How to Submit Files to SSDB

Introduction

The purpose of the Site Survey Data Bank (SSDB) is to hold data and documents (such as segy files, maps and reports) required to support a proposal during its review, and beyond. SSDBupload is the program that proponents will use to submit these files in advance of the proposal review meeting. This document describes the step by step process for submitting files to the SSDB. 

Supporting Documents

• Guidance Documents for Proponents

Before you Begin

If you have not used the SSDB before, you will first need to register for a basic user account on SSDB here.  Then you will need to log in to your account, select "My Account" and "Request Change" to request access to a specific proposal number.  Within a few days, after validation by IODP-MI, you should receive a confirmation email that you have been given proponent access to that proposal.  You are now ready to upload files to your proposal.  

Please note that analog data, such as hard copies of printed documents and maps, cannot be considered - all data must be digital and uploaded through SSDBupload. We also cannot take URLs or links that point to data that reside on a separate server - all data or documents must be uploaded directly to SSDB.  You may wish to review the general "Information for Proponents" available from the Quick Links panel on the left hand side of the screen.  

Due Dates

The deadline for data submission is announced on the SSDB home page - it is in advance of the proposal review panel meeting. Please note that we cannot guarantee that files submitted past the deadline, or files submitted with problems, will be reviewed by the panel. We strongly suggest that you try a file upload in SSDBupload as early as possible so that you understand the process, and that all files be uploaded well in advance of the deadline, so that if errors are found they can be corrected in time.

Step 1: Select a proposal

To get started, log into SSDB, go to SSDBupload, and click "Start". Then select the proposal on which you will be working.

Step 2: Select Data Type

For the first file you are uploading, select the data type that matches your data, such as "Location Maps" or "Seismic Multi Channel."  Almost every file submitted in the last 5 years fits into one of these 25 categories, but a data type "Other" is also available.   Therefore any kind of data or information you feel is necessary to support your proposal can be uploaded. However, the metadata that will be requested for your data will be tailored to the data type you select, so it is important to take the time to select the most appropriate data type to ensure that your data can be properly documented and presented to the reviewers. If you have multiple data files for this proposal, you will have an opportunity later to go back and identify another data type to upload.

Step 3: Enter Metadata

Entering metadata, or basic information about the nature and source of your data, is critical to allowing the data to be viewed and understood by the reviewers.  Every file needs to be georeferenced, at least by a lat-lon point.  If you hover your mouse pointer over the name of a field in the form, you will see a brief description. Please be careful with entering latitudes and longitudes: double-check your location information as you enter it and take care not to reverse latitude for longitude.  Latitude and longitude must be entered as decimal degrees, not degrees and minutes, with a preceeding minus sign ("-") to denote South or West.

Step 4: Upload the Data

In this step, you will identify the file on your local computer, upload it to SSDB, and then verify the metadata. Note that this system is limited to files under 200 megabytes.  Filenames must meet these requirements:

• No spaces in the filename.
• No forward or back slashes in the filename.  [ / \ ]
• Filenames need to be alphanumeric.  [a-zA-Z][0-9]
• Underscores, hyphens and periods are allowed.  [ _-. ]

Step 5: Add new files or submit

If you have additional files to upload for this proposal, you can click on "upload an additional file" to go back to step 2. If you are finished uploading files for now (you can log in at a later time and upload more if desired), then click "Submit files". This will move them onto the SSDB system and save them, but the final submission process will not be completed until Step 6 is completed.

Step 6: Submit files to SSDB for Quality Control

This list shows the status of all files that have been uploaded for a proposal. They can be viewed, deleted, or edited from this list. When you are certain one or more files are ready and you want to submit them to SSDB, you can check the tick boxes by those files and click "Submit Selected Files." Not all files for a proposal need to be submitted at the same time, but data submission is permanent: once submitted, a data file cannot be withdrawn, edited, or have a new version replace the old. If you submit in error, please contact us immediately.

SSDB staff will make every effort to quality control your files and associated metadata soon after submission.  You may be contacted to resolve any problems that are uncovered.  Once the quality control process is completed, you will be able to view your files with SSDBquery.

For More Help

If you still have questions or encounter problems, you are welcome to use the contact form to ask for individual guidance.