instructions.readme file,               page 1


Instructions for obtaining data via anonymous FTP
from World Data Center-A and the US National Geophysical
Data Center:

If you have access to a computer that is connected to the
internet (NSFNET, ARPANET, MILNET, etc), you may download
some data-sets and and software from WDC-A/NGDC to your local
machine using file transfer protocol (FTP).  There is no charge for 
this service.  In Paleoclimatology, archives including Tree-Rings, 
Pollen, Ice Cores, Marine and Lake Sediments, Historical Archives,
and calibration data sets are available.  Each directory has a .readme
containing information on one data set.  The files alldata.readme and
holdings.list are readme's and lists of all paleo datasets.


To obtain files from the NGDC/ WDC-A anonymous FTP-server, follow
these steps:

1. At the system prompt, enter:

ftp  ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov
  or 
ftp ngdc1.ngdc.noaa.gov
  or
ftp 192.149.148.109

2. When prompted for a username, enter: anonymous

3. When prompted for a password, enter your e-mail address,
for example:

      scientist@computer.university.edu

4. To see a listing of files, type ls or dir.  To change
directories, type: cd name, where name is a directory below
the current level (all names and directories are case-
sensitive).  To move to a higher level, type cd ..

5. To get ascii files, type:
      get filename localname

Multiple files may be retrieved with a wildcard using the
mget command, for example: mget *.dat  Note that binary
files, including executable program files, must be
transferred in binary mode.  

To toggle binary mode on, type:
binary 
at the ftp prompt before invoking the get command.

To toggle back to ASCII (text) mode, type:
ascii
at the ftp prompt before invoking the get command.

6. typing a ? gives a list of ftp commands,
   and typing ?command  gives help on that command

7. To quit and terminate the FTP session, type: quit


*************************************************************

A sample FTP session is presented below (from the local
machine vax1 (local user scientist), to the WDC-Paleo anonymous
file server).  In this example, a file is downloaded from one of the
WDC-Paleo data subdirectories called /paleo/climate1500ad,
and a contribution data file is sent to WDC in the /pub directory.
For security reasons, only the /pub directory will allow input from
remote computers.

vax1> ftp  ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov

FTP Software PC/TCP File Transfer Program Version 2.2  02/25/93 18:05
Copyright (c) 1986-1993 by FTP Software, Inc.  All rights reserved.
FTP Trying...Open
220 meridian FTP server(Version 6.17 Tue Nov 16 10:57:16 MST 1993) ready

Name (scientist@computer.university.edu): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
Password: scientist@computer.university.edu
230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
(Welcoming message displayed here)

ftp> cd paleo
250 CWD command successful.
(Welcoming message displayed here)

ftp> cd climate1500ad
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> get ch1.dat
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening data connection for ch1.dat
(192.149.148.109,2759) (6306 bytes).
226 Transfer complete.
local: ch1.dat remote: ch1.dat
6426 bytes received in 0.15 seconds (42 Kbytes/s)
ftp> cd  /pub
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> put contribution.dat
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening data connection for contribution.dat
(192.149.148.109,2759) (76678 bytes).
226 Transfer complete.
local: contribution.dat remote: contribution.dat
ftp> quit
221 Goodbye.