Welcome to this demonstration of NASA’s Global Change Master Directory.

This demonstration will illustrate how to conduct a search to directly access data.

As you can see, the GCMD interface allows you to search using a full-text search, Earth science topic, or by Ancillary Descriptions … such as Data Centers, Locations, Instruments, Platforms, or Projects.

First, we will start our search by clicking on the “Land Surface” topic keyword. One thing to note is that you can click on the “i” next to the keyword to obtain the definition of that keyword. For example, when you click on the ‘i” next to the “Land Use/Land Cover” keyword, you can view the definition for that keyword. Next, click on the “Land Use/Land Cover” keyword, and then click on “Land Cover”.

Note that the keywords are ordered so that you can return to a previous part of your search. These ordered keywords are called “breadcrumbs” and allow you to return and change your query at any time.

Now we are presented with a list of qualifying metadata records. If we wish to further narrow our search, we can refine our query. In the “refine by” category box, click on “spatial coverage” in the drop-down list. An interactive geospatial map appears for you to conduct a “bounding box” search for a specific region. Use the map to narrow your search on the United Kingdom. After you have selected the region of interest, click the search button. This will take you to a refined list of metadata records. Select the “Land Cover Map of Great Britain” metadata record. When you click on the metadata record, you will see the brief form.

Click on “View Full Record” to see the entire metadata record. The metadata describes the data set in detail. This includes a summary of the data, controlled Earth science keywords that describe the data set and aid in the discovery of the data set; platform and instrument information related to the data; the data center and contact information; and the direct link to the data set.

Click on the GET DATA tab at the top of the metadata record. Then click on the “Get Data Related URL”. This link takes you to the land cover maps of Great Britain, which are provided by the National Environment Research Council Center for Ecology & Hydrology. From here, you can download GIS shape files and import them into your GIS software. Now, return to the metadata record. You can view your metadata record in an alternate format by clicking on ”View FGDC Format” at the bottom of the page. This metadata record is generated ‘on the fly’ and is fully compatible.

In conclusion, this demonstration showed you how to use the GCMD interface to conduct a search to directly access data.

Thank you, and this concludes this demonstration of NASA’s Global Change Master Directory.