Data Discovery (UMM-Variable)

The Unified Metadata Model Variable Profile (UMM-Variable) is a NASA recommendation for describing Variable Metadata in NASA's Common Metadata Repository (CMR). This profile includes the concepts that NASA considers important for describing dataset variables.

UMM-Variable Required

Concept	Description	Dialect (Fit) Paths
Name	The name of a variable.	ISO /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/gmi:MI_CoverageDescription/gmd:dimension/gmd:MD_Band/gmd:sequenceIdentifier/gco:MemberName/gco:aName/gco:CharacterString ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MD_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:sequenceIdentifier/gco:MemberName/gco:aName/gco:CharacterString ECHO /Granule/MeasuredParameters/MeasuredParameter/ParameterName
LongName	The descriptive name for the variable.	ISO /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/gmi:MI_CoverageDescription/gmd:dimension/gmd:MD_Band/gmd:descriptor/gco:CharacterString ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:name/mrc:MD_Identifier[mrc:description='LongName']/mrc:code/gco:CharacterString ECHO /*/AdditionalAttributes/AdditionalAttribute[Name='LongName']/Value
Units	The units associated with a variable.	ISO /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/gmi:MI_CoverageDescription/gmd:dimension/gmd:MD_Band/gmd:units ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:units ECHO /*/AdditionalAttributes/AdditionalAttribute/ParameterUnitsOfMeasure
DataType	The data type of a variable. These types can be either: uint8, uint16, etc.	ISO ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:otherProperty ECHO /*/AdditionalAttributes/AdditionalAttribute/DataType
DimensionsName	The names of the dimensions of the variable represented in the data field. For example: 1200, 1200. This is sourced from the granule header. See the dimensions section.	ISO /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/gmi:MI_CoverageDescription/gmd:dimension/gmd:MD_Band/gmd:sequenceIdentifier ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:sequenceIdentifier ECHO /*/AdditionalAttributes/AdditionalAttribute/Name
Dimensions	The values of the dimensions of the variable represented in the data field. For example: 1200, 1200. This is sourced from the granule header. See the dimensions section.	ISO ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:otherProperty ECHO /*/AdditionalAttributes/AdditionalAttribute/Value
ValidRange	Valid range data value of a variable: minimum and maximum values. For example: 7500, -1, or 0, 377	ISO /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/gmi:MI_CoverageDescription/gmd:dimension/gmd:MD_Band/gmd:minValue/gco:Real ISO /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/gmi:MI_CoverageDescription/gmd:dimension/gmd:MD_Band/gmd:maxValue/gco:Real ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:minValue ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:maxValue ECHO /*/AdditionalAttributes/AdditionalAttribute/ParameterRangeBegin ECHO /*/AdditionalAttributes/AdditionalAttribute/ParameterRangeEnd
Scale	Scale factor which has been applied to the cell value. For example: 0.002	ISO /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/gmi:MI_CoverageDescription/gmd:dimension/gmd:MD_Band/gmd:scaleFactor/gco:Real ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:scaleFactor ECHO
Offset	The physical value corresponding to a cell value of zero. For example: 0.49	ISO /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/gmi:MI_CoverageDescription/gmd:dimension/gmd:MD_Band/gmd:offset/gco:Real ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:offset ECHO
FillValue	The fill value of the variable in the data file. It is generally a value which falls outside the valid range. For example, if the valid range is 0, 360, the fill value may be 377	ISO ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:attribute/mrc:MD_SampleDimension/mrc:otherProperty ECHO
VariableType	This element is used to identify the variable as a Science Variable or as a Quality Variable or as an Ancillary Variable. If a variable does not contain this field, it will be assumed to be a science variable.	ISO /gmi:MI_Metadata/gmd:contentInfo/gmi:MI_CoverageDescription/gmd:contentType/gmd:MD_CoverageContentTypeCode ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:contentInfo/mrc:MI_CoverageDescription/mrc:attributeGroup/mrc:MD_AttributeGroup/mrc:contentType/mrc:MD_CoverageContentTypeCode ECHO
Theme Keyword	A word or phrase that describes some aspect of a resource. Can be one of several types. Note: The general identification keywords usually have a type of "theme" and are refered to as "theme keywords". Other types and vocabularies are used for other information. Service Entry Resource Format (SERF) requires a Science and a Service GCMD Keyword. This concept is called Subject in the CSW Specification.	ISO /*/gmd:identificationInfo/*/gmd:descriptiveKeywords/gmd:MD_Keywords[normalize-space(gmd:type/gmd:MD_KeywordTypeCode)='theme']/gmd:keyword//* ISO-1 /mdb:MD_Metadata/mdb:identificationInfo/*/mri:descriptiveKeywords/mri:MD_Keywords[normalize-space(mri:type/mri:MD_KeywordTypeCode)='theme']/mri:keyword//*