Earthdata Forum

Hello,

Last year I downloaded daily PAR data of the type "A2012001.L3m_DAY_PAR_par_4km.nc" between day 1 of 2012 and day 71 of 2019, and was able to work with it without issues. Now, I downloaded data between day 72 of 2019 and day 111 of 2020, I cannot read these files in either Matlab or Python (a simple ncdisp in Matlab fails). I am downloading bulk data through wget by creating a text with each requested file in a separate line (e.g., https://oceandata.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi/getfile/A2020083.L3m_DAY_PAR_par_4km.nc).
I tried downloading  a single file manually (clicking each folder in "Direct Data Access") and the downloaded file does work this way (I am able to open it in Matlab and Python). Is there an issue with the way that I am downloading files that is damaging them during download?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
- Lionel

Within the past year the requirement to use an EOSDIS login was extended to data files.  See Download Methods.   The python script is quite robust.   Also, Bulk Data Downloads via HTTPS mentions the available sha1sums.

If you are on linux or macOS you should check that your downloaded files are NetCDF4 files (which are a special form of HDF5 files), using the "file" command, for example:
$ file A2006167181000.L2_CHL.nc
A2006167181000.L2_CHL.nc: Hierarchical Data Format (version 5) data

If you are getting html files, try adding a ".html" extension and opening the file in a browser.   This should give you either a login page or a message explaining why the download failed.

Thank you! the python script seems to have downloaded the files correctly
- Lionel