Is the interim aqua l2/l3 products at daac.gsfc.nasa.gov the same as I can get from the oceancolor site?
If not, is the oceancolor site going to make bulk orders (ie:on tape) possible or should I wait until the DAAC has the data?

chris,
i believe that we have demonstrated that the quality and long-term stability of the aqua products that are available via the oceancolor web is significantly better than the aqua products that are currently available at the goddard daac.  some of the preliminary analyses that we have produced that i believe show this can be found in the validation section of the oceancolor web at:

http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/ocvalidation.html

as for data distribution via media, we are only distributing data via electronic means and as yet have not had issues with that.  we have suggested a few 'creative' approaches for people that may want to get data on media but at this point, the demand has not been large enough to persue any of those.  at the present time, the ocean color data that we produce will only be archived and distributed via this group and there is no definitive timetable established for which data products may be archived at the daac and when that would take place. 

hope this helps answer your question.
best regards,
gene