Frequently Asked Questions

Why is data restricted for the XX network?

This is the decision of the PI/network operator for XX. Sometime an entire seismic network is restricted; other times only a few stations or channels may be restricted. Wherever possible, GEOFON attempts to provide open access to data, with at most a short embargo period. This is in line with GFZ’s guidelines (Grundsätze zum Umgang mit Forschungsdaten [PDF], March 2016).

I had access before. Why don’t I have access now?

Perhaps your token expired. See the next question.

What do I do when my token expires?

Get a new one. You can do that at https://geofon.gfz-potsdam.de/eas

I have been given access to another data set. Do I need a new token?

It depends. If the PI for a network grants access to that network to particular users your token does not need to be renewed, because your personal attributes are there. However, if the PI gives access to a group, and you were added to the group after you requested your token, you should renew your token, because the new group will be missing in it.

Why don’t I have access?

We don’t know. You should contact the PI to request permission to access the data. If that fails, contact us, and we will try to contact the PI. If you and the PI both think you have permission, but it doesn’t work, we may not have configured our server with the necessary details. The most common reason in this case is that you have used a different e-mail address to obtain your token than what we have used for authorisation. Sometimes your institution can use a different string to what you expected, e.g. Matilde.User@gfz-potsdam.de vs. myusername@gfz-potsdam.de. You can inspect your EIDA token and look for the “mail” attribute to see what address is used. Please contact us in case of problems.

Where is my token?

The default location for a token is /home/myusername/.eidatoken, but you could save it somewhere else. Many browsers may save it in your downloads directory as eidatoken.php.

What is inside my token?

Your e-mail address, name, the groups to which you belong, and an expiration date. Your e-mail address is used to identify you to our server. It is important that the address used here matches what we have configured. You can see all your attributes with any text editor, but be sure that you don’t change anything, or the digitally-signed token will become invalid.

Is there a record of my access to the data?

Yes. We record the streams (channels, time windows) requested by users. This is shared with PIs/network operators, so that they have visibility into how data for their networks is being used.

What is eduGAIN?

eduGAIN is a service with the main objective of allowing users to authenticate at their home institutions and let them use services all around the world. Technically it is based on Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML). Over 5000 institutions currently have an Identity Provider (IdP) which is part of eduGAIN. Mostly, these are universities and research institutions. There are strict rules for an institution to be accepted as part of eduGAIN and these rules assure the quality of the credentials issued. These Identity Providers allow their users to log in locally and send their public attributes to any service which is accepted as part of eduGAIN.

Is my institute a member of eduGAIN?

Probably, yes. Here is a list of participating countries.

My institution doesn’t participate in eduGAIN. What do I do?

You still require a token to request restricted data held at GEOFON. You will need to create a “local” account at B2ACCESS When you do so, check the box to request being part of EPOS, if that is the case. The B2ACCESS process only needs to be done once, and checks that you are associated with your institution. See the EAS User Documentation for details.

What is B2ACCESS?

An Authentication and Authorization platform developed by EUDAT. More information is at the B2ACCESS web site.