Data Organization Data Collection and Spreadsheets

Consistent Data Organization Spreadsheets (such as those found in Excel) are sometimes a necessary evil –They allow “shortcuts” which will result in your data not being machine-readable But there are some simple steps you can take to ensure that you are creating spreadsheets that are machine-readable and will withstand the test of time

Spreadsheets From NASA Environmental Data Management Best Practices Webinar: Bob Cook

Spreadsheet Best Practices Include a Header Line 1 st line (or record) Label each Column with a short but descriptive name Names should be unique Use letters, numbers, or “_” (underscore) Do not include blank spaces or symbols (+ - & ^ *)

More Spreadsheet Best Practices Columns of data should be consistent Use the same naming convention for text data Each line should be “complete”

Columns should include only a single kind of data Text or “string” data Integer numbers Floating point or real numbers More Spreadsheet Best Practices

Use Naming Standards & Codes Use commonly accepted label names that describe the contents (e.g., precip for precipitation) Use consistent capitalization (e.g., not: temp, Temp, and TEMP in same file) Standard codes –State Postal (VA, MA) –FIPS Codes for Counties and County Equivalent Entities (

Use Standardized Formats Use standardized formats for units International System of Units (SI) ISO 8601 Standard for Date and Time YYYYMMDDThh:mmss.sTZD T09:1234.9Z T09: :00 Spatial Coordinates for Latitute/Longitude +/- DD.DDDDD (longitude) (latitude)