A Practical Guide for Open, Free & FAIR NASA Earth Science Data Products

Summary

The Earth Science Division (ESD) of the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) has been promoting open data since the 1990s. The latest NASA SMD data and information policy (i.e., SPD-41a) requires all NASA-funded data and information to be freely available and openly shared, including such Earth science data products that are managed by NASA data repositories. SPD-41a also explicitly recommends all SMD-funded scientific data and information to follow the FAIR Guiding Principles. 

In response to the need for technical guidance on implementing SPD-41a, the NASA Earth Science Data Systems Working Group (ESDSWG) on Open, Free and FAIR Data (O’FAIR WG) has developed the document, "A Practical Guide for Open, Free & FAIR NASA Earth Science Data Product." This comprehensive guide, intended to help NASA's open and free data adhere to the FAIR Principles, identifies NASA FAIR-enabling resources to stakeholders such as data producers, and offers practical and actionable recommendations to discipline-specific Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) and Science Investigator-led Processing Systems (SIPS), to bolster compliance of their data products with these principles.

Status

This current version of the NASA O’FAIR WG Guide document is v01r00-20250811. This guide is released as one of the outcomes of the O'FAIR WG and has gone through review by the ESDIS Standards Coordination Office (ESCO), waiting for ESDIS approval. 

Applicability

We envision that the document could be useful to NASA data managers and producers who need to ensure or improve the SPD-41a compliance of their data and information as well as project managers for future missions in defining data management and stewardship requirements.

Limitations

The FAIR-enabling resources and recommendations are general at the scientific data product level. 

Access

Clicking on the attached file below to download the latest version of the Guide document in pdf.