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Add and Manage Your Data

This guide walks through the practical workflow for creating a dataset, making it understandable, and making it usable by the right people.

Everything works the same whether your dataset stays private, is shared with specific people, or is published publicly. Publication only affects discoverability. It does not change how the data services work.

Before you begin

You need an ODP account and some data to upload. ODP accepts any file format. However, if your data is structured as CSV, GeoJSON, or Parquet, you can also ingest it as a table to unlock richer exploration and APIs.

Tip: you can export data from another dataset on ODP to test creating your own dataset.

Steps

1. Create a dataset

A dataset is the main unit you work with on ODP. It can hold files, one tabular representation, metadata, access settings, and publication state.

  1. Go to app.hubocean.earth/my_data
  2. Click Add New Dataset
  3. Enter a title and short description, then click Save

Your dataset now exists in draft state, visible only to you.

Working with collections

A collection groups related datasets together under one publisher-owned container. Create one by clicking Add New Collection from the same page. You can add datasets to a collection during creation, or later from My Data.

2. Add metadata

Metadata is what makes a dataset understandable and trustworthy. It tells people what the data is, who provides it, what area and time it covers, and whether they may use it.

From your dataset page, add:

  • Provider — the organisation or person who owns or authored the data
  • License — the terms under which the data may be used
  • Citation — a citation statement and DOI if applicable
  • Tags — keywords that help others find the dataset
  • Geographical coverage — the spatial extent shown in catalog search
  • Temporal coverage — the time range the data represents

For field-by-field details, see the Metadata reference.

Metadata exists at more than one level

In ODP, metadata is not only dataset-level. Collections, uploaded files, and table columns can also carry metadata. That is part of what makes datasets easier to discover, interpret, and reuse.

DOIs

We can create DOIs via our DataCite.org membership for data published for the first time via ODP.

Choosing a license

  • If the data has been published previously, reproduce the original license unless explicitly agreed otherwise with the provider
  • If it is derived from multiple sources, the resulting license must be compatible with all source licenses
  • If it is entirely your own, choose an appropriate license for the way you want it reused

We recommend widely adopted open licenses: CC BY 4.0 or CC0 1.0 Universal.

3. Upload your data

ODP accepts any file type. If your data is structured as rows and columns, you can go one step further and ingest it into a table. That is what unlocks richer exploration, querying, and map-based workflows.

Via the web UI:

  1. Click Select Files or drag and drop files into the dataset
  2. Click Upload All
  3. For structured files, click the ingest file to table icon next to the uploaded file and confirm

Via the SDK:

The Python and R SDKs support file upload and direct tabular ingest. This is useful for large datasets, automated workflows, or when you want to skip the intermediate file step. See file upload via code and direct tabular ingest.

Files alone give you storage, preview for supported types, and download. Ingesting into a table unlocks the richer data services.

Data types and capabilities

Data type Example formats Capabilities
Files only NetCDF, ZIP, TIFF, Zarr, Excel Storage and download
Files with preview PDF, images, text Storage, in-page preview, download
Structured files CSV, GeoJSON, Parquet Can be ingested into a table
Table Ingested tabular data Querying, APIs, interactive maps, column statistics

Geospatial data

Format Geometry handling
GeoJSON Detected automatically
CSV Provide as WKT or latitude/longitude float columns
Parquet WKT, WKB, or latitude/longitude float columns
Direct ingest WKT, WKB, or latitude/longitude float columns

4. Refine the table schema (optional)

After ingestion, you can refine how the table is interpreted. This is where you make the data easier to understand and, where relevant, spatially aware.

Click Edit table on the dataset page to:

  • rename columns and add human-readable descriptions
  • classify geometry columns or latitude/longitude pairs
  • choose columns to index for improved query performance

This column-level metadata helps the platform support exploration, filtering, map behaviour, and downstream APIs more effectively.

For large datasets, schema changes may take time to apply even after you close the browser.

5. Control access

By default, your dataset is private. Only you can see or use it. You can share it with specific people or open it more widely at any point. Data services work the same way regardless of which access level you choose.

From the dataset page, open Manage Access:

  • add users by email and assign them a role
  • enable Share via link to let anyone with the link access the dataset without publishing it to the catalog

Roles:

  • Admin — full control, including managing access and publishing
  • Editor — can modify data and metadata
  • Viewer — read-only

6. Publish your dataset

Publishing makes your dataset discoverable in the ODP catalog. All files, tables, and APIs continue to work exactly as before. Publication changes discoverability, not the underlying data services.

Before submitting, confirm:

  • you have the right to publish the data
  • the provider is clearly specified
  • the license accurately reflects usage rights
  • any required citation is included

Click Submit for review on the dataset page. The ODP team will review the metadata and contact you if changes are needed. Once published, only Admins can make edits.

Warning

Do not publish data unless you are confident you have the right to do so under the stated license.

Result

You now have a dataset with metadata, uploaded data, and access settings. If you ingest tabular data, the dataset can also support browser exploration, SDK access, GIS integration, and other downstream workflows.

Next steps