EVDC EarthCARE info:  Launch - May 2024

All PIs are asked to establish contact with the ESA Data Centre:  nadirteam@nilu.no / databasemanager amf@nilu.no

Data agreement protocol must be signed. Access to database discs, preliminary Cal/Val data from the ECVT, and EVDC tools in only granted to those who have signed the data protocol. 

ECVT members are requested to read, sign the EarthCARE data protocol, and make use of this correlative data repository by sharing their data (upload) and working with others' data (download). In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding/misinterpretations when working with different sets of data, ECVT members are expected to standardise the metadata of their measurements according to GEOMS (Generic Earth Observations Metadata Standard). To support the standardization, there are GEOMS tools and templates available and when these are not sufficient, PIs/co-Is can ask from support from the EVDC team.

Each Cal/Val team or data network that plan to share and exchange their data within ECVT should take the opportunity and use the rehearsal period to upload at least one demo dataset to EVDC.

Pre-launch rehearsal starting 12.Feb 2024: 

One test dataset for each instrument type for each station should be uploaded to EVDC as soon as possible for readiness tests.

1) Sign the data protocol and recive your user credentials

2) Login to the database given the instructions by e-mail (and also found below) 

3) Check that you can upload and download files from/to your local computer

4) Note: if your data is part of an existing infrastructure such as EARLINET or CLOUDNET that has an API these data may be harvested directly from the native database. Please contact your data centre manager or the EVDC team (nadirteam@nilu.no) if you are not sure if this applies to your data or not)

Access to Network Data and Data from the Cal/Val teams

File Naming Convention for non-GEOMS files:

The FILE_NAME entry should always be lower case, even if the field entries from which it is built are capitalized. The FILE_NAME properties and structure should be as follows:

Type: STRING

Entry: Lower case, underscore separated + .[hdf|h5|nc|txt|csv]

Format: The FILE_NAME entry is constructed using seven underscore separated global attribute entries

[DATA_DISCIPLINE]_[DATA_SOURCE]_[AFFILIATION acronym]_[DATA_LOCATION]_[DATA_START_DATE]_[DATA_STOP_DATE]_[DATA_FILE_VERSION].[hdf|h5|nc|txt|csv] 

Example: groundbased_lidar.aerosol_uroma.baqunin001_rome.sapienza_20210506t090000z_20210506t141000z_001.nc 

EVDC login info:  (updated 2024-01-21)

Operational phase: 

All Cal/Val data resulting from AOID campaigns (rehearsal, pre-launch, during missions lifetime) should be uploaded to EVDC and from there shared internally in the ECVT.

It is the responsibility of the PI of each EVID/AO to make sure their data is uploaded to EVDC. 

If you produce data within a major network, such as ARM, ACTRIS CLOUDNET, ACTRIS EARLINET, LALINET or similar, your data might be harvested directly from EVDC via an API, depending on the maturity and operationality of your network. 

Your data should preferably be uploaded to EVDC in HDF or NetCDF file format following the GEOMS metadata standard. A set of conversion tools are available, please contact nadirteam@nilu.no in case of need for file format and data upload assistance. 

FAQ: (updated 2024-01-21)

Data upload via web API: 

Visit https://evdc.esa.int/upload/  --> select file from you local machine and press "submit file" button.  Only GEOMS formatted data files are supported in the web API. 

Data upload via blind-drop: 

From a terminal: Log in to machine upload.nilu.no with your evdc account using sftp and put data in the "blind-drop" folder named /viper/nadir/evdc/incoming/ (EVDC team will monitor this area and contact you after you have added files)

Data upload directly to a campaign folder: 

From a terminal: Log in to machine upload.nilu.no with your evdc account using sftp and put data in the "ECVT" folder named /viper/nadir/projects/earthcare/ in a suitable folder. (EVDC team will monitor this area and contact you after you have added files. Users are allowed to create their own directories)

Data download via web pages:

Visit https://evdc.esa.int and log in to the portal (upper right corner) with your provided user name and password. 

Goto "Search Cal/Val Data" https://evdc.esa.int/search/ and select from dropdown menu "Other" --> "Framwork" = EARTHCARE. (Note that the defualt date is set to the 3 last months in the "Time and Location" box).

Scroll down and select "Submit". 

Data download directly from a campaign folder: 

From a terminal: Log in to machine download.nilu.no with your evdc account using sftp and change (cd) to the "ECVT" folder named /viper/nadir/projects/earthcare/  Users are allowed to list and download all data in the subfolder of this area.