Earthdata Login

The following was borrowed from the excellent SnowEx Hackathon 2021

Overview

NASA data are stored at one of several Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). If you’re interested in available data for a given area and time of interest, the Earthdata Search portal provides a convenient web interface.

Why do I need an Earthdata login?

Each participant will need a login. We will be teaching you ways to programmatically access NASA data from within your Python scripts. You will need to enter your Earthdata username and password in order for this to work.

Getting an Earthdata login

If you do not already have an Earthdata login, then navigate to the Earthdata Login page, a username and password, and then record this somewhere for use during the tutorials:

earthdata-login

Configure programmatic access to NASA servers

If you use web interfaces to retrieve nasa data such as Earthdata Search you are prompted to login. We will be using software to retrieve data from NASA Servers during the hackweek, so you must store your credentials on the JupyterHub as explained in this documentation. Run the following commands on the JupyterHub in a terminal replacing your Earthdata login username and password:

echo "machine urs.earthdata.nasa.gov login EARTHDATA_LOGIN password EARTHDATA_PASSWORD" > ~/.netrc
chmod 0600 .netrc