Preliminary Meteorological Measurement Standards Statement of standards before site selection (TIE 1979) Selected sites assume obligations To collect data To characterize the ecosystem To make data available Original Meteorological Committee Dr. Harvey L. Ragsdale and Dr. Lloyd W. Swift of the Coweeta LTER site were co-chairs Swift and Ragsdale, 1985

Original LTER Meteorological Standards Standards (Swift and Ragsdale 1985) Original LTER planning document (TIE 1979) Site-specific material (Waring et al. 1978) National Weather Service (USDC 1970) World Meteorological Organization documentation (WMO 1970, 1971) LTER scientist experience

Climate Committee Established 1986 Objectives Establish baseline meteorological measurements Characterize each LTER site Enable intersite comparisons Document both cyclic and long-term changes Provide a detailed climatic history Correlate with bioecological phenomena Provide data for modeling provide a basis for coordinating specialized or short term meteorological measurements

Standards Document 1986 Standardized measurements (4 levels) Not a single inclusive set Established degrees of uniformity Flexible for site specific requirements Instrumentation, frequency, reporting guidelines Site selection guidelines Retention of original records required Statement of accuracy and precision levels

Standardized Measurements (4 Levels) Level 0: entry level only (1 year) Daily temp and precipitation (all LTER sites) Level 1: basic climatic station Continuous temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind (all LTER sites will achieve) Level 2: research meteorological station More intensive, more parameters, continuous (most LTER sites) Level 3: specialized measurements Coordinate plans to develop standardized techniques Facilitate potential intersite comparisons

Intersite Exchange of Data (1986) Each site must make one station’s data available Specific single site study data may be proprietary Sharing of data will not be automatic Individual requests will be necessary If future intersite study is anticipated Plan for identical instrumentation and methods Pay special attention to reporting accuracy and precision Seek advice from climate committee

LTER Information Manager Activities Network Information System (NIS) All-site bibliography All-site personnel directory Distributed Table of Contents (DTOC) Site Description Database (SiteDB) Climate Database Project (ClimDB)

NIS Research Module Strategy Enable cross-site data integration Centralize access to cross-site data Local site maintains control of data Modular design Prototype development

ClimDB “Centributed” Mechanics (Baker et al. 2000) Individual SiteCentral SitePublic User Exchange filters Exchange format Relational Database Site Database CGI Script Local Script Dynamic URL Static URL CGI Script Distribution filters Report formats Monthly Data (V-One,V-Many) Daily Data Graphics Harvester

ClimDB Project Objectives For all LTER sites: Provide current climatic data summaries Provide comparable climatic data summaries Fulfill the needs of LTER intersite and synthesis efforts Demonstrate “centributed” database approach

ClimDB Background LTER Climate Committee (Greenland 1986) Standardized baseline meteorological measurements CLIMDES (Greenland et al. 1996) LTER site monthly summaries ( ) XROOTS Climate Workshop (Bledsoe et al. 1996) Report formats (V-one, V-many) LTER Information Management Committee Meeting (1996) “Centributed” database, exchange format, harvest mechanism CLIMSTAN Workshop (Greenland et al. 1997) Exchange format refinement, Metadata standard development

Communication of the Research Scientist with the Information Manager is important! Please fill out the web form “This is too good to be true” I can’t wait to give you my metadata

Identifying End-User Needs XROOTS Climate Workshop Identification of distribution report formats Separation of internal data management storage structures from exchange and report formats CLIMSTAN Workshop: Blend of Science and Information Management Participants included Climatologists, Information Managers, Data Users/Modelers, and a Field Technician

CLIMSTAN Workshop Accomplishments New LTER standard climate methods documentation Defines levels of site participation (0-4) Database guidelines documentation Exchange format Quality assurance (local and network guidelines) Participation instructions Naming conventions (time resolution, parameter, aggregation, units) Metadata requirements and schema Data distribution through a web interface Report format refinement Graphical format refinement

Metadata “R” Us Data Integration Data Interpretation Data Discover y “ I never metadata I didn’t like” Metadata Serves Important Roles

LTER NETWORK METEOROLOGICAL METADATA SCHEMA MEASUREMENT_LEVEL LTER_CODE STATION_CODE LATITUDE LONGITUDE STATION_DESCRIPTION TOPOGRAPHY ELEVATION SURFACE_TYPE EXPOSURE WIND_EXPOSURE STATION_START STATION_HISTORY STATION_PHOTO STATION_LEVELLTER_SITE_LEVEL LTER_CODE CLIMATE_CONTACT_NAME CLIMATE_CONTACT_ CLIMATE_CONTACT_PHONE DATA_CONTACT_NAME DATA_CONTACT_ DATA_CONTACT_PHONE QUALITY_ASSURANCE PRIMARY_STATION SECONDARY_STATIONS CLIMDES_URL COMMENTS LTER_CODE STATION_CODE WHAT_MEASURED BEGIN_DATE LOG_INTERVAL SUMMARY_INTERVAL INSTRUMENT_HEIGHT MEASUREMENT_HISTORY OBSERVATION_METHOD INSTRUMENT_TYPE ACCURACY CALIBRATION_HISTORY

NIS Research Module Issues / Lessons Learned Science must drive development Site participation necessary – provide incentives Metadata capture and integration with data Host site commitment of resources and time Long-term maintenance and continual updates Proprietary rights – provide data use agreement

Data Use Agreement Assures data provider of ethical use of data Provides citation for data source Gives protection through disclaimer Requires notification of data usage Requests copies of derivative publications Encourages good scientific citizenship

Successful Intersite Collaboration (Webster 2000) Collegiality, trust, respect Site visits: method, procedure coordination Incentives for participation Publications Monetary support Baseline of data and prior research Time and patience Effective Leadership

Typical Intersite Study: Information Management Scientist serves as data manager Complete metadata is not assembled Long-term accessibility to the database is not planned Future updates to the database are not possible

ClimDB Variable Names

Extension of ClimDB to Level 2 & 3

Monthly Distribution Formats V-One DVS 003 MATMPM Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec DVS 003 MPRECIP Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec V-Many DVS 003 Year Month MATMPM MATMPI MATMPX MPRECIP 1990 Jan Feb Mar Apr