ACDD Variable Attributes Recommendations

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ACDD Variable Attributes for Usability - Highly Recommended

The following NetCDF Attribute Convention for Data Discovery variable attributes are highly recommended for data usability.

Source: ACDD Release 1.1
ConceptDescriptionDialect (Fit) Paths
Parameter Name (Standard)The name of a parameter included in the resource from a standard vocabulary.ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MD_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/*/mrc:name/mcc:MD_Identifier/mcc:code//*
Standard Name VocabularyThe name of the shared vocabulary from which variable standard names are taken.ISO /*/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:descriptiveKeywords/gmd:MD_Keywords/gmd:thesaurusName/gmd:CI_Citation/gmd:title//*
ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:identificationInfo/*/mri:descriptiveKeywords/mri:MD_Keywords[mri:type/mri:thesaurusName/cit:CI_Citation/cit:title//*
THREDDS //thredds:dataset/thredds:dataset/thredds:variables/@vocabulary
UnitsThe units of the variables data values.ISO /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/gmi:MI_CoverageDescription/gmd:dimension/gmd:MD_Band/gmd:units
ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MD_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:units
Coverage Content TypeThe coverage content type is an ISO codeList describing the general content type of the resource. The content types are: image, thematicClassification, physicalMeasurement, auxiliaryInformation, qualityInformation, referenceInformation, modelResultISO /*/gmd:contentInfo/gmd:MD_CoverageDescription/gmd:contentType/gmd:MD_CoverageContentTypeCode
ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MD_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:contentType/mrc:MD_CoverageContentTypeCode

xPath Note: The xPaths included in this table use several wildcards. // means any path, so //gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty indicates a gmd:CI_ResponsibleParty anywhere in an XML file. /*/ indicates a single level with several possible elements. This usually indicates one of several concrete realizations of an abstract object. For example /*/gmd:identificationInfo could be gmd:MD_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo or gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:identificationInfo and gmd:identificationInfo//*/gmd:descriptiveKeywords could be gmd:identificationInfo/gmd:MD_DataIdentification/gmd:descriptiveKeywords or gmd:identificationInfo/srv:SV_ServiceIdentification/gmd:descriptiveKeywords. Fit: The fit of the dialect path with the concept is estimated on a scale of 1 = excellent two-way fit, 2 = one-way fit or some other problem, 3 - extension required.


Data Accessibility/Usability