Edits to search, discovery, and access sections

Author: mikala-nsidc

_quarto.yml

@@ -51,10 +51,11 @@ website:
           - section: "Finding and Accessing Data"
             contents:
               - text: "Getting an Earthdata Login"
-              #  href: reference-guides/get-edl.qmd
+                href: reference-guides/get-edl.qmd
               - text: "Data search and discovery"
                 href: reference-guides/dataset-search-and-discovery.qmd
               - text: "Data access"
+                href: reference-guides/data-access.qmd
           - section: "Wrangling Data"
             contents:
               - text: "Subsetting"
@@ -66,7 +67,6 @@ website:
               - text: "Plotting data - time series, scatter plots"
               - text: "Plotting data on a map"
                 href: reference-guides/plotting-data.qmd
-      - text: "Best Practices"
       - section: "How do I..."
         href: how-to-guides/overview.qmd
         contents:
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ website:
               href: how-to-guides/get_latitude_and_longitude.qmd
       - section: "Appendices"
         contents:
+          - text: "Best Practices"
           - text: "What is an API?"
 
 format:

reference-guides/data-access.qmd

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+---
+title: "Data access"
+---
+
+#### **Prerequisite reminder** 
+
+A [NASA Earthdata Login](https://urs.earthdata.nasa.gov/) is required for all data access methods, including download and direct cloud access.
+
+#### **NASA Earthdata Cloud**
+
+The NASA Earthdata Cloud is NASA’s cloud-based archive of Earth observation data. It is hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in region us-west-2. Downloading data from the Earthdata Cloud to your local computer or storage system is and will continue to be free for users. You don't need an AWS account to download data.  Alternatively, you can work directly with NSIDC DAAC holdings stored in Amazon S3 (the object storage service used by NASA Earthdata Cloud). This direct access method allows you stream data into memory and analyze it "in place", avoiding large transfers to your local computer.
+
+Options for accessing NASA Earthdata are outlined below:
+
+#### **Option 1: Browser-Based Download (No Coding Required)**
+
+If you prefer a graphical interface, use one of these web-based tools: 
+
+[NASA Earthdata Search](https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov) - Explore, filter and customize data before downloading files. Instructions for using Earthdata Search to find and access data can be found in our Earthdata Search [guide](https://nsidc.org/data/user-resources/help-center/search-order-and-customize-nsidc-daac-data-nasa-earthdata-search). 
+
+image
+
+NSIDC Data Access Tool - The NSIDC Data Access Tool can be accessed from a data set's landing page. 
+Example: [ATLAS/ICESat-2 L2A Global Geolocated Photon Data. (ATL03, Version 7) Landing Page](https://nsidc.org/data/atl03/versions/7). In the right-hand menu on a data set landing page, click "Data Access & Tools".  You will be directed to the top of a list of tool and service "cards" with links to various data access methods.  Click on the card title "Data Access Tool" to be directed to the Data Access Tool interface for that particular data set.  The Data Access Tool allows users to filter files within a data set using spatial bounds, temporal ranges, and filename wildcards.
+
+image
+
+#### **Option 2: Python (earthaccess Library)**
+
+The earthaccess Python library provides a streamlined way to search, authenticate, and download NASA Earthdata. It works both locally and in the cloud (e.g., on EC2 or JupyterHub environments).
+
+earthaccess [documentation](https://earthaccess.readthedocs.io/en/stable/)
+
+*Have reference/link to "how to guide" here?*
+
+#### **Option 3: Command Line Tools (```wget```, ```curl```, PODAAC subscriber)**
+
+If you're comfortable using the terminal, command-line tools allow flexible and efficient downloading. 
+
+```wget``` or ```curl``` – Download known files or batch download from an HTTPS URL list.
+Learn to create .txt files of download links here: [Creating Text Files of HTTPS and S3 URLs for Earthdata Cloud Data Access](https://nsidc.org/data/user-resources/help-center/creating-text-files-https-and-s3-urls-earthdata-cloud-data-access) 
+
+[PODAAC Data Subscriber](https://github.com/podaac/data-subscriber/blob/main/README.md) – A Python-based command-line tool that supports spatial and temporal filtering. Though designed for PODAAC, it can be adapted for NSIDC and other DAACs.
+
+All of these command line options are detailed in this help article: [Downloading Data from Earthdata Cloud to Your Local Computer Using the Command Line](https://nsidc.org/data/user-resources/help-center/downloading-data-earthdata-cloud-your-local-computer-using-command-line)

reference-guides/dataset-search-and-discovery.qmd

@@ -2,8 +2,31 @@
 title: "Dataset Search and Discovery"
 ---
 
-- Getting an EDL  
-- A simple earthaccess search and download  
-- EDS  
-- curl
-- wget
+### **NASA Common Metadata Repository**
+
+There are a variety of search and discovery methods allowing users to find NASA Earthdata from a graphical user interface (GUI) or using programmatic access methods, depending on preference.  Any search and discovery method leverages the [NASA Common Metadata Repository](https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/about/esdis/eosdis/cmr) to find data of interest.
+
+*NASA's Common Metadata Repository (CMR) is a high-performance, high-quality, continuously evolving metadata system that catalogs all data and service metadata records for NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and will be the authoritative management system for all EOSDIS metadata. These metadata records are registered, modified, discovered, and accessed through programmatic interfaces leveraging standard protocols and APIs.*
+
+*CMR is the keystone that makes NASA's Earth observation data discoverable. As a metadata repository, CMR contains Unified Metadata Model (UMM) schema records that describe individual Earth data files (UMM-Granules), collections of files (UMM-Collections), scientific details about the data files (UMM-Variables), related tools and services that act on the data files (UMM-Tools and -Services), and pertinent relationships between these concepts. Using the UMM allows CMR to host its metadata records in several supported native formats, with translation services available between formats.* 
+
+### **Search and Discovery Methods**
+
+
+#### **Graphical User Interfaces**
+
+##### **NASA Earthdata Search**
+
+##### **NSIDC Data Access Tool**
+
+#### **Programmatic**
+
+**earthaccess Python library**
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

reference-guides/get-edl.qmd

@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 title: "NASA Earthdata Login"
 ---
 
-NASA Earthdata are freely accessible to all users, but a NASA Earthdata Login is required for access.  Users can register for an Earthdata Login at https://urs.earthdata.nasa.gov/.
+NASA Earthdata are freely accessible to all users, but a NASA Earthdata Login is required for access.  Users can register for an Earthdata Login at [https://urs.earthdata.nasa.gov/](https://urs.earthdata.nasa.gov/).
 
 
 Some programmatic data access methods are simplified by setting up your Earthdata Login credentials in a netrc file for easy authentication.
-Instructions for creating a netrc file can be found [here](https://nsidc.org/data/user-resources/help-center/creating-netrc-file-earthdata-login)
+Instructions for creating a netrc file can be found [here](https://nsidc.org/data/user-resources/help-center/creating-netrc-file-earthdata-login).