NASA Earthdata QGIS Plugin

May 9, 2026 · View on GitHub

A QGIS plugin for searching, visualizing, and downloading NASA Earthdata products. This plugin provides access to NASA's Earth science data catalog directly within QGIS, supporting Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) visualization and data footprint display.

QGIS Plugin License: MIT

Features

  • Search NASA Earthdata Catalog: Browse and search thousands of NASA Earth science datasets using keywords, bounding boxes, and temporal filters
  • Visualize Data Footprints: Display search result footprints directly on the QGIS map canvas
  • Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) Support: Stream and visualize COG files directly without downloading
  • Saved and Recent Searches: Save reusable search presets, reload recent searches, and delete searches you no longer need
  • Collection Discovery and Alerts: Fetch live CMR collection metadata and check saved searches for newly available granules
  • Quicklook Gallery and Citation Links: Inspect inline browse/quicklook thumbnails, open a gallery dialog, and browse DOI/documentation links when granules expose them
  • Granule Details and Export: Inspect selected granule metadata and export search results to CSV, GeoJSON, raw JSON, STAC, or a reproducible workflow bundle
  • Richer Result Filtering: Filter result rows by granule ID, date, provider, cloud cover, day/night flag, size, or COG count
  • Analysis-Ready VRTs: Build RGB composites and normalized-difference index VRTs such as NDVI, NDWI, MNDWI, NDMI, and NBR from COG bands
  • Download Queue: Download selected granules with queue status, cancel/retry controls, skip-existing behavior, manifest output, and a persisted latest-queue snapshot
  • QGIS Processing Tools: Run NASA Earthdata search, download, footprint, STAC export, workflow bundle, collection info, new-granule check, RGB COG, and normalized-difference VRT workflows from the Processing Toolbox and Model Designer
  • Earthdata Login Integration: Seamless authentication with NASA Earthdata Login credentials
  • OpenGeoAgent Context Handoff: Send the current dataset, bbox, selected granules, and COG links to OpenGeoAgent when available
  • Settings Panel: Configure credentials, download preferences, and plugin options

Screenshots

Video Tutorials

👉 The Easiest Way to Access 120 Petabytes of NASA Data Inside QGIS

NASA Earthdata QGIS Plugin Tutorial

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NISAR Tutorial

Installation

Prerequisites

  1. QGIS 3.28 or higher (compatible with QGIS 4.0 / Qt6 as well)
  2. NASA Earthdata Account: Sign up at urs.earthdata.nasa.gov

Install QGIS and Google Earth Engine

1) Install Pixi

Linux/macOS (bash/zsh)

curl -fsSL https://pixi.sh/install.sh | sh

Close and re-open your terminal (or reload your shell) so pixi is on your PATH. Then confirm:

pixi --version

Windows (PowerShell)

Open PowerShell (preferably as a normal user, Admin not required), then run:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm -useb https://pixi.sh/install.ps1 | iex"

Close and re-open PowerShell, then confirm:

pixi --version

2) Create a Pixi project

Navigate to a directory where you want to create the project and run:

pixi init geo
cd geo

3) Install the environment

From the geo folder:

pixi add qgis earthaccess geopandas

Installing the Plugin

  1. Open QGIS using pixi run qgis
  2. Go to Plugins → Manage and Install Plugins...
  3. Go to the Settings tab
  4. Click Add... under "Plugin Repositories"
  5. Give a name for the repository, e.g., "OpenGeos"
  6. Enter the URL of the repository: https://qgis.gishub.org/plugins.xml
  7. Click OK
  8. Go to the All tab
  9. Search for "NASA Earthdata"
  10. Select "NASA Earthdata" from the list and click Install Plugin

Method 2: From ZIP File

  1. Download the latest release ZIP from https://qgis.gishub.org
  2. In QGIS, go to Plugins → Manage and Install Plugins
  3. Click Install from ZIP and select the downloaded file
  4. Enable the plugin in the Installed tab

