Where can I find scientific datasets?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around finding scientific datasets for personal exploration and research, with a particular interest in astronomy but not limited to it. Participants share various sources and types of data, including specific datasets related to lightning, fire, and biological expression profiling.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses a desire to work with scientific data, particularly in astronomy, and seeks guidance on where to find such datasets.
  • Another participant suggests the Alaska Borough of Land Management website for specific lightning and fire data, indicating that finding datasets may require visiting multiple sources.
  • A suggestion is made to look for posts by a user named Turbo-1, who may have shared useful information about astronomy datasets in the past.
  • A link to a repository for micro-array data is provided, which may be of interest to those looking for biological datasets.
  • One participant mentions ice core datasets without providing further details.
  • A later reply acknowledges the links shared and notes the need for manual structuring of data tables, although it also mentions that the micro-array data includes SQL for table setup.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not appear to reach a consensus on a single source for datasets, indicating that multiple competing views and sources remain in the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the availability of a comprehensive online compendium for all types of scientific data, suggesting that specific searches may be necessary.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in exploring scientific datasets, particularly in fields like astronomy, biology, and environmental science, may find this discussion relevant.

Borg
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I've been working on various database portal projects for the last ten years at work that all deal with the same general type of data. I've been wanting to work with different types of data and thought about working with scientific data for a change. I'm mainly looking for a hobby that I can use to expand my scientific knowledge. My general interest lies in astronomy but, I wouldn't limit myself to that if the data were interesting enough.

I'm assuming that there are datasets on the internet that could be downloaded but, I have no idea where to look. Any ideas?
 
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It really depends on what you want. The Alaska Borough of Land Management has a site that they keep their lightning and fire data on (just location and time of each strike/fire).

So if you want that kind of specific data in the particular location, you go to the Alaska BLM web page.

I don't know of any kind of online compendium of all kinds of data. I assume that you'll have to go to different specific places to find different kinds of data, so it won't be an easy hunt.

The best place for a collective of all kinds of data is a research library. My campus has one for bio and one for physical as well as the main library that probably has a lot of data as well.
 
If your main interest lies in astronomy, I think that turbo-1 could point you in the right direction. IIRC, he got a paper published based mostly on freely available data in the astronomy community.

Maybe search posts started by him...I think it was a year or more ago that he posted about it...but I am sure that I remember it being him.
 
Interesting links - thanks very much! I'll check with Turbo-1 as well.

I had hoped that I could find a dump file that I could use to upload the data directly into Oracle but, from these links and my own searching, I will have to manually structure the tables and import the data. Probably not a bad thing anyway.

Edit: I spoke too soon. I see that the micro-array data does have the sql to set up the tables.
I think that I found one of the turbo-1 data links as well https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=2441731&postcount=2"
 
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