These are the column headers for CSV-formatted external data files. The files should be UTF-8 encoded.
Missing values should be supplied as blank cells, not as
NA
or some other code.
Other columns can also be supplied, but will typically be ignored.
Contaminant data
The data file has one row for each measurement.
column name | type | mandatory | comments |
---|---|---|---|
country |
character | yes | identifies the source of the data; for international assessments
this is typically the country of origin, but for national assessments it
could be a local monitoring authority must match country
in station fileno missing values |
station_code |
alphanumeric | yes | the station (code) where the sample was collected must match station_code in station fileno missing values |
station_name |
alphanumeric | yes | the station (name) where the sample was collected; this is often
more intuitive to a user than station_code must match station_name in station fileno missing values |
sample_latitude |
numeric (decimal degrees) | need not match station_latitude in station file |
|
sample_longitude |
numeric (decimal degrees) | need not match station_longitude in station file |
|
year |
integer | yes | monitoring year doesn’t necessarily match date since
a sampling season running from e.g. November 2021 to May 2022 might all
be considered the 2022 monitoring yearno missing values |
date |
date: use ISO 8601 standard e.g. 2023-06-28 | sampling date | |
depth |
numeric (m) | sediment: assumed to be a surface sediment sample with depth being
the lower depth of the grab water: assumed to be a surface water sample with depth being the upper depth of the sample biota: not used, so can supply whatever is useful (or omit) |
|
species |
character | yes (biota) | latin name which must match a submitted_species in the
species reference table |
sex |
character | see ICES reference codes for SEXCO required for EROD assessments desirable if sex is used to subdivide timeseries (see subseries ) |
|
n_individual |
integer | number of pooled individuals in the sample required for imposex assessments |
|
subseries |
character | used to split up timeseries by e.g. sex or age for example: juvenile , adult_male ,
adult_female missing values indicate that all records in a timeseries will be considered together (no subdivision) |
|
sample |
alphanumeric | yes | links measurements made on the same individuals (biota), in the same
sediment grab or in the same water sample no missing values |
determinand |
character | yes | must match values in determinand reference table most will be in ICES reference codes for PARAM but can provide own values no missing values |
matrix |
character | yes | see ICES reference codes for MATRX |
basis |
character | yes (biota & sediment) |
W , D or L no missing values for chemical measurements in biota or sediment not mandatory for water where basis is always taken to be W |
unit |
character | yes | see ICES reference codes for MUNIT no missing values |
value |
numeric | yes | no missing values |
censoring |
character | typically D , Q or <
indicating a value less than the limit of detection, less than the limit
of quantification, or some other (non-specified) less thana missing value indicates that the measurement is not a less-than (i.e. is uncensored) |
|
limit_detection |
numeric | same unit as value | |
limit_quantification |
numeric | same unit as value | |
uncertainty |
numeric | analytical uncertainty in the measurement same unit as value |
|
unit_uncertainty |
character |
SD , U2 or % if uncertainty is present, unit_uncertainty must
also be present |
|
method_pretreatment |
character | use ICES reference codes for METPT | |
method_analysis |
character | use ICES reference codes for METOA required for bile metabolite measurements |
|
method_extraction |
character | use ICES reference codes for METCX required for sediment normalisation (typically for metals) |
Station data
The station file has one row for each station.
current_name | Type | mandatory | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
OSPAR_region |
character | the regional columns can be called anything (and are
optional) for OSPAR assessments, use OSPAR_region and
OSPAR_subregion for HELCOM assessments use HELCOM_subbasin , HELCOM_L3 and
HELCOM_L4 for other assessments any regional columns must be explicitly identified when calling read_data using
the control argument |
|
OSPAR_subregion |
character | see above | |
country |
character | yes | no missing values |
station_code |
alphanumeric | yes | no missing values |
station_name |
character | yes | no missing values |
station_longname |
character | typically a more intuitive name for the station than
station_name
|
|
station_latitude |
numeric (decimal degrees) | yes | no missing values |
station_longitude |
numeric (decimal degrees) | yes | no missing values |
station_type |
character | see ICES reference codes for MSTAT typically B
(baseline), RH (representative) or IH
(impacted) |
|
waterbody_type |
character | see ICES reference codes for WLTYP typically a code indicating transitional (estuarine) waters, coastal waters or open sea |