[Esip-documentation] ACDD-1.3 documentation change request: Descriptions of "resolution" attributes

Nan Galbraith ngalbraith at whoi.edu
Mon Mar 2 15:20:29 EST 2015


Thanks, that's what I'll do. I'll pass this along to the OceanSITES team
and add it to our manual.

Nan

On 2/27/15 9:57 AM, Jim Biard via Esip-documentation wrote:
> Nan,
>
> I'd think you should feel free to omit them if there isn't a 
> reasonably constant value that you can calculate for your grid, and 
> definitely omit them if you don't have a grid.
>
> Grace and peace,
>
> Jim
>
> On 2/26/15 2:50 PM, Nan Galbraith via Esip-documentation wrote:
>> I agree with this, with the caveat that we really should add some 
>> guidance
>> for data sets that are not regularly spaced. This includes data on 
>> distance-
>> based grids, where geospatial_lon_units are NOT the same as the units
>> of the grid, and data that is not uniformly  spaced on a vertical axis.
>>
>> For those of us who have these types of data, should we omit the 
>> _resolution
>> attributes, provide a mean value, or ... give up?
>>
>> Thanks -
>> Nan
>>
>>
>> On 2/26/15 2:05 PM, Armstrong, Edward M (398G) via Esip-documentation 
>> wrote:
>>> I second this recommendation.  This is the way our GHRSST GDS2 
>>> granules are using ACDD attributes.
>>>
>>> On Feb 25, 2015, at 1:02 PM, David Neufeld - NOAA Affiliate via 
>>> Esip-documentation <esip-documentation at lists.esipfed.org 
>>> <mailto:esip-documentation at lists.esipfed.org>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi All,
>>>>
>>>> I  recommend the examples for all resolutions be updated to drop 
>>>> embedded units, because the resolution will always refer to units 
>>>> of the axis.
>>>>
>>>> In other words the units are already described by the following 
>>>> attributes: geospatial_lat_units, geospatial_lon_units, 
>>>> geospatial_vertical_units.
>>>>
>>>> Duplicating units as an embedded value might minimally result in 
>>>> inconsistencies in the documentation.
>>>>
>>>> The description could be revised along the lines of:
>>>> From version 1.3 - Information about the targeted vertical spacing 
>>>> of points. Example: '25 meters'
>>>> To version 1.3.1 - Information about the targeted vertical spacing 
>>>> of points, units are referenced by the global attribute 
>>>> geospatial_vertical_units. Example: '25'
>>>>
>>>> Dave
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 11:51 AM, John Graybeal via 
>>>> Esip-documentation <esip-documentation at lists.esipfed.org 
>>>> <mailto:esip-documentation at lists.esipfed.org>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>     Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Aaron.
>>>>
>>>>     Clearly this discrepancy was caused in our attempt to resolve
>>>>     existing ambiguity. (I for one assumed those mappings were
>>>>     semantic, not literal; and I didn't see any information that
>>>>     implied anything about the *format* of that field. There was
>>>>     also no guarantee that the units were specified, so that left
>>>>     the naked number essentially undefined.)  I'm truly sorry for
>>>>     the trouble it's causing.
>>>>
>>>>     Knowing now that there is a pre-existing practice means we have
>>>>     a dilemma. I'm not sure how heavily 1.3 has been implemented so
>>>>     far, but Bob implies at least one implementation, and you're
>>>>     seeing files with the problem.  it seems to me there are two
>>>>     options at this point, and I'm not sure either by itself is
>>>>     entirely sufficient:
>>>>
>>>>     1) Modify the translation software (and others?) to allow for
>>>>     the possibility of different units in version 1.3. (Presumably
>>>>     the hack way is to just parse the number assuming it is in the
>>>>     expected units, and issue an error if that seems to not be the
>>>>     case; the ideal way would be to modify the number into the
>>>>     desired units.)
>>>>
>>>>     2) Modify the specification for each resolution axis to require
>>>>     that resolutions be specified in the units of the corresponding
>>>>     axis, which must be defined. This would mean a bump to 1.4, and
>>>>     some modification for existing 1.3 users.
>>>>
>>>>     I propose we continue the discussion via email to see what the
>>>>     documentation cluster makes of this, and probably make it an
>>>>     agenda item at the next meeting. (Which is nominally tomorrow,
>>>>     though it isn't posted on the site at the moment. Maybe just a
>>>>     first reading of the issue tomorrow.)  Any chance you could
>>>>     join us at 11 AM?
>>>>
>>>>     John
>>>>
>>>>     On Feb 25, 2015, at 09:32, Aaron Sweeney via Esip-documentation
>>>>     <esip-documentation at lists.esipfed.org
>>>>     <mailto:esip-documentation at lists.esipfed.org>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>     Hi, Bob et al.,
>>>>>
>>>>>          I believe that these resolutions are currently mapped to
>>>>>     ISO 19115-2 gco:Measures
>>>>>     <https://geo-ide.noaa.gov/wiki/index.php?title=Measure>, as in:
>>>>>
>>>>>     geospatial_lat_resolution -->
>>>>>     <gco:Measure
>>>>>     uom="[geospatial_lat_unit]">[geospatial_lat_resolution]</gco:Measure>
>>>>>
>>>>>     geospatial_lon_resolution -->
>>>>>     <gco:Measure
>>>>>     uom="[geospatial_lon_unit]">[geospatial_lon_resolution]</gco:Measure>
>>>>>
>>>>>     geospatial_vertical_resolution -->
