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McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER (MCM) Data Explorer Dashboard

Background The McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER project is an interdisciplinary study of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in a cold desert region of Antarctic . In 1992 this area was selected as a study site within the National Science Foundation's Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) Program. Details about the research can be reviewed through the original 1992 research proposal to the National Science Foundation, or the most recent 2016 proposal, resulting in funding for another 6 years.

Data and Resources

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Source https://mcm.lternet.edu/power-search/data-set
Last Updated April 10, 2022, 09:00 (UTC)
Created April 5, 2022, 06:44 (UTC)
Country USA
Data Management In order for the database to function properly, many constraints must be put on what type of data can be entered and how those data are entered. Following the guidelines below will ensure all your data are entered correctly and the website will continue to function reliably. Read the submission protocols for your group in Streams Data Met Data Limno Data Glaciers Data There is a template for each ‘core data’ table that shows how each file should be formatted (column names and column order are both important). Make sure you keep these column headers. If you did not collect data for a certain parameter in the table that season, simply leave it blank. Excel is generally used to work up and format data. When you’re done, save your data file in comma-delimited format (.csv). Open it back up and make sure everything still looks ok. Do not use commas in any field – use semicolons instead. This is usually a problem in the ‘COMMENTS’ column. We can’t use commas because data are output in commadelimited format on the web – it just makes things easier. Missing Data and out-of-range data; inappropriate values in cells. If there are no data for a particular sample, do not write “missing” or “no data” or “ND” in the data column - The database will produce an error if text is entered into a field expecting digits. Instead, leave that field blank and if appropriate, write why it is missing in the ‘Comments’ column. Your group may have existing comment codes that apply to this situation. Also, some instruments are programmed to output a number such as -6999 indicating missing data. This is also unacceptable to the database – there may be rules for checking the data range that won’t allow extremely high or extremely low numbers to be input. Do not include any values that you don’t intend for someone using your dataset to actually use – delete the value and flag it appropriately in the Comments column. Be careful that your empty data columns don’t include spaces. This is a text character and will not be accepted by the database. In general, consider the type of data that is supposed to go in that column and the normal range one would expect. Do not enter anything else. Pay special attention to the Date/Time Column The easiest format to use for the database (and the one we output on the website) is 'MM/DD/YYYY' for date only, or 'MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM’ for date and 24 hour time. However, other formats will also work – contact the data manager to see if your alternate date/time format is acceptable before submitting it. MM/DD/YYYY' does not correctly transfer out of Excel if you use the default - you must define a custom format: Highlight the date cells and go to Format -> Cells Under the 'Number' tab, go to 'Custom' at the bottom Under the field that says 'Type:' write 'mm/dd/yyyy' (or ‘mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm’) A way you can check to see if it worked is by opening the file in a text editor (e.g. Notepad in Windows) and checking to see if the year is 4 digits. This is important because even though the default Excel date format may display a 4 digit year, it often only saves it as a 2 digit year. When a 2 digit year is loaded into the database, “07” will be interpreted as “0007” instead of “2007.” Another thing to watch – Dates do not always transfer correctly between PCs and Macs in Excel files, which is another reason to use comma-delimited (.csv) text files. If your dates are off by 4 years and 1 day, that is the issue. All fields are case-sensitive! If there are notes in a template, submission instructions, or constraint table that say a certain field must be in all-caps, make sure they are or the data will not insert. Try to make your data look like the existing data in the database. Each data submission protocol page will have options to download just the column header or the entire dataset. Download the entire dataset and open it in Excel and get acquainted with the format – make your new data format look like the old one.
