File naming convention

WTC_<EXPERIMENT>_<CHAMBER>_<VARIABLE COLLECTION CODE>_<DATE or DATERANGE>_<DATA PROCESSING>[_<VERSION>].extension

The individual elements that make up the naming convention are described in detail below. First of all however it is important that you consider the following points

1. All terms in the filename should be upper case apart from the file ending which should be lower case
2. An underscore is used to separate the different ‘elements’ of the filename. An underscore should therefore not be used elsewhere within the filename
3. Do not use illegal characters within a filename, e.g. / ? < > : * | ” as well as a ‘space’.
4. The file naming convention has been constructed to balance the amount of useful detail in the name, the need to ensure file uniqueness, as well as to keep the filename as short as possible.

• WTC: Official HIE facility code to represent data sourced from the WTC facility (all data from the Whole Tree Chambers facility should be prefixed by use of the code ‘WTC’).

• EXPERIMENT: Which of the official WTC experiments this data file is associated with, e.g. ‘TEMP’ for the current experiment in the WTC (‘Temperature’ experiment). In the event that the data was from an automated sensor, ‘AUTO’ is used for the experiment code

• CHAMBER: Which chamber(s) data has been sourced from. This can include data sourced from a single WTC chamber (using C followed by the 2 digit chamber number, e.g. C02, C08, C15) or from multiple chambers (using CM – details about which chambers are included will be included in the file metadata).

• VARIABLE COLLECTION CODE: A collection code that represents a particular grouping of variables contained within a file. A list of variables contained within different variable collection codes can be found in the ‘Variable Collection Codes’ section below.

• DATA PROCESSING: The level of post-processing operated on the data. The definitions of the different levels of post-processing can be found below.

• DATE or DATERANGE: The date range which a dataset covers (for automated timeseries data for example) or the single date on which a sample, for example, was taken. Note that dates are in the YYYYMMDD format (with a hyphen used to split the start and end date of a date range). For files that are evolving over time (for example files with an, as yet, unknown end date for data appending), the term ‘OPEN’ may be used. Note however that it is possible that at some point that files using the term ‘OPEN’ may eventually be replaced with the now known date-range.

• VERSION: An optional version number of the form _Vx. This can be utilised when a new version of a file already existing within HIEv has been updated/corrected (maintaining the same data processing level).

• extension: The format of the data file, e.g. .csv, .dat (for toa5 data) etc.

Examples

• A dataset containing tree diameters and heights, measured between 2013-3-19 and 2013-12-24 on all chambers. Data have not been thoroughly quality checked, but some checking has been done after data entry. (the version number is optional and I have omitted it here).

“WTC_TEMP_CM_TREEMEAS_20130319-20131224_L1.csv”

• A dataset containing spot measurements of leaf gas exchange on 8 October 2013 on chamber 9 only. The data are raw and have not been quality checked.

“WTC_TEMP_C09_SPOTGAS_20131008_R.csv”

• An evolving dataset (with an as yet unknown end date for data collection) containing spot measurements of leaf gas exchange on chamber 9 only. The data are raw and have not been quality checked.

“WTC_TEMP_C09_SPOTGAS_OPEN_R.csv”

Data Processing Codes

The meanings of the different data processing codes used in WTC filenames are as follows:

• R (Raw Data): Data that has been directly extracted from an instrument and that has not been subjected to any data cleaning or postprocessing
• L1 (Level One Data): Data that has been cleaned and processed, but in a cursory manner. Some erroneous data may be included.
• L2 (Level Two Data): Data that has been rigorously cleaned, processed, and checked for quality control.
• L3 (Level Three Data): Archive of published datasets.

Collection codes

Please edit the table as you see fit! This is a quick draft.