Method 3: Manual Installation

  1. Clone or download this repository
  2. Copy the nasa_earthdata folder to your QGIS plugins directory:
    • Linux: ~/.local/share/QGIS/QGIS3/profiles/default/python/plugins/
    • Windows: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\QGIS\QGIS3\profiles\default\python\plugins\
    • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/QGIS/QGIS3/profiles/default/python/plugins/
  3. Restart QGIS and enable the plugin

Uninstalling

python install.py --remove
# or
./install.sh --remove

Usage

Authentication

Before using the plugin, you need to configure your NASA Earthdata credentials:

  1. Click on NASA Earthdata → Settings in the menu
  2. Enter your Earthdata username and password
  3. Click Test Credentials to verify
  4. Click Save Settings

Alternatively, you can configure credentials via:

  • Environment variables: EARTHDATA_USERNAME and EARTHDATA_PASSWORD
  • .netrc file with entry for urs.earthdata.nasa.gov

Searching Data

  1. Click the NASA Earthdata Search button in the toolbar

  2. Filter datasets by keyword (optional)

  3. Select a dataset from the dropdown. By default, the plugin selects HLSL30 with concept ID C2021957657-LPCLOUD when it is available.

  4. Set the bounding box (or use current map extent)

    • Click Use Layer AOI to use the active vector layer selection, or the active vector layer extent when no features are selected, as the search bounding box.

  5. Set the date range

  6. Click Search

The search panel is organized into collapsible sections. Granule Details and Download Queue are collapsed by default; expand them when you need metadata inspection or download status.

Saved and Recent Searches

  • Click Save in the Preset row to store the current dataset, bounding box, date range, max items, and advanced search options.
  • Select a saved preset and click Load to restore it.
  • Click Delete to remove the selected saved preset.
  • Recent searches are recorded automatically after each search. Select a recent item and click Load to restore it, or Delete to remove it from the recent list.
  • Click Collection Info to fetch live CMR metadata for the selected collection.
  • Click Check New to rerun the selected saved/recent search and report granules that are not in the current result set.

Saved presets are stored in ~/.qgis_nasa_earthdata/workflows/search_presets.json by default.

Visualizing Data

  • Footprints: Search results are automatically displayed as footprints on the map
  • COG Layers: Select results and click Display COG to stream Cloud Optimized GeoTIFFs
  • RGB Composite: Select RGB mode and choose red, green, and blue COG channels to create a streamed RGB VRT layer
  • Spectral Index VRTs: Expand Analysis-Ready Index, choose an index and two COG bands, then click Create Index VRT
  • Downloaded Data: After downloading, you can add raster files directly to the map

Inspecting and Exporting Results

  • Type in the Filter box above the result table to narrow results by ID, date, provider, cloud cover, day/night flag, size, or COG count.
  • Select a result row and expand Granule Details to view native ID, dataset identity, provider, temporal range, size, COG availability, and data links.
  • Expand Quicklook and Citation to view inline browse imagery and DOI/documentation links when present. Click Open Quicklook to open the first browse link in your browser, or Gallery to compare quicklooks for selected rows.
  • Click Export CSV to write result metadata to earthdata_results.csv.
  • Click Export GeoJSON to write result metadata and footprints to earthdata_results.geojson and add the exported layer to the QGIS project.
  • Click Export JSON to write raw granule JSON that can be used by the Processing download tool.
  • Click Export STAC to write a STAC ItemCollection.
  • Click Bundle to write a reproducible workflow bundle with search parameters, flat result rows, raw granules, STAC content, and the latest download manifest path.

Downloading Data

  1. Select the granules you want to download from the results table
  2. Click Download
  3. Choose a destination folder
  4. Expand Download Queue to monitor per-granule status
  5. Optionally cancel the queue or retry failed items
  6. Optionally add downloaded files to the map

The downloader skips files that already exist in the destination folder when their filenames match Earthdata link basenames. Each download run writes a CSV manifest in the selected output folder. The latest queue state is also written to ~/.qgis_nasa_earthdata/workflows/download_queue_latest.json by default.

