Hi David,
Oooh, these will be interesting.... (The discussion may unfold over time, especially as we're in the slow days of summer; hope that's not a problem for you.)
I think your semantics/syntax look good! That may change depending on the definitions or the units, though.
The questions that struck me:
A) Do I correctly understand that these metrics are with respect to an earth environment (as opposed to within a specific animal)?
B) biomass_fraction_of_<some compound> -- it isn't obvious to me what the denominator of the fraction is. Assuming it is always the same thing, perhaps we can specify it in the standard name, as in the mass_concentration_of_x_in_y pattern. I am not sure exactly what your item means, so it will help to understand a bit more.
C) How many compounds and plant organs are you dealing with so far, and does this change often? While there are many mass_concentration_of_<some compound> terms, I worry about the addition of large numbers of standard names corresponding to each broad concept. For the CF list folks, this is similar to another item we discussed recently, re taxon identifiers:
http://kitt.llnl.gov/trac/ticket/99. (I see this isn't resolved, waiting on me even. Ahem.)
D) Moving along, then: If there are many (>20, say) compounds or plant organs, is there a specific vocabulary that your community uses to specify <some compound> and <some plant organ>?
Thanks!
John
On Jul 1, 2014, at 08:43, David LeBauer <dlebauer at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thank you to all for the useful information. I see that it will take even longer to prepare compliant definitions.
>
> Regarding 'where to start'
>
> The variables we are naming are already in use within our group. Our list with proposed cf-style names is available as a google spreadsheet here: http://goo.gl/is24LI
>
> I would be interested in any comments, in particular if I have interpreted and adopted the semantics and syntax correctly. I still would have to generate proper definitions.
>
> I would propose that two sets of variables that might be suitable for a first submission:
> 1. "biomass_fraction_of_<some compound>" (using "biomass" as opposed to "mass" to refer to the dry mass).
> 2. "net_primary_productivity_of_biomass_accumulated_in_<some plant organ>"
>
> Thanks,
>
> David
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 26, 2014 at 3:03 PM, John Graybeal <jbgraybeal at mindspring.com> wrote:
> On Jun 25, 2014, at 16:34, David LeBauer <dlebauer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > <snip> I would be particularly interested in helping to create new variable names (expanding the domain) for the ecosystem and agricultural modeling communities I have developed a list of ~400 or so for our own internal use, but there is a lot of demand, and a lot of overlap (i.e., we use met data). Is anyone working on this?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > David
>
> Hi David,
>
> I am forwarding my reply to this part of your question to the main list, as others will be interested and may have more relevant info. My two bits:
>
> (1) The general approach (even for a large number) is to prepare one or more emails (to this cf-metadata list) containing the request?assuming you are requesting parameters that are already needed (as opposed to anticipated at some point in the future). I suggest first get experience with just a small number, maybe a few from each category, and then look at organizing the request into some major categories. Then the review process on the discussion list may have less churn. [1]
>
> (2) Part of the reason I am working on a CF FAQ, is to prepare information that could help with advice for this kind of systematic situation. I have thought about it a lot because of a similar activity?recently I chose to systematize *all* the existing CF parameters, in order to organize Marinexplore's (/PlanetOS's) internal structure for terms. So maybe we can collaborate.
>
> John
>
> [1] Some may note that I still haven't finished that process for some requested parameters I requested months ago. Never fear, is still on my list to do!
>
> John Graybeal
> jbgraybeal at mindspring.com
>
>
>
>
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