GCMD Joins NASA's EOSDIS Earthdata Forum

NASA's Global Change Master Directory has joined the Earthdata Forum, NASA's interactive platform that gives data users the chance to communicate with and learn from experts.
GCMD Earthdata Forum

NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) is pleased to announce its participation in NASA’s Earthdata Forum.

Earthdata Forum provides a central, online location where data users can interact with subject matter experts from NASA’s Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) to discuss data applications and research needs, and get answers to specific questions about accessing, viewing, and manipulating NASA Earth observation data. Current Forum participants include NASA's Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC), Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS), Global Hydrometeorology Resource Center DAAC (GHRC DAAC), Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System DAAC (LAADS DAAC), Land Processes DAAC (LP DAAC), Ocean Biology DAAC (OB.DAAC), and now GCMD.

GCMD Keywords are a hierarchical set of controlled Earth Science vocabularies that help ensure Earth science data, services, and variables are described in a consistent and comprehensive manner and allow for the precise searching of metadata and subsequent retrieval of data, services, and variables. Initiated over twenty years ago, GCMD Keywords are periodically analyzed for relevancy and will continue to be refined and expanded in response to user needs. GCMD Keywords are an integral part of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) data search and discovery applications, such as Earthdata Search and the Common Metadata Repository (CMR). NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) as well as numerous other U.S. and international agencies, research universities, and scientific institutions use GCMD Keywords as an authoritative vocabulary, taxonomy, or thesaurus to describe Earth science data, services, and visualizations. Many of these organizations also use GCMD Keywords to create ontologies for the Semantic Web, and to search and access Earth science data within online metadata catalogues. Having the GCMD as part of the Earthdata Forum provides keyword users and metadata providers with an area for discussion of topics related to GCMD Keywords. Participants are invited to use this forum to ask questions, submit keyword requests, discuss trade-offs, and track the status of keyword requests.


To interact with subject matter experts from participating DAACs and get answers to your data questions, visit the Earthdata Forum.

For an introduction to the Earthdata Forum and tips on how to use it, watch the Earthdata Forum webinar.