CF Naming Conventions

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CF_Naming_Conventions Description: [[TermDesc::CF Metadata Conventions support interoperability of Earth Science data. A central element of the CF Conventions is the Standard Name Table, which uniquely associates each standard name with a geophysical parameter, named according to the CF Naming Guidelines. These can be used to find or compare datasets in catalog browsers such as AQ_uFIND. As of 2010, there are 680 CF-registered Atmospheric Chemistry names, covering mostly model-generated parameters. The naming of observation-parameters is poorly covered.]]

Glossary Domain: WCS, HTAP

Related Links

Links to this page
[[Links::CF Conventions, Standardized Geographic Region Names

Contributors

[[Contributors::Christiane Textor with CFpeople.]]

History

[[History::The naming activity was initiated in 2006 and coordinated by ChristianeTextor. An ad hoc vitual workgroup constructed and discussed the new CF standard_names for air chemistry and aerosols using a wiki workspace. The names were submitted to the CF Community for approval and added the CF Names table in 2007. The extension of standards names list to include observational and other atmospheric chemistry parameters awaits new community initiatives.]]

Term Details

List of Chemical Species and Aerosols

http://wiki.esipfed.org/index.php/

The [[List_of_chemical_species_and_aerosols| list of chemical species and aerosols, (as of October 29 2008) contains about 100?? entries, in alphabetical order. The question mark indicates a modification of existing CF standard names is suggested for these species. There is a strong need to further discuss and refine the chemical/aerosol naming procedures.

CF Naming Procedure

New standard_names are defined through a step-wise procedure, see the CF conventions web site. Many new proposals for standard names for aerosols and chemicals are under discussion at the CF mailing list. This requires the development of a general approach on how to proceed. See Construction of Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosol Terms for further discussion.

CF Naming Example

Applications of CF Atmospheric Chemistry Names

The CF convention for naming atmospheric chemicals and aerosols has been adopted by the following model intercomparisons (state of July 2008):


CF Convention Dimensions and Coordinate Information

Metadata required to locate data in space and time. Special on vertical coordinates (Kari, Decker, Martin). Coordinate (0-360 or -180 to +180) - Martin

CF Convention for Names for Air Quality and Atmospheric Composition

The CF standard name table specifies the possible values of the standard_name attribute defined by the CF NetCDF standard. As an example CF standard names, the entry for sea-level atmospheric pressure includes:

  • standard name: air_pressure_at_sea_level
  • description: sea_level means mean sea level, which is close to the geoid in sea areas. Air pressure at sea level is the * quantity often abbreviated as MSLP or PMSL.
  • canonical units: Pa

CF Convention for Provenance

List from the CF