This output format is the most used in EcoPlots. The file contains all the information about the sites, visits and ecological observations that are applicable to that dataset. The data is organised into different CSV files according to the Feature of interest selected with the filters during the search process. No further data filtering, cleaning or processing is necessary as data in each file is ready to be analysed using any tool or programming language as R or Python.
There are two types of CSV file included in each dataset package.
Each CSV file begins with a base set of data columns that are common to every TERN CSV file.
Column | Description |
|---|---|
dataset | Datasource/Dataset to which this data row belongs to. |
project | Project to which this data row belongs to. |
siteName | Ecological site where data was collected. |
latitude | Latitude geographic coordinate of ecological site. |
longitude | Longitude geographic coordinate of ecological site. |
topParentSiteName | Greater site to which this ecological site belongs to. |
siteVisitName | Identificator of the visit to the site when data was collected. |
siteVisitStartDate | Starting date of the visit to the site. |
siteVisitEndDate | Ending date of the visit to the site. |
featureId | Unique identifier of the feature, e.g. stem-1a, tree-1, bird-0123456, specimen-ABC123. |
featureType | Feature of interest type, i.e. observed feature like plant individual, plant specimen, landform, weather, etc.). |
parentFeatureId | Unique identifier of the greater feature to which the current feature is part of, e.g. tree-1 -> stem-1b. |
Observations CSV (data)
Every “observations” file contains all the ecological observations based on the filtering done in the EcoPlots before the package generation. The first set of columns are common to every file:
The following columns are the ecological observations:
Each observation consist of three columns:
Result of the observation: The column header shows the name of the ecological parameter, aka observable property. (e.g scientificName). Values for this column contain the actual results of the observations made, for instance, the species name of the feature.
Result time: When the observation was made.
Method: Link to the vocabulary of the Method/Procedure. Opening the link on any Internet browser will show all the information about the protocol following for collecting the data.
In very specific cases (when available), some extra columns are included in the CSV. Those columns are the “attributes of the feature of interest” (e.g plant-individual or soil-sample):
Attributes are easily identifiable because they consist exclusively of 1 column (there is no result time nor method). These attributes are not ecological observations, but contains important information about the feature, e.g. the depth of the soil sample, or the x,y position of a plant inside the site.
Data dictionary
Along with the data (observations) CSVs, a “data_dictionary” is included in the package, showing all columns available in the package.
The “Additional information” column contains links to the controlled vocabularies of the specific attributes or parameter. Below is the definition of field species name in the TERN controlled vocabulary.
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