the Project
b) Indemnify ESA for the full amount of any loss, expense, cost or liability (other than
arising from any act, omission or direction of ESA) resulting from any utilisation of
data, for which ESA might be held responsible for any reason whatsoever;
c) Not assign any rights, obligations or interests herein without the prior written
approval by ESA
B.8. In the cases described under A.2, the PI has no right whatsoever to claim for
compensation or damage as a consequence of the decision of ESA.
B.9. The PI waives any claim against ESA in the event of any damage directly or indirectly
arising from malfunction or interruption in the transmission of data for any reason
whatsoever.
B.10. Costs of equipment to receive or read ESA data or any other costs associated with the
execution of the Project will be borne and / or secured by the PI.
B.11. The PI informs ESA in case of problems with data reception or data quality.

1. Projects of higher priority (i.e. Category-2 projects) are projects requesting an operational use of SAR data, as defined in the
"Revised ESA Data Policy for ERS, Envisat and Earth Explorer Missions",
http://eopi.esa.int/esa/docs/doc/download/revised_ESA_data_policy.pdf

2. Revised ESA Data Policy for ERS, Envisat and Earth Explorer Missions,
http://eopi.esa.int/esa/docs/doc/download/revised_ESA_data_policy.pdf

B.12. The PI shall publish results of the Project in publications of international renown and
present results at dedicated workshops organised by ESA. For a period of six months after
Project completion, the PI has the exclusive right to publish the results; thereafter, this
right will be shared with ESA unless the PI can demonstrate a character of
confidentiality3 of the results.
B.13. Any publication whatsoever resulting from work carried out using ESA data shall contain
the following sentence: "Data provided by the European Space Agency." The PI provides
ESA with a free copy of any publication. ESA shall at any time have a royalty free right
of publication and dissemination of these publications, unless the PI claims a character of
confidentiality3 of his own results and to the extent that such reproduction and
dissemination do not conflict with the rights of third parties.

C. Intellectual Property Rights
C.1. The PI acknowledges the full title and ownership, including all derived rights, by ESA of
all ESA data.
C.2. The PI clearly marks all ESA data and analysed information, irrespective of the form in
which it is produced), as follows: © ESA (year of reception).
C.3. In his sphere of influence, the PI guarantees respect of ESA's intellectual property rights
and reports any evidence of unlawful use, including such of third parties, immediately to
ESA in writing.
C.4. ESA's title and copyright of data shall not prevent recognition of copyright in favour of
PI which may arise as a result of the latter's own interpretation of ESA processed data,
inputs of data or knowledge from other sources.
C.5. In case of emergence of own intellectual property rights from direct utilisation of ESA
data, the PI grants ESA free of charge, an irrevocable and non-exclusive license to use
such intellectual property in the field of space research and technology. The PI informs
ESA of applications for patents or similar forms of legal protection for such intellectual
property within two months from the filing date. ESA treats such information as
confidential during a period of eighteen months following original application, unless
published before the expiration of this period by the PI.

3. The term "confidentiality" does not refer to classified information terminology.

OB.DAAC Data Center data products are available to data users registered with the NASA User Registration System (URS). Agreements between the OB.DAAC and our European Commission partners require limited restrictions on specific data collections and are defined here.

ESA Sentinel-3 End User License Agreement

European Commission Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

Space Policy, Copernicus and Defence

Space Data for Societal Challenges and Growth

Legal notice on the use of Copernicus Sentinel Data and Service Information

The access and use of Copernicus Sentinel Data and Service Information is regulated under EU law.1 In particular, the law provides that users shall have a free, full and open access to Copernicus Sentinel Data2 and Service Information without any express or implied warranty, including as regards quality and suitability for any purpose.3

EU law grants free access to Copernicus Sentinel Data and Service Information for the purpose of the following use in so far as it is lawful4:

1: reproduction; 1: distribution; 1: communication to the public; 1: adaptation, modification and combination with other data and information; 1: any combination of points (1) to (4).

EU law allows for specific limitations of access and use in the rare cases of security concerns, protection of third party rights or risk of service disruption.

By using Sentinel Data or Service Information the user acknowledges that these conditions are applicable to him/her and that the user renounces to any claims for damages against the European Union and the providers of the said Data and Information. The scope of this waiver encompasses any dispute, including contracts and torts claims, that might be filed in court, in arbitration or in any other form of dispute settlement.

Where the user communicates to the public or distributes Copernicus Sentinel Data and Service Information, he/she shall inform the recipients of the source of that Data and Information by using the following notice5:

'Copernicus Sentinel data [Year]' for Sentinel data; and/or
'Copernicus Service information [Year]' for Copernicus Service Information.
Where the Copernicus Sentinel Data and Service Information have been adapted or modified, the user shall provide the following notice:

'Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data [Year]' for Sentinel data; and/or
'Contains modified Copernicus Service information [Year]' for Copernicus Service Information.
The users' rights on their personal data are protected under European law6. Such data will only be used by the European Commission and the providers of the said Data and Information for providing services to the user and for statistical as well as evaluation purposes.

Footnotes

Regulation (EU) No 377 / 2014 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1159 / 2013.
In agreement with the Copernicus Sentinel Data Policy, ESA\/PB-EO(2013)30, rev. 1.
See in particular Art. 3 and 9 of Regulation 1159 / 2013.
See in particular Art. 7 of Regulation 1159 / 2013.
See in particular Art. 8 of Regulation 1159 / 2013.
Directive 95 46 EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data; Regulation (EC) No 45 2001 (EC) No 45 2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data.