About Us

The mission of the 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.

The ORNL DAAC's 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.

Data Versioning and DOI Policy

Effective 1 March 2021, the ORNL DAAC will assign a new Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to dataset updates where the previously published data values change. Historically, we have only changed the DOI when the underlying data preparation method or algorithm changed, but we generally did not change it when the data was reprocessed. However, in the 15 years since the ORNL DAAC started using DOIs for data, the consensus around best practice has evolved. We are making this change to bring the ORNL DAAC into alignment with that best practice consensus. This change is also part of our response to an ORNL DAAC User Working Group (UWG) suggestion to improve the visibility of dataset revisions, particularly in the citations, so that it is clear to readers of a scientific paper which specific revision of a dataset was used in the work. We will generally not change the DOI, however, when the dataset update only involves adding to the existing data, such as adding to the temporal extent, adding to the spatial extent, adding observations, adding additional variables (measurements), or other changes which only involve adding files to the dataset.

The ORNL DAAC User Working Group (UWG) is an external advisory group established by ESDIS and tasked to:

• Assist in defining and accomplishing the ORNL DAAC's goals.
• Provide oversight and guidance on ORNL DAAC activities, including dataset acquisition, development of value-added products, user support, development activities, and operational functions.
• Recommend annual work plans and advise on long-term planning.
• Review interactions and agreements between NASA's Earth Science missions and the ORNL DAAC.

The UWG meets at least once per year to review the status of ORNL DAAC operations and to provide suggestions. Additional information about the responsibilities of the UWG can be found in the ORNL DAAC UWG Charter.

The UWG is interested in hearing from users on how to improve the ORNL DAAC web platform, tools, and services, or about data that the ORNL DAAC should pursue. To provide input, email the ORNL DAAC User Services Office.

User Working Group Members

User Working Group Ex Officio Members

User Working Group Associates

Preprint Datasets

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.