1. The Case for Data Stewardship: Agency Requirements: NASA Data Management Policies
Modules should be 3-7 minutes long
Ronald Weaver
National Snow and Ice Data Center
Version 1.0
June 28, 2012

2. Overview
In addition to Federal-level requirements, NASA and other agencies have their own requirements and directives, which augment higher level mandates and provide specific guidance in meeting them
NASA Centers, grantees and contractors receiving NASA funding must manage environmental data in compliance with these requirements and directives
NASA Earth Science data management practices are generally spelled out in grant and contract documents

3. NASA policy on dissemination and sharing
NASA policy is very clear:
“NASA commits to the full and open sharing of Earth science data obtained from NASA Earth observing satellites, sub-orbital platforms and field campaigns with all users as soon as such data become available”*
“There will be no period of exclusive access to NASA Earth science data. Following a post-launch checkout period, all data will be made available to the user community”* *

4. NASA Data Management Plans (DMP)
NASA typically requires a data management plan for satellite, airborne, and field projects.
In the Earth sciences specific requirements for data management plans are described in funding documents such as the annual Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) multifaceted research proposal call.
Proposers to NASA ROSES should pay particular attention to language in the specific funding announcement of interest

5. Where to find Guidance on NASA DMPs?
NASA Earth Science website offers specific guidance on content for a Data Management Plan
management-plan-guidance/

6. Where to find Guidance on NASA DMPs?
NASA Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) has established a process for managing flight (space, airborne) projects.
The specific document that describes data management plan requirements in the above process is called the Archiving, Distribution and User Services Requirements in EOSDIS (ADURD)

7. References NASA references:
Official websites for information on data management in the Earth Sciences
management-plan-guidance/
information-policy/
The following link is an example of the ADURD document
onRequirements.doc

8. Resources
Several websites offer links to information about developing data management plans. We suggest starting with the following:
Digital Curation Centre Plans (Useful checklist for developing a data management plan) management-plans
University of California Curation Center (Data Planning Checklist)
Data Management and Publishing (MIT)
Data Management and Publishing (Univ of Minnesota)

9. Other Relevant Modules
For more information about other agency requirements see
The Case for Data Stewardship: Agency Requirements
For information about developing a data management plan see
Data Management Plans