PODAAC

PO.DAAC, short for the Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, is a NASA data center within the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) operated at the Goddard Space Flight Center. It archives, curates, and distributes physical oceanography data products generated by NASA satellite missions and in-situ observing networks. The center serves researchers, educators, and operational users by providing long-term data preservation, quality control, documentation, and user support.

PODAAC's holdings include satellite-derived measurements such as sea surface height, sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, and ocean current estimates, as well as other geophysical parameters. It also distributes in-situ observations from ARGO floats, CTDs, moored buoys, and ships. The center supplies value-added data products, metadata, and documentation to facilitate discovery and use.

Data access is provided through the PODAAC data portal and NASA's Earthdata ecosystem. Users can search, preview, and download datasets via web interfaces or programmatic access using common protocols and APIs. The center emphasizes data quality, versioning, and documentation, and offers help desks and user support to assist researchers and educators.

As a component of EOSDIS, PODAAC collaborates with mission teams and other DAACs to ensure the long-term preservation and broad distribution of physical oceanography data. Its data underpin a wide range of scientific studies, climate research, model validation, and educational projects.