Accessing Public Datasets

The SPARC Portal allows access to public datasets through a browser or Amazon S3.

Accessing Public Datasets on the SPARC Portal

Users can access public datasets directly through the SPARC Portal. Datasets smaller than 5GB can be downloaded directly through the browser and all datasets can be accessed on Amazon's S3 service using your own AWS account. To access public datasets, go to the Find Data tab and select one of the datasets. Then, click on the Get Dataset button for information on where to get the specific dataset.

Download Datasets under 5GB

Datasets smaller than 5GB can be downloaded directly through the browser by clicking on the Get Dataset button. Clicking on the button will start the download process through the web browser. Please note that the files will be compressed upon download.

Accessing Datasets Larger than 5GB

Datasets larger than 5GB are made available directly on Amazon's S3 service.

AWS Tutorials

Step-by-Step Tutorials are available here to learn how to create a free AWS account and download or transfer dataset files with S3:

You can also view detailed information on how to set up your AWS account and how to download or transfer data can be found using the following links:

Download Individual Files from a Dataset

Users can also download individual files and folders within a dataset. To download a single file, click on the ellipses under the operation column. From the dropdown given, click Download. For files smaller than 5GB, the file will be downloaded and saved to your local machine. Please note that the files will be compressed upon download. Files larger than 5GB are made available directly on Amazon’s S3 service.

For files types such as TIFF, JPEG2000, or JSON, clicking on the file name will open a new page listing the file details. From there, click the Download button in the top right.

Download Multiple Files from a Dataset

To download multiple files and folders at a time, click the checkbox next to each file to be downloaded. Next, click the Download button in the top right of the Files tab.

A confirmation screen will appear. Name the ZIP folder and click Download to complete the action.

Note: Single files will be downloaded and saved in their original file format. Files and/or folders downloaded together will be saved as a ZIP folder containing the selected files/folders.