AI Assistant Context

If OpenGeoAgent is installed, click AI Assistant from the NASA Earthdata menu. The plugin opens OpenGeoAgent and passes the current dataset, bbox, date range, result count, selected granules, and selected COG links when the OpenGeoAgent version exposes a context handoff method.

QGIS Processing

The plugin registers a NASA Earthdata Processing provider with these algorithms:

  • Search NASA Earthdata: Search by short name or concept ID and optionally write result footprints to GeoJSON. This tool also supports cloud cover, day/night, provider, version, granule ID, orbit filters, and raw granule JSON output
  • Download NASA Earthdata Granules: Download granules from an exported Earthdata JSON input
  • Add Earthdata Footprints: Copy/export an Earthdata results GeoJSON as a Processing output
  • Export NASA Earthdata STAC: Convert exported granules JSON into a STAC ItemCollection
  • Export NASA Earthdata Workflow Bundle: Package search metadata, flat rows, raw granules, STAC content, and an optional download manifest path
  • NASA Earthdata Collection Info: Fetch CMR collection metadata summary by short name or concept ID
  • Check New NASA Earthdata Granules: Compare a fresh search against a baseline granules JSON and write only newly discovered granules
  • Create RGB COG Layer: Build an RGB VRT from red, green, and blue COG URLs or paths
  • Create Normalized Difference VRT: Build NDVI/NDWI/MNDWI/NDMI/NBR-style VRTs from two COG URLs or local rasters

These tools can be run from Processing → Toolbox and used in QGIS Model Designer.

Supported Datasets

The plugin provides access to thousands of NASA datasets including:

  • GEDI: Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (forest structure, biomass)
  • MODIS: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
  • Landsat: Landsat 8 and 9 imagery
  • VIIRS: Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite
  • SMAP: Soil Moisture Active Passive
  • ICESat-2: Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite
  • OPERA: Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing Analysis
  • And many more...

Development

Project Structure

qgis-nasa-earthdata-plugin/
├── nasa_earthdata/          # Plugin source code
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── nasa_earthdata.py    # Main plugin class
│   ├── metadata.txt         # Plugin metadata
│   ├── LICENSE
│   ├── core/                # Network, environment, and workflow helpers
│   │   ├── net.py
│   │   ├── workflows.py
│   │   └── venv_manager.py
│   ├── dialogs/             # UI components
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── earthdata_dock.py    # Main search panel
│   │   ├── settings_dock.py     # Settings panel
│   │   └── update_checker.py    # Update checker dialog
│   ├── processing/          # QGIS Processing provider and algorithms
│   │   ├── provider.py
│   │   └── algorithms.py
│   └── icons/               # Plugin icons
│       ├── icon.svg
│       ├── settings.svg
│       ├── about.svg
│       ├── search.svg
│       └── download.svg
├── install.py               # Python installation script
├── install.sh               # Bash installation script
├── package_plugin.py        # Python packaging script
├── package_plugin.sh        # Bash packaging script
├── README.md
└── LICENSE

Building a Release

To create a ZIP file for distribution:

python package_plugin.py

Or:

./package_plugin.sh

Uninstalling

To remove the plugin:

./install.sh --remove

Or:

python install.py --remove

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

If you encounter authentication errors:

  1. Verify your credentials at https://urs.earthdata.nasa.gov/
  2. Check that you've accepted the EULA for the datasets you're accessing
  3. Try running earthaccess.login() in the QGIS Python console

Missing Dependencies

If the plugin fails to load due to missing packages:

# Using pip
pip install earthaccess geopandas

# Or using the QGIS Python environment
# On Linux:
~/.local/share/QGIS/QGIS3/profiles/default/python/plugins/nasa_earthdata/
python3 -m pip install earthaccess geopandas

COG Visualization Issues

  • Ensure GDAL has network support enabled
  • Check that the data URL is accessible
  • Some datasets may require authentication for streaming

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
  3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
  4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
  5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

  • NASA Earthdata for providing access to Earth science data
  • earthaccess library for NASA Earthdata API access
  • leafmap for inspiration on the GUI design
  • QGIS for the amazing open-source GIS platform