[ESIP-all] Now Available: NODC Responses to Comments Received on NODC netCDF Templates

[Kenneth S. Casey]

Dear Colleagues,

Thanks to everyone who sent us comments during the Public Review and Comment Period, February 20 through March 12. We solicited your feedback on the three components of our NODC netCDF templates: 1) The set of 13 templates, in the ASCII representation of a netCDF file known as CDL along with their corresponding real-world examples; 2) A decision tree to help you decide which of the templates to use; and 3) A table providing guidance and recommendations on creating the netCDF variable and global-level attributes. We received 46 comments from more than 15 people, and have published our responses to them at http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/data/formats/netcdf/response.html. The responses include a description of any action we will take, and by Monday, March 26, we will publish Version 1 of the templates. At that time we will also publish information on how to provide ongoing feedback over time, as we anticipate making revisions on a roughly annual basis for the next few years.
A few key "principles" appear to be emerging based on these responses:
1. Be explicit! Do your best to provide accurate values for the attributes, and if you don't know them, state that clearly. Avoid "NA" or "N/A" as they can have multiple meanings.
2. Keep your attributes focused on the content of the file, not the overall collection to which is might belong. For broader information about the collection, consider providing an FGDC or better yet, an ISO 19115-2 metadata record.
3. Also remember that ACDD and CF tend to focus on what are sometimes know as "discovery" and "use" metadata. Basically, this kind of information focuses on helping you find the file, then using it in your application. The attributes don't try to capture every possible detail of the provenance or processing of the data, for example. Again, for richer information your best bet is to look to ISO 19115-2 as your metadata transfer standard.
4. Our templates don't try to cover every possibility.... we focussed on the templates that we felt would cover most situations involving observations of the ocean. If your situation doesn't match one of the templates, that is ok! Just use as much of the templates as you can and consider using some of the more complicated representations detailed in the full CF documentation.
As we move forward we will refine our thinking about these "principles" and look at ways they may help us to better explain how to implement these templates for specific data projects.
Again, thanks to everyone who took time to read and consider the templates, and in one week you will be able to download Version 1.0 of the NODC netCDF templates!

Sincerely,
Ken Casey


On Feb 20, 2012, at 2:06 PM, Kenneth S. Casey wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> The NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) has developed DRAFT netCDF templates based on what are called "feature types" by Unidata and CF. These templates conform to Unidata's netCDF Attribute Convention for Dataset Discovery (ACDD) and netCDF Climate and Forecast (CF) conventions. Adding to these established conventions, NODC also provides several recommendations for both netCDF variables and attributes. These best practices capture NODC's experience in providing long-term preservation, scientific quality control, product development, and multiple data re-use beyond its original intent.  These DRAFT templates are intended as a service to our community of Data Producers, and are also being used internally at NODC in our own data development efforts. We hope the templates will serve as good starting points for Data Producers who wish to create preservable, discoverable, accessible, and interoperable data. It is important to note that these templates do not represent an attempt to create a new standard, and they are not absolutely required for archiving data at NODC. 
> 
> To make these DRAFT templates as robust, accurate, and understandable as possible, we are opening them up for public review and comment. Between February 20 and March 12, please review the materials presented here and provide your comments using the form at: NODC netCDF Template Comment Form. If the form presents a problem for you, simply email your comments to Ken Casey, NODC Technical Director, at Kenneth.Casey at noaa.gov. (Please don't hit reply-to-allm however!)  
> 
> There are essentially three components we are asking for your feedback on: 1) The set of 13 templates, in the ASCII representation of a netCDF file known as CDL along with their corresponding real-world examples; 2) A decision tree to help you decide which of the templates to use; and 3) A table providing guidance and recommendations on creating the netCDF variable and global-level attributes. We welcome your feedback on the overall concept of providing these netCDF templates to the community as well. All three of these components are detailed in the sections below.
> 
> By March 19, NODC will respond to the comments received. We will make any adjustments necessary and appropriate, and publish a Version 1 of the NODC netCDF Templates on our website by March 26.
> 
> Please redistribute this announcement to anyone you believe would be interested in participating, and apologies in advance for any cross-postings.  
> 
> Thank-you, and please don't hesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions.
> 
> -Ken Casey
> 
> [NOTE: The opinions expressed in this email are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect official NOAA, Department of Commerce, or US government policy.]
>  
> Kenneth S. Casey, Ph.D.
> Technical Director
> NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center
> 1315 East-West Highway
> Silver Spring MD 20910
> 301-713-3272 ext 133
> http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/
> 
> <facebook.png><RSS.png>
> 

[NOTE: The opinions expressed in this email are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect official NOAA, Department of Commerce, or US government policy.]
 
Kenneth S. Casey, Ph.D.
Technical Director
NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring MD 20910
301-713-3272 ext 133
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/



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