Intern:Binary object

How to prepare georeferenced binary objects for archiving/publishing:

Binary objects (BO) are digital files consisting of plain text, photos, grafics, films, sound or binary data in specific formats. BO are stored in a file system on a hard disc/tape robot combination (hs=hirachical storage). The metadata are stored in the relational database with a link to the BO.

BO are archived in two steps:

(1) Metadata

Provide list of events (station/site/profile), describing the location of the BO. Mandatory are the fields LabelEvent (must be unique), LatitudeEvent, LongitudeEvent; recommended are ElevationEvent, DateEvent, TimeEvent, Gear; (for profiles, all fields can be given twice for start and end point); optional fields are Remarks and OptionalLabel. - In case the stations were operated during a campaign (cruise/expedition), information about its name (code/label), time, basis/ship, responsible scientist, and citation of report should be given.

(2) Data

BO are archived in at least one standard exchange format (jpg, gif, tiff, png, pdf, txt, shape, segy, wave, ...). Proprietary formats shoudl follow international standards as far as defined. Data are archived with one data description per event. Required description fields are: Data set title, principle investigator (PI), method, comment, and reference(s) if published. A more detailed description of a dataset can be added as a pdf-file.

There are two ways of georeferencing BO:

a) The event is a station with one (two) pair of latitude/longitude -> all BO will be added to this event, equivalent to one pair of lat/long.

b) The event is a profile described in detail by several pairs of lat/long, giving each BO its own georeference; -> in this case a list must be provided, containing the mandatory columns - Event label - date/time - latitude - longitude, both in decimal degree - filename of the BO - further columns with analytical and/or technical data may be added as required.

Due to the automated import of BO, filenames should follow a certain syntax: EventLabel_describer.extension The describer can be used individually and may contain a code (date/time, ordinal number, depth, length, ...) or the type of a BO (photo, x-ray, description, video, ...) or a combination of both. (Do not use spaces or special characters in filenames).

Examples for filenames of BO:

- Photo EventLabel_photo.jpg - Photo of a segment EventLabel_begin-end_photo.jpg - Photo, x-ray EventLabel_x-ray.tiff - Photo w time EventLabel_hh_mm_ss.png - Photo w date/time EventLabel_yyyy-mm-ddThh_mm_ss.jpg - Photo w ordinal number EventLabel_0034.png - Grafic of a segment EventLabel_begin-end.gif - Description as pdf EventLabel_descr.pdf - Plain text EventLabel_comment.txt - Film/sound sequence EventLabel_begin-end_video.avi

Examples of data sets with BO:

a) http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.108215

dataset consists of graphics and photos as a documentation of a geological sediment core. In the header the fields of the metainformation as described above are listed. In HTML-view the grafic objects are shown as thumbnails, a click on a thumbnail starts download of the file in full resolution.

http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.198686

shows photos from the ocean floor along a transect. Due to a missing relation between photo and precise position, all photos are related to a single pair of latitude/longitude only; in addition the lat/longs describing the track are given in one minute time resolution as additional text file. For a convenient download of all photos an extra link is added.

b) http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.119185

is a fully georeferenced data set containg the description of a cruise track with links to BO as seismic and grafic files from certain segments of the track. Columns with further technical data are added. The URL shows the path to the mass storage system for BO used by PANGAEA.