LTER Site Byte

LTER Site: Luquillo LTER

Contributor: Eda C. Melendez-Colom (Aug 01, 2005)

Site Byte:

This last year, LUQ IM has been devoted to make progress in two areas: EML translation of all its metadata and local automation of the data manipulation to contribute to the NIS modules, namely, CLIMDB and All-Site Bibliography.

Conversion to EML was divided into two phases. First all the general information about the database’s related project, the abstract, methods, and personnel (author, contact, other investigators), among other EML elements were to be converted into EML and harvested into Metacat. A second phase, which will turn LUQ’s EML level to a 5th level, will include identities along with their attributes. With the help of Iñigo from the LNO, we completed Phase 1. This puts LUQ’s EML into a Level 3 to 4.

LUQ’s local metadata database went through a considerable transformation such that when updating or adding EML packages in the future, the transformation will be done automatically. Iñigo developed perl scripts that transformed xml files into EML packages.

The completion of Phase 2 is projected for next year, probably for this time of the year. This phase not only requires the transformation of the metadata, but of the data files themselves. As it turned out many of our data files were not exactly in a database-ready format. Transforming all these data files into a suitable databased format, has delayed this process. We believe that, at the end, LUQ’s metadata and data files will be even more suitable for synthesis as well as for EML transformations.

Special attention was given to the conversion of meteorological data into ClimDB. Tables that allows the user to convert regular mm/dd/yyyy-formated dates into the ClimDB dates format (strings with the format “yyymmdd”) were developed and the queries within Paradox that transform the dates using these tables were designed also. The rest of the transformation varies for each of the three stations whose data LUQ contributes for ClimDB each requiring different scripts or permanent queries for their transformation. All three have been updated or are in the process of being complete.

SiteDB was updated as well as the All-sites Bibliography (with 617 references as of July 31). Since all LUQ LTER Bibliography is entered in End Notes, the export process of the references is done by End Notes’ built in export format, which is accepted by the All-site Bibliographic module. This made LUQ collaboration to the NIS modules complete.

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