Because numerous subdisciplines are included in the ACES program, the referenced procedures will be in accordance with those established for that subdiscipline. In the area of socioeconomic projects, newly developed methodologies may require additional description of procedures to assure compliance with the QA policy. Any deviation from established procedure will be documented in the final report. Proposals should include detailed procedures to define methods for collecting and analyzing samples. C. Metadata, including quality assurance information, will be linked to all data in the ACES database upon submittal, ensuring that modeling and interpretation efforts will explicitly incorporate uncertainty.
Metadata describe the content, quality, condition and other characteristics of data.
Creating metadata is crucial in the data development process and can only be written by scientists or analysts who are most familiar with the data. Investigators will document data products with metadata content that is explicit and descriptive, documenting the sources and procedures used. Required reports, data products, metadata, etc. should be transferred in one or more of the following formats in addition to any hardcopy requirements. MB Zip CD ROM Metadata are required for all data products. Data and metadata delivery should coincide, each data set having a corresponding metadata file at the time of transfer.