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Data API

Table of contents

API syntax

The data can be retrieved programmatically with queries sent as a GET request to https://visualization.osdr.nasa.gov/radlab/api. Queries can be constructed using one of two approaches: either as key-value pairs (a simple approach, but with limited complexity with regard to nesting logical expressions), or as boolean expressions (which allow combining AND, OR, NOT, and comparison operators with optional parentheticals).
These two approaches are mutually exclusive: see notes. Click on the field names in the table below for more information.
Several example requests are provided at the bottom of this guide.
Key-value pair syntax; data fields
Key Type Description Unit Value format Examples
celestial_body string A celestial body that an instrument of interest is associated with, or another identifier (e.g. "deep space") if none
  • empty: Request the field without applying filters to its values
  • =value: Match value
  • =value1|value2: Match value1 or value2
Note: special characters (|, ', spaces) may need to be URL-encoded (see notes and examples below). 		celestial_body
celestial_body=Earth
celestial_body=Moon|Sun
trajectory resolved string Name or type of trajectory; can be an exact identifier (e.g. "LEO") or one of "Orbit", "Surface", "BLEO", etc. For example, "BLEO" will resolve to "Moon surface", "Heliocentric orbit at 1 AU" and anything else outside of LEO. trajectory
trajectory=Orbit
trajectory=LEO|Heliocentric
spacecraft string Name of spacecraft spacecraft
spacecraft=ISS
module string

(Note: may become resolved string in the future)		 Module within the spacecraft; currently only applicable for the ISS and is blank (NA) for others module
module=US%20Lab
module=Cupola|JPM
instrument_family string Instrument family, which is a loosely defined characteristic: e.g., for REM-type instruments it is Timepix, while instruments of unique design, e.g. LND, constitute a family in themselves. instrument_family
instrument_family=TEPC
instrument_family=Lidal|DosTel
instrument resolved string Name, family, type, ID, or configuration of an instrument. This is the recommended way to query for instruments: e.g., "TEPC" will match all TEPC and IV-TEPC instruments; "ALTEA" will match different configurations of ALTEA, such as ALTEA-Survey; while "ALTEA-Survey" (which is also an instrument_id, described below) will match only that configuration specifically. instrument
instrument=Liulin-5-1D
instrument=Lidal|REM
instrument_id string Note: case-sensitive. A specific ID of an instrument, detector, or configuration; this is guaranteed to be unique in the database. E.g.: REM-Lid, the REM instrument affixed to the lid of Lidal and included in the DORELI project; or Liulin-5-D2, the second detector of the Liulin-5 instrument.
Note: is always returned, even when not explicitly requested. The ID can be used to look up the specifics of the instrument and the dataset in the knowledgebase. 		instrument_id
instrument_id=ALTEA-Survey
instrument_id=DosTel1|DosTel2
timestamp ISO-formatted string
(or Unix timestamp) 		Timestamp of recorded value(s). Note: case-sensitive if passed as an ISO-formatted string.
  • empty: Request the field without applying filters to its values
  • <value: Match any less than value
  • <=value: Match any less or equal to value
  • =value: Match value
  • >=value: Match any greater or equal to value
  • >value: Match any greater than value
Note: can be used more than once in a single query.

Note: special characters (<, >, :) may need to be URL-encoded (see notes below). 		timestamp
timestamp=2021-01-01T15:25
timestamp>=2022-01-01&timestamp<2023-01-01
timestamp>1683786900
absorbed_dose_rate number Absorbed radiation dose rate μGy/hour absorbed_dose_rate
absorbed_dose_rate>=2
dose_equivalent_rate number Dose equivalent rate μSv/hour dose_equivalent_rate
dose_equivalent_rate<=20
flux number Particle flux cm-2sr-1s-1 flux
flux<1
latitude number Latitude of a spacecraft at given timestamp, where available. This and the values below are currently only tracked for the ISS and are blank (NA) for others. deg latitude
latitude<-10
longitude number Longitude of spacecraft at given timestamp, where available. deg longitude
longitude>30
altitude number Altitude of spacecraft at given timestamp, where available. km altitude
altitude>=420
B number B value, where available. nT B
B<=50000
L number L value, where available. unitless L
L>3
Boolean expression syntax
Key Aliases Type Description Examples
query string A boolean query referencing fields described in the "data fields" table above, and using AND, OR, =, <=, >= operators and parentheses ((, )) query=(timestamp>=2023-05-16)AND((instrument=REM)OR(spacecraft=LND))

