Changes to Data Download at PO.DAAC

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) service is no longer available at NASA’s Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC). FTP has been replaced with PO.DAAC Drive, a more secure system that offers file navigation and download through an interface served directly through your browser.

PO.DAAC Drive not only offers a familiar look and feel, but also allows users to access data via a command line so that interactions can be scripted easily. Prior to downloading data using PO.DAAC Drive, users need to create a NASA Earthdata Login Profile. Instructions for doing this are available at https://urs.earthdata.nasa.gov/users/new.

PO.DAAC Drive was developed in response to two policies by NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project, which manages NASA’s Earth observing data collection: A requirement for all DAACs to transition from distributing data products using anonymous FTP to the more secure HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and a second requirement for all DAAC and ESDIS applications to use Earthdata Login where science data products are retrieved by either humans or machines. Each DAAC was given the freedom to engineer its own solution for transitioning from FTP to HTTP data downloads and integrating Earthdata Login; the PO.DAAC solution is PO.DAAC Drive.

The PO.DAAC team will be happy to assist users with any technical issues or concerns to ensure that this transition is as smooth as possible. For more information, please check the following resources:

• NASA Earthdata Webinar: “Goodbye FTP, New Ways to Access NASA’s Physical Oceanography Data at PO.DAAC”: https://youtu.be/kd8yjl6YiH8
• PO.DAAC Drive Forum: https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/drive_forum