This protocol aims to encourage dissemination of data and results for scientists involved in the EarthCARE measurement campaigns and contributing networks/stations and to protect the rights of the involved individual scientists. The data from the EarthCARE campaigns and networks is provided to EVDC with the permission of each organization or data provider contributing to the campaign.

EarthCARE-specific conditions for the correlative data protocols:

1. A registry of the EarthCARE Principal Investigators (PIs) will be kept in EVDC. EarthCARE PIs and Co-Is, as members of the ECVT, will formally get access to the EarthCARE Cal/Val area when they have signed this data protocol.
2. Access is strictly personal through nominative login and password.
3. Preliminary data should be submitted to the EarthCARE Cal/Val area in EVDC compatible formats fully documented or self-descriptive, and compliant with Generic Earth Observation Metadata Standards (GEOMS). An exception to this format and metadata restriction applies only when the neccesary conversion is unfeasible even with EVDC support.
4. All members of the ECVT and EarthCARE algorithm developers of the ESA data products are to have equal and complete access to the measurements produced during EarthCARE campaign.
5. Re-distribution of data by others than the owner to third parties, or partners outside the ECVT and the ESA algorithm developers is not allowed and requires written permission from the data originator with copy to the EarthCARE project.
6. The ownership of the data remains with the data originator.
7. By using these EarthCARE data, the data user accepts that an offer for co-authorship will be made through personal contact with the data providers or owners.
8. Any change to the above conditions as applied to the submitted dataset will require approval from the data originator.

In case of data privacy queries, please contact the ESA Data Protection Officer (dpo@esa.int).