SHORT FORM Format
( also used for Plankton-Group and Regional Compilations )

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The COPEPOD-2007 "short-form" format is designed for use in spreadsheet, graphical, or statistical software.   Each row in this format is a complete observation set with its own position, date, and sampling information.   An observation set can be a single-depth biomass tow, one depth of a multiple-depth biomass tow, or a single taxa (out of many) counted in a single tow or bottle.  

Each individual "short-form" data file is an individual cruise.   If you want to reconstruct the original tow or bottle contents within that cruise, you can do this with the RECORD-ID.   The first four digits in this field are a unique identifier for each tow or bottle within the current file.   The second four digits count the observations measured from that net or bottle.   For example, "0001_0001" and "0001_0002" are two observations from the same net, but "0001_0001" and "0002_0001" are observations from two different nets.

Each row in this data file contains multiple comma-separated data fields (columns).   Below are the column headings and contents for each data field:

    SHP-CRUISE   -   NODC ship code + COPEPOD internal cruise identifier

    YEAR   -   year of the tow or sample

    MONTH   -   month of the tow or sample

    DAY   -   GMT-based day of the tow or sample

    TIMEloc   -   LOCAL time of the tow or sample ( in decimal hours )

    LATITUDE   -   latitude of the tow or sample ( + = North, - = South )

    LONGITDE   -   longitude of the tow or sample ( + = East, - = West )

    UPPER_Z   -   upper depth of the tow or bottle

    LOWER_Z   -   lower depth of the tow or bottle

    T   -   tow type   ( Vertical, Horizontal, Oblique )

    MESH   -   net mesh size ( in micrometers )

    NMFS_PGC   -   COPEPOD Plankton Grouping Code (PGC) for the observation

    ITIS_TSN   -   ITIS Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN) or COPEPOD identifier (iff < 0)

    PSC   -   COPEPOD Plankton [Life] Staging Code for the observation
      0 = unspecified
      1 = adult or sub-adult
      2 = juvenile or larvae
      3 = nauplius-like 4 = eggs 5 = incomplete body fragments

    V   -   Type of (V)alue measurement in the Value fields
      b = Biomass
      c = Count,
      l = Biomass (iff large plankter, like jellyfish, were NOT removed for the measurement)

    VALUE-per-volu[me]   -   per-water-volume count or biomass measurement of the observation

    UNITS   -   Units for the VALUE-per-volu[me]

    F1   -   COPEPOD-2007 global-annual range flag for the per-volu[me] value
    F2   -   COPEPOD-2007 basin-annual range flag for the per-volu[me] value
    F3   -   COPEPOD-2007 basin-seasonal range flag for the per-volu[me] value
    F4   -   COPEPOD-2007 basin-monthly range flag for the per-volu[me] value
    VALUE-per-area   -   per-surface-area count or biomass measurement of the observation

    These calculated "per area" values are currently in a testing state.   While the calculations appear sound,
    range flagging has not been run on these values.  
    Use these values at your own risk, with caution!.

    UNITS   -   Units of the count or biomass measurement

    F1   -   place-holder for future global-annual range flag for the per-area value
    F2   -   place-holder for future basin-annual range flag for the per-area value
    F3   -   place-holder for future basin-seasonal range flag for the per-area value
    F4   -   place-holder for future basin-monthly range flag for the per-area value
    SCIENTIFIC NAME -[ descriptive modifiers ]-   test description of the observation

    RECORD-ID   -   COPEPOD unique record identifier

    DATASET-ID   -   COPEPOD data set identifier

    SHIP   -   numeric ship (vessel) identifier

    PROJ   -   numeric project identifier

  NMFS-COPEPOD
http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/plankton
Web v10.1   [ 2010-Dec]