Hello Markus,
In the SeaDataNet profile of CF 1.6 documented in
http://www.seadatanet.org/content/download/16251/106283/file/SDN2_D85_WP8_Datafile_formats.pdf we have addressed this issue by adopting the INSTANCE dimension from the CF 1.6 manual set to the number of timeseries packed into the file - see page 39 of the SeaDataNet document. We then have a series of vectors of size INSTANCE to carry the metadata. Some of these - like latitude and longitude - are co-ordinate variables, but others such as SDN_REFERENCES are not and carry text information - in this case URIs to external metadata resources - such as a person's name or reference (e.g. ORCID).
Cheers, Roy.
Please note that I partially retired on 01/11/2015. I am now only working 7.5 hours a week and can only guarantee e-mail response on Wednesdays, my day in the office. All vocabulary queries should be sent to enquiries at bodc.ac.uk. Please also use this e-mail if your requirement is urgent.
________________________________________
From: CF-metadata <cf-metadata-bounces at cgd.ucar.edu> on behalf of Markus Fiebig <Markus.Fiebig at nilu.no>
Sent: 08 February 2016 11:58
To: 'cf-metadata at cgd.ucar.edu'
Subject: [CF-metadata] temporally / spatially variable metadata in NetCDF-CF
Dear colleagues,
in the group here, we recently came across a question where we thought we needed
a NetCDF-CF wizard, and I'm sure these wizards are on this mailing list.
We are running a data archive for time series data on atmospheric constituents
measured at surface stations across the globe. The data are archived properly
together with metadata, making them usable also without direct contact with the
archive or data provider. However, since much of the data is considered research
grade, we have the obligation to deliver information on the principal
investigator (PI) of the data together with the data, in order for the data user
to agree on how to acknowledge the data PI.
If you only look at one dataset of one station, putting this data into a
NetCDF-CF file is a straight forward exercise - you simply add all metadata
items as global attributes to the NetCDF-CF file. To make using our data easier
for (model) users, we'd like to put data from several stations, all measuring
the same parameter, into one file. This results in a file with several time
series, each having different metadata that needs to be included. Putting this
metadata into global attributes isn't an option since the metadata aren't
constant for the whole file. The metadata items comprise e.g. station position,
altitude, PI contact information (variable in time), instrument type, etc. Some
of these items are with advantage used as co-ordinate variables, e.g. station
position, but that's not a solution for the rest of metadata items. Does anybody
have a smart idea?
Best regards,
Markus
--
Dr. Markus Fiebig
Senior Scientist
Dept. Atmospheric and Climate Research (ATMOS)
Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU)
P.O. Box 100
N-2027 Kjeller
Norway
Tel.: +47 6389-8235
Fax : +47 6389-8050
e-mail: Markus.Fiebig at nilu.no
skype: markus.fiebig
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Received on Mon Feb 08 2016 - 05:54:32 GMT