>>>>>     <gco:Measure
>>>>>     uom="[geospatial_vertical_unit">[geospatial_vertical_resolution]</gco:Measure>
>>>>>
>>>>>     The GEO-IDE wiki page on gco:Measure (link above) indicates
>>>>>     that the value should be an "XML Schema double."
>>>>>
>>>>>          Also, the earlier ACDD-1.1 documentation includes the ISO
>>>>>     19115-2 path as:
>>>>>     /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:spatialRepresentationInfo/gmd:MD_Georectified/gmd:axisDimensionProperties/gmd:MD_Dimension/gmd:resolution/gco:Measure
>>>>>
>>>>>     Cordially,
>>>>>     Aaron
>>>>>
>>>>>     On 02/25/2015 10:17 AM, Bob Simons - NOAA Federal wrote:
>>>>>>     Is that an error in ACDD or in ncISO? (I don't know. I think it is
>>>>>>     debatable.) It is probably easier to change ncISO than to change ACDD
>>>>>>     (at least until the next version which is probably far off) and all
>>>>>>     datasets which follow the recommendations of the ACDD documentation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     On Wed, Feb 25, 2015 at 9:11 AM, Aaron Sweeney via Esip-documentation
>>>>>>     <esip-documentation at lists.esipfed.org>  <mailto:esip-documentation at lists.esipfed.org>  wrote:
>>>>>>>     Hi, folks,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>            I want to bring to your attention a problem with the ACDD-1.3
>>>>>>>     documentation that is leading to the creation of invalid ISO 19115-2
>>>>>>>     metadata records.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>            Specifically, I am referring to the Descriptions of the following
>>>>>>>     Suggested global attributes: geospatial_lat_resolution,
>>>>>>>     geospatial_lon_resolution, and geospatial_vertical_resolution.  For
>>>>>>>     reference and clarity, I've included these attributes (as well as their
>>>>>>>     related units attributes) and their descriptions from the ACDD-1.3
>>>>>>>     documentation below this message.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>            There are two problems with the Description of these "resolutions."
>>>>>>>     The first is the recommendation to include both a numerical value and unit.
>>>>>>>     The ncISO tool expects these resolutions to be numeric only.  This leads to
>>>>>>>     the creation of invalid ISO 19115-2 records.  The second problem is that the
>>>>>>>     Description does not require the unit of resolution to be the same as the
>>>>>>>     corresponding "geospatial_[lat|lon|vertical]_unit."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>            I would advocate that the Description of resolution explicitly state
>>>>>>>     that a numeric value is expected and that the value be expressed in the same
>>>>>>>     unit as specified in the corresponding "geospatial_[lat|lon|vertical]_unit"
>>>>>>>     attribute.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>     Cordially,
>>>>>>>     Aaron
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>     ----relevant ACDD-1.3 documentation follows----
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>     geospatial_lat_units: Units for the latitude axis described in
>>>>>>>     "geospatial_lat_min" and "geospatial_lat_max" attributes. These are presumed
>>>>>>>     to be "degree_north"; other options from udunits may be specified instead.
>>>>>>>     geospatial_lat_resolution: Information about the targeted spacing of points
>>>>>>>     in latitude. Recommend describing resolution as a number value followed by
>>>>>>>     the units. Examples: '100 meters', '0.1 degree'
>>>>>>>     geospatial_lon_units: Units for the longitude axis described in
>>>>>>>     "geospatial_lon_min" and "geospatial_lon_max" attributes. These are presumed
>>>>>>>     to be "degree_east"; other options from udunits may be specified instead.
>>>>>>>     geospatial_lon_resolution: Information about the targeted spacing of points
>>>>>>>     in longitude. Recommend describing resolution as a number value followed by
>>>>>>>     units. Examples: '100 meters', '0.1 degree'
>>>>>>>     geospatial_vertical_units: Units for the vertical axis described in
>>>>>>>     "geospatial_vertical_min" and "geospatial_vertical_max" attributes. The
>>>>>>>     default is EPSG:4979 (height above the ellipsoid, in meters); other vertical
>>>>>>>     coordinate reference systems may be specified. Note that the common
>>>>>>>     oceanographic practice of using pressure for a vertical coordinate, while
>>>>>>>     not strictly a depth, can be specified using the unit bar. Examples:
>>>>>>>     'EPSG:5829' (instantaneous height above sea level), 'EPSG:5831'
>>>>>>>     (instantaneous depth below sea level).
>>>>>>>     geospatial_vertical_resolution: Information about the targeted vertical
>>>>>>>     spacing of points. Example: '25 meters'
>>>>>>>
>>
>>


-- 
*******************************************************
* Nan Galbraith        Information Systems Specialist *
* Upper Ocean Processes Group            Mail Stop 29 *
* Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution                *
* Woods Hole, MA 02543                 (508) 289-2444 *
*******************************************************


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.deltaforce.net/pipermail/esip-documentation/attachments/20150302/8ea2a4ca/attachment-0001.html>


More information about the Esip-documentation mailing list