SOS Products

The Science On a Sphere® team is involved in many different projects, but our three main products that are available for the public are listed below. At the foundation of each of our products is our Data Catalog that contains over 600 global datasets created from satellite imagery, computer models, and observations. The catalog is publicly available and can be used with other global display systems.

	Science On a Sphere® (SOS)	SOS Explorer® (SOSx)	SOS Explorer® Mobile (SOSx Mobile)
What is it?	A 6 ft. spherical display that projects global planetary data, featuring 40+ near-real-time visualizations	A virtual sphere that shows many of the SOS datasets on a flat screen display, touchscreen, or a projector	A virtual sphere that shows many of the SOS datasets on a flat screen mobile device
What is required?	A large dark room, and a budget for: 3-4 projectors, 2 computers, and customer support	A Windows personal computer less than 5-7 years old and at least 8GB of RAM, ~6 GB of disk space for an “essential” dataset download or ~165 GB for a full dataset download	A mobile device (Apple, Android, or Chromebook)
How many datasets are available?	~ 600 datasets and counting	~ 175 datasets and counting	~ 175 datasets and counting
Can I add my own datasets?	Yes	Yes	No
Can I make a preset sequence of datasets?	Yes	Yes	No
How can I show it in my classroom?	Use SOS Explorer	Connect your computer to a projector or large screen	Cast or mirror your mobile device on another display
Can my students have their own copy?	Not individually	Yes, you can install it on any computer that meets the required specifications	Yes, it’s available for most mobile devices
Can I use it in a museum?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Does it require a strong, consistent internet?	Yes, datasets are constantly being updated and downloaded locally	No, only for the initial install and if you want real-time datasets; datasets are downloaded locally on the PC	Yes, datasets are streamed over the Internet
Does it have real-time data?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Can I choose which datasets I want to download during the initial installation?	No, you get the entire data catalog	Yes, you can decide between an “essential” list, a “custom” list, or a full dataset download	No, you get all datasets - a selection of our most popular datasets, including real-time datasets
What is the cost?	Email sos.contact@noaa.gov for distributor list	Free for personal or classroom use; if using as an exhibit, email sos.contact@noaa.gov for distributor details who can provide customer support and assist with setup	Free