This repository defines the EMSO Metadata Specifications for scientific datasets. Its primary goal is to establish a consistent, interoperable, and machine-actionable metadata framework for all data within the EMSO research infrastructure, ensuring long-term usability and broad discoverability. This specification provides the foundational metadata layer for the EMSO data ecosystem, guiding data providers to create compliant, high-quality datasets that are FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). The latest version of the specifications can be accessed here.
Several example datasets compliant with the latest version of the specifications are available at our Example ERDDAP.
- Standards-Based: Built upon and extends widely adopted community standards, primarily the Climate and Forecast (CF) conventions, OceanSITES and Copernicus. This ensures compatibility with international data systems and tools.
- Dual Access: EMSO data is distributed as self-contained NetCDF files and served dynamically through the ERDDAP servers. This specification ensures metadata consistency across both access methods.
- Rich Semantics: Emphasizes the use of controlled vocabularies (e.g., NERC Vocabularies, OSO, EDMO, ROR) and unique identifiers (URIs, URNs) to provide unambiguous, resolvable, and human-readable metadata.
- Global Attributes: Defines a comprehensive set of mandatory and optional global attributes for every dataset. These cover critical information such as spatio-temporal coverage, responsible institutions, projects, licensing, and EMSO-specific identifiers (Regional Facility, Site).
- Variable Typing & Structure: Introduces a
variable_typeattribute to categorise variables (e.g., coordinate, environmental, biological, quality_control, sensor, platform). Each type has a tailored set of required attributes, ensuring appropriate metadata for different kinds of data. - Controlled Vocabularies: Mandates the use of specific controlled vocabularies for parameters, units, platform types, sensor models, and institutions. Metadata must include the human-readable name, URI, and URN for relevant terms.
- Compliance & Validation: The specification is designed to be validatable. Each attribute is associated with a compliance test (e.g.,
data_type#str,cf_standard_name,edmo_code), enabling automated checks to ensure dataset conformity.
- Interoperability: Enables seamless integration of EMSO data with other marine data repositories and analysis platforms.
- Discoverability: Rich, standardised metadata improves search and discovery across scientific disciplines.
- Traceability: Clear attribution of data sources, sensors, platforms and funding projects.
- Automation: Structured metadata supports automated data ingestion, validation, and processing workflows.
- version: v1.0.4
- author: Enoc Martínez
- contributors: Enoc Martínez
- organization: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
- contact: enoc.martinez@upc.edu