This page provides information on how to write a Data Management Plan for ROSES proposal solicitations, wherein the proposer intends to submit data to a NASA DAAC. 

Data Management Plan

The NASA-designated long-term archive for physical oceanography is the Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Thus, much of the data generated through a PO or certain science team ROSES solicitation will ultimately be archived and distributed by PO.DAAC, as authorized and directed by NASA’s Earth Science Data Information System (ESDIS) Project. In keeping with NASA’s need to ensure long-term data stewardship, awarded projects shall deliver all data products, including scientific algorithm software, coefficients, ancillary data used to generate these products, and associated documentation to PO.DAAC before the end of the project term. All terms and conditions governing transfer of data products and associated information to the archive shall be documented in the project's Data Management Plan.

The Data Management Plan (DMP) provides information on how data will be managed and shared throughout its lifecycle in compliance with NASA’s Earth Science data policy and following NASA standards and references (i.e., file formats, metadata standards, and conventions). Example information to consider for inclusion in a DMP are provided below. It is expected that a DMP will evolve as the data are collected and processed. Additional information about data management best practices (file formats and metadata models, with recommended metadata attributes) is available at the PO.DAAC. Additionally, data producers should consult the ESDIS recommended best practices for ensuring data interoperability. All guidance documents can be found in the sidebar.

Data Management Plan Contents

The DMP should include:

  1. Data and formats produced.
    1. Data source(s) - in situ, airborne, satellite, model output, etc.
    2. Data packaging - discrete points (i.e., trajectory or fixed location), irregular grids (i.e., orbital or airborne swath), regular grids (i.e., gridded, mapped, or gap filled), time series, etc.
    3. File format - NetCDF, HDF, GeoTIFF, ASCII, shapefile, etc.
      • Note: NetCDF or HDF are the preferred PO.DAAC file format as they are both self-describing and platform/software interoperable.
    4. Metadata model conventions.
      • Note: Climate Forecast (CF) and Attribute Convention for Data Discovery (ACDD) are the preferred PO.DAAC metadata conventions for NetCDF and HDF file formats.
    5. Expected data latency (i.e., the time lag between the last observation in the data file and when data is fully processed and packaged for that data file).
    6. Total expected data volume for the life of the project.
    7. Data reprocessing or new versions expected as part of this project.
  2. The timeline for the data, from measurement, production, review and distribution. Please also account for re-processed versions of datasets.
  3. Strategy for regularly documenting detailed data product characteristics (spatial, temporal, measurements characteristics, data structure, etc.).
  4. A plan to document data validation and uncertainty.

Consistent with a DMP, costs for all data management activities, including quality assessment, documentation, data and product sharing, data/metadata formatting, and preparation for long-term archive, must be included in the budget presented in the proposal. The DMP section should be inserted after the Resource Needs and Utilization Plan section of the proposal and does not have a page limit (in most cases, two to three pages are likely to be adequate for the DMP).