sesar

System for Earth & Extra-terrestrial Sample Registration

Contribute Sample Metadata Content

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MySESAR is a place to manage information about your research samples: store and edit sample metadata, link related datasets and publications, create sample labels, register samples with IGSN ID’s, and more.

Resource Content

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SESAR provides resources for Researchers, Institutions, and Developers for describing, registering and uniquely identifying samples following community Best Practices.

IMLGS Content

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The Index to Marine and Lacustrine Geological Samples (IMLGS) was maintained by NOAA’s NCEI until May 5, 2025. SESAR is now stewarding this data product and is working with the community to ensure continued access.

Find Samples Content

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Explore the SESAR Catalog to find samples in curated and uncurated collections across the world.

SESAR is part of The IEDA2 Data Facility, funded through a Cooperative Agreement with NSF-EAR.

Welcome to SESAR, the System for Earth and Extraterrestrial Sample Registration

SESAR is a community platform that helps make samples more discoverable, accessible, and reusable, and connects samples with the knowledge ecosystem derived from them. 

SESAR provides access to a global digital index of samples, specimens, and related sampling features from our natural environment that are registered in SESAR by its users. SESAR develops and operates digital tools and infrastructure for researchers, institutions, and sample facilities to store and openly share information about their samples.

SESAR is an IGSN Allocating Agent. Every sample submitted to the SESAR index is assigned an IGSN that consists of the SESAR ‘shared prefix’ 10.58052 and suffix, which gives the sample a globally unique identifier. This allows the sample to be unambiguously cited and linked to data and publications, and tracked on its path through labs and repositories.  Registration with IGSN makes samples Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR).

SESAR works with scientific communities to help create standards for sample metadata registration. This work helps create a streamlined way for community members to register their samples in SESAR in a way that aligns with their community’s standards

Contribute your samples today! If you have any questions or feedback, do not hesitate to contact us.

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