---
name: noaa-erddap-coastwatch-ingestion
description: "How to get NOAA ERDDAP CoastWatch data into a pandas DataFrame and Parquet: access, the request, the format, limits, quirks and terms."
---

# Query NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP tabledap index JSON into pandas

Source entry: https://signal-lab-jet.vercel.app/datasets/noaa-erddap-coastwatch
Provider: https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/
Checked against the provider's documentation: 2026-11-05

## Access
- No account or key for the public ERDDAP endpoints.

## Request
```bash
curl 'https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/index.json?page=1&itemsPerPage=5'
```

## Format
ERDDAP index JSON listing tabledap datasets (columnNames + rows table).

## Load into pandas and Parquet
Needs Python 3 with requests, pandas and pyarrow.
```python
"""NOAA CoastWatch ERDDAP: sample tabledap index. No key.

Check each dataset's license metadata before redistributing extracts.
"""
import requests
import pandas as pd

URL = "https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/index.json"
r = requests.get(URL, params={"page": 1, "itemsPerPage": 5}, timeout=60)
r.raise_for_status()
payload = r.json()
table = payload["table"]
df = pd.DataFrame(table["rows"], columns=table["columnNames"])
print(df.head())
df.to_parquet("erddap_tabledap_index_sample.parquet", index=False)

```
Run by us on 2026-11-05 (python 3 | pandas | pyarrow | requests). Result: ERDDAP tabledap index JSON reachable without auth on 2026-11-05.

## Limits
- Per-dataset license metadata may restrict some products — read license before bulk use.
- Shared government infrastructure; keep retrievals modest.

## Quirks
- ERDDAP index JSON uses a columnNames + rows table shape, not a plain object list.

## Terms and attribution
- See https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/legal.html and each dataset's license field.
- Terms page: https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/legal.html

## Sources
- https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/legal.html: "The data from some datasets may be subject to usage limitations or restrictions."
- https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/legal.html: "See the dataset's license metadata"

## Help improve this skill
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Information for educational purposes only. Free tiers, limits and licenses belong to the providers and may change; check the provider's own terms before using the data.