Guidance for preparing and sending your data to IGMETS:

We want to make this process as easy as possible for you.  In most cases, sending us the most complete set of data you have in its most raw, untouched form will save you time and give us the most flexibility.

  1. You do not need to combine different files or spreadsheets.  For example, if you have one file of CTD data and two spreadsheets of nutrient and pigment data, you can send them each separately.
  2. You do not need to provide everything in common format.  Different formats are fine, especially if (per above) you have different formats for the different variable groups.
  3. You do not need to synchronize times across or within your data sets (e.g., weekly CTD data, monthly phytoplankton data).  Our software will do that.
  4. You do not need to remove columns or data variables that are not in the Target Variables list.  We can choose/ignore the variables that we need.  (And if you provide an expanded variable "now", you won't have to submit it again later.)
  5. "What depths should I send?":
    1. If you have individual depth data (e.g., 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, ... near bottom), we would love to have all the depths.
    2. If "(a)" is not possible, we would love to have at least a "surface/near-surface" depth and a "deep" depth.
    3. If you have integrated depths (e.g., 0-75m), we will accept those also.  Ideally, we would like the option of having both discrete and integrate variable fields for all stations.  (Not all stations will be able to provide this, we realize.)
  6. If you have plankton taxa, but not a group total (e.g., "Total Diatoms"), we can calculate those totals from your individual species data.  We have tools capable of classifying scientific names into key taxa groups (e.g., "Calanus finmarchicus is a copepod.) and then calculating sums for the key IGMETS groupings (e.g., "Total Copepods", "Total Diatoms", "Total Dinoflagellates").  If you feel more comfortable sending only the group totals (that you calculate on your own), that is also acceptable

In summary, we will gladly accept any data format, we will combine multiple spreadsheets or files together, and then we will do the time-synchronization and temporal binning for you.  [ For example, if you provide daily water temperatures, weekly chlorophyll and nutrient values, and monthly diatom counts, we can quickly (and uniformly) bin all of your data into time-synchronized monthly means of temperature, chlorophyll, nutrient, and diatom counts. ]

 

 For additional questions, please contact [ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ].