NAAMES (North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study)



The North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) is a five year investigation to resolve key processes controlling ocean system function, their influences on atmospheric aerosols and clouds and their implications for climate. Observations obtained during four, targeted ship and aircraft measurement campaigns, combined with the continuous satellite and in situ ocean sensor records, will enable improved predictive capabilities of Earth system processes and will inform ocean management and assessment of ecosystem change.


Visit the main NAAMES website for a centralized location of project news, information, links, and resources.



NAAMES Data

Ocean Color Satellite Measurements

Field Measurements

Data measurements are publicly available:

Ship-based and in-water measurements

Aircraft-based measurements (Remote sensing and aerosol measurements)


Additional information for NAAMES data submitters

SeaBASS Format

The SeaBASS file format consists of ASCII text files with data arranged in a two dimensional matrix of values (much like a spreadsheet), preceded by a series of standardized metadata headers. For more information and examples of how to arrange your files, please visit the different topics under "Data Contributors" in the main menu. After you have arranged your data in a SeaBASS format, you should use FCHECK, which is automated software that will scan your file(s) for any formatting problems, allowing you to make revisions before submitting them.

General instructions for submitting data to the NAAMES Data Repository

Tools for working with data files in the SeaBASS format

Several software tools are available for reading SeaBASS files or converting them into different file formats.

Details for connecting to the Data Repository (Updated March 19, 2018)

As of March 19, FTP was disabled and replaced by a new SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) connection method. Instead of using shared login information, you will need to register individual accounts to connect. This affects all NAAMES investigators who need to browse or upload data to the Ship/Ocean Data Repository. The contents of the data repository are the same as before.

  1. First, please follow the general SeaBASS instructions for Setting up SFTP Access, starting with generating a SSH key
  2. As mentioned in the link in the previous step, once you have created your pair of SSH keys, email SeaBASS staff to request an account
    1. Attach your public key to the email (never share your private key though)
    2. Include your first and last name, and the email address that you want associated with your SeaBASS account
    3. Explicitly ask for access to the NAAMES group. By default, your new account grants you personal access to upload data to SeaBASS for non-NAAMES projects (in case you need to in the future), but you need to ask for NAAMES to be granted access to the special Data Repository
    4. SeaBASS staff will register your account and then email you your new username
  3. After you are granted a username, use SFTP software of your choice to connect. Point your SFTP software to your SSH keys, and use the following link:
    yourusername@samoa.gsfc.nasa.gov:/naames
    Substitute your personal username where that link says "yourusername". No password is explicitly needed beyond your SSH keys.

Upon connecting, you will be in the NAAMES Data Repository, which has the same organization as before. Browse and upload preliminary or final data within the subfolders as you did in the past. FYI, if you ever need to upload a non-NAAMES submission to SeaBASS, put it in your personal SeaBASS folder which can be found by replacing "/naames" in the previous link with your "/username".


Please keep your assigned username safe, however, email SeaBASS staff if you forget it.


Additional notes: It's fine if you routinely need to connect to SeaBASS from two or more computers (i.e., each has separate SSH keys). You may send multiple or additional public keys and request that we add them to your account.