The Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) is a component of NASAs Earth Observing System (EOS) Data and Information System (EOSDIS). LP DAAC processes, archives, and distributes land data and products derived from the EOS sensors. Located just outside Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the LP DAAC handles data from three EOS instruments aboard two operational satellite platforms: ASTER and MODIS from Terra, and MODIS from Aqua. ASTER data are received, processed, distributed, and archived while MODIS land products are received, distributed, and archived. Both data sets are vital contributors to the inter-disciplinary study of the integrated Earth system. They constitute approximately 1.5 Petabytes of volume in the LP DAAC.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center initially operated in an office in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota that opened on September 28, 1971. The Karl E. Mundt Federal Building that is now used is located in the countryside about 15 miles northeast of Sioux Falls. Built to exclusively support the activities of EROS, the building was officially dedicated on August 7, 1973. NASA and USGS announced on August 28,1990 that EROS would process, archive and distribute land processes data received from EOS satellites, thus establishing a Distributed Active Archive Center, or DAAC. A 65,000 square-foot addition to the building was constructed to support this new role, and was dedicated on August 19, 1996.