Note: spaces inside the query string are allowed (e.g. spacecraft = LND); the query can be optionally encased in single or double quotes. However, spaces and quotes may need to be URL-encoded (see notes below).
fields+ fields
columns
columns+
 string A comma-separated list of additional fields to retrieve (i.e. fields not already implicated in the boolean query) fields+=absorbed_dose_rate,flux
Auxiliary keys (used with both syntaxes)
Key Type Description Unit Value format Examples
format string output format
  • (not speficied): Use the default format (csv)
  • =value: Use "value" (one of csv, tsv, json, html)
 format=tsv
format=json
Resolved strings
Fields of type "resolved string" are fields that can be queried by an ambiguous value.
trajectory is an example of such a field: e.g. if you are interested in all instruments in BLEO, you can pass trajectory=BLEO as part of the query, and the API will match any instrument in Heliocentric orbit at 1 AU, Moon surface, etc.
Because of that, the field "trajectory" in the API output may not contain the exact term that you queried for: instead, in this example, it will resolve to the actual value stored in the database, e.g. "Moon surface".

The following fields are of type "resolved string":
  • trajectory, e.g.:
    • "Orbit" may match "LEO", "Heliocentric orbit at 1 AU", etc;
    • but "Low Earth Orbit" will only match "LEO";
  • instrument, e.g.:
    • "Liulin-5" may match "Liulin-5-D1", "Liulin-5-D2", "Liulin-5-D3";
    • "TEPC" may match "TEPC", "IV-TEPC";
    • but "IV-TEPC" will only match "IV-TEPC".
The following are some of the fields that may support resolved strings in the future:
  • module, e.g.:
    • "US Lab" is currently the only term that matches "US Lab";
    • however, in the future, "Destiny" may also match "US Lab".
Note that all currently accepted API queries will remain backwards-compatible when more fields start accepting resolved strings.
E.g. queries with module=SM will continue to produce outputs with readings from the SM module, but users will gain the ability to use its other names (module=Zvezda or module=Zvezda%20Service%20Module).
Case sensitivity
  • Field names are case-insensitive (i.e. timestamp is the same as TimeStamp).
  • Most string values are case-insensitive as well (e.g. spacecraft=iss is OK), except for the outlined below.
  • Instrument IDs are case-sensitive.
    instrument_id=LND will match, instrument_id=lnd will not.
    This is intentional and aligns with the uniqueness constraint of this field.
  • Timestamps passed as ISO-formatted strings are case-sensitive.
    timestamp=2024-01-01T00:00 will work, timestamp=2024-01-01t00:00 (lowercase t) will not.
    This is intentional and conforms to the ISO 8601 standard.
Notes
  • The key-value pair syntax and the boolean expression syntax are mutually exclusive. The API will return an error if there is an attempt to mix the two syntaxes: e.g., query='spacecraft=ISS'&instrument=REM&timestamp will not be accepted; instead, either the key-value pair syntax should be used, i.e. spacecraft=ISS&instrument=REM&timestamp, or the boolean expression syntax, i.e. query='(spacecraft=ISS)AND(instrument=REM)'&fields+=timestamp.
  • Special characters (spaces, |, <, >, :, ', ") may need to be URL-encoded (although e.g. Python will only complain if spaces are not encoded and will accept all other characters as-is; therefore, this depends on the use case):
    •   → %20 (space)
    • | → %7C
    • < → %3C
    • > → %3E
    • : → %3A
    • ' → %27
    • " → %22
    Therefore, if this reference describes a query like timestamp<=2021-01-01T15:25, it may need to be sent as timestamp%3C=2021-01-01T15%3A25.
  • Boolean expression operators are case-sensitive, i.e. AND is understood as an operator, while and will result in a syntax error. Only the operators listed in the tables above are accepted.
Examples