Data Policy MCM LTER data may be used freely with the following restrictions: The Principal Investigator be sent a notice stating reasons for acquiring any data and a description of the publication intentions. The Principal Investigator of the data set be sent a copy of the report or manuscript prior to submission and be adequately cited in any resultant publications. A copy of any resultant publications should be sent to the McMurdo data manager and principal investigator. The end-user follow the guidelines set forth in the LTER Network Data Access Policy, Data Access Requirements, and General Data Use Agreement here: Definitions “Data Set” – Digital data and its metadata derived from any research activity such as field observations, collections, laboratory analysis, experiments, or the post-processing of existing data and identified by a unique identifier issued by a recognized cataloging authority such as a site, university, agency, or other organization. “Data User” - individual to whom access has been granted to this Data Set, including his or her immediate collaboration sphere, defined here as the institutions, partners, students and staff with whom the Data User collaborates, and with whom access must be granted, in order to fulfill the Data User's intended use of the Data Set “Data Set Creator” - individual or institution that produced the Data Set “Data Set Owner” – individual or institution that holds intellectual property rights to the dataset. Note that this may or may not be defined as a legal copyright. If no other party is designated in the metadata as Data Set Owner, it may be presumed that these rights are held by the Data Set Creator. “Data Set Distributor” - individual or institution providing access to the Data Sets. “Data Set Contact” - party designated in the accompanying metadata of the Data Set as the primary contact for the Data Set. While substantial efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of data and documentation contained in this Data Set, complete accuracy of data and metadata cannot be guaranteed. All data and metadata are made available "as is". The Data User holds all parties involved in the production or distribution of the Data Set harmless for damages resulting from its use or interpretation.
Data Sharing Principle The re-use of scientific data has the potential to greatly increase communication, collaboration and synthesis within and among disciplines, and thus is fostered, supported and encouraged. Permission to use this dataset is granted to the Data User free of charge subject to the following terms: Acceptable use. Use of the dataset will be restricted to academic, research, educational, government, recreational, or other not-for-profit professional purposes. The Data User is permitted to produce and distribute derived works from this dataset provided that they are released under the same license terms as those accompanying this Data Set. Any other uses for the Data Set or its derived products will require explicit permission from the dataset owner. Redistribution. The data are provided for use by the Data User. The metadata and this license must accompany all copies made and be available to all users of this Data Set. The Data User will not redistribute the original Data Set beyond this collaboration sphere. Citation. It is considered a matter of professional ethics to acknowledge the work of other scientists. Thus, the Data User will properly cite the Data Set in any publications or in the metadata of any derived data products that were produced using the Data Set. Citation should take the following general form: Creator, Year of Data Publication, Title of Dataset, Publisher, Dataset identifier. For example: McKee, W. 2001. Vascular plant list on the Andrews Experimental Forest and nearby Research Natural Areas: Long-Term Ecological Research. Corvallis, OR: Forest Science Data Bank: SA002. [Database]. http://www.fsl.orst.edu/lter/data/abstract.cfm?dbcode=SA002. (21 October 2004) Acknowledgement. The Data User should acknowledge any institutional support or specific funding awards referenced in the metadata accompanying this dataset in any publications where the Data Set contributed significantly to its content. Acknowledgements should identify the supporting party, the party that received the support, and any identifying information such as grant numbers. For example: Data sets were provided by the Forest Science Data Bank, a partnership between the Department of Forest Science, Oregon State University, and the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, Oregon. Significant funding for collection of these data was provided by the National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research program (NSF Grant numbers BSR-90-11663 and DEB-96-32921). Notification. The Data User will notify the Data Set Contact when any derivative work or publication based on or derived from the Data Set is distributed. The Data User will provide the data contact with two reprints of any publications resulting from use of the Data Set and will provide copies, or on-line access to, any derived digital products. Notification will include an explanation of how the Data Set was used to produce the derived work. Collaboration. The Data Set has been released in the spirit of open scientific collaboration. Data Users are thus strongly encouraged to consider consultation, collaboration and/or co-authorship with the Data Set Creator. By accepting this Data Set, the Data User agrees to abide by the terms of this agreement. The Data Owner shall have the right to terminate this agreement immediately by written notice upon the Data User's breach of, or non-compliance with, any of its terms. The Data User may be held responsible for any misuse that is caused or encouraged by the Data User's failure to abide by the terms of this agreement.