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Contributing Marine Geological and Geophysical Data

NCEI provides archive services for much of the data collected by NOAA scientists, observing systems, and research initiatives. We manage a comprehensive collection of data and  environmental information from a broad range of time periods, observing systems, scientific disciplines, and geographic locations. Our world class data stewardship services preserve data for future use on behalf of our science-user communities and the public.

Contact Us

New data providers should contact us before submitting data. Send your data type and formats, expected data volume, and other details or questions to:

Data Submission Guidelines

NCEI accepts a wide variety of data types in marine geology and geophysics. We accept well-documented data in almost any format, although we prefer open-source or non-proprietary data types. Please contact us before sending your data.

Resources

How To Package and Submit Data describes preparation techniques for a variety of marine geophysical datasets (e.g. bathymetry, subbottom profiler, water column sonar, side-scan sonar, and supplemental data). For marine geological data submissions, see the Index to Marine and Lacustrine Geological Samples.

NCEI has also developed CruisePack, a data packaging and metadata gathering software tool, to simplify data submission preparation for cruise-based data. CruisePack was designed to meet a growing community need to submit geophysical data efficiently and in a consistent format. This tool is especially useful for packaging multiple data types. If you have multiple data types, please contact us before submitting your data.

Data Availability

Unless other arrangements are made in advance, all data sent to NCEI will become part of the public domain. Please do not send data that are still under proprietary hold unless you have prior arrangements with NCEI. By sending data to us, you consent to public dissemination. Most of NCEI’s marine geological and geophysical data can be accessed via interactive maps.