Unlocking Southern Ocean Data: Usage & Growth of the SOOS Metadata Portal 

The SOOS Metadata Portal is your gateway to exploring a vast array of Southern Ocean datasets across diverse scientific disciplines (more than we can cover in SOOSmap at the time). This portal is designed to provide access to metadata records specifically curated for SOOS Science Themes. Whether you're searching for data based on spatial location, keywords, dates, or free-text queries, this portal empowers you to discover the most relevant datasets. Many of these metadata records also offer direct links to access the datasets themselves.

From August 2022 to August 2023 186 users visited the SOOS Portal viewing 340 pages. Peak months were 29 visits in March 2023 and 24 visits in October 2022. Most visitors link directly to the Portal. Only 7 users linked to the portal from the soos.aq and the scar.org web sites. The majority of users linking to the portal continue to originate from the United States and Australia followed by China and United Kingdom.  The number of data sets discoverable via the SOOS Portal as of August 2023 is 9,323 which is an increase in 1,694 metadata records since April 2023. The increase in the number of records is due to a re-indexing of the metadata that matches the SOOS portal query in August 2023.

New Features in the SOOS Portal:

• Since May 2023
  • Discovery and download via OpenSearch of data granules archived at sites external to the NASA Common Metadata Repository
  • Currently data granules from the Japan Space Agency (JAXA) Globe Portal System (G-Portal) are available (as in this example).

• Future
  • One click downloads of data granules using a browser-based client. The current method of bulk download of data granules is cumbersome and requires the ability to run Unix Shell scripts. 

SOOS participants are encouraged to visit the GCMD Keyword Forum for the latest news and discussion about the keywords:  

Additionally, if you have your own dataset to contribute to the Southern Ocean research community, we provide a user-friendly tool, the Draft Metadata Management Tool (dMMT), for submission. To get started, register and contact the International Directory Network (IDN) User Support Team to gain permissions for using this tool. By sharing your data through this platform, you help fellow Southern Ocean researchers access and benefit from your valuable contributions. The SOOS portal prioritizes records related to the SOOS candidate Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) and geographic areas south of 40°S. If your metadata lacks spatial information or EOV-related keywords, simply add "SOOS" to the Descriptive Keywords > Ancillary Keyword field to ensure it gets the visibility it deserves within the portal.

Dive into the wealth of Southern Ocean data and be part of advancing our understanding of this vital region. Visit the SOOS Portal here: https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search?portal=soos