Experimental data

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This wiki article describes guidelines on how to prepare experimental data for submission to PANGAEA. Please read our Authors Guides first. They provide general guidelines on how to prepare your metadata and data for publication in PANGAEA. Check if your experimental data file types and format are accepted by PANGAEA (see respective section in our Authors Guides). In addition, you can find the template for experimental data in section 2 (coming soon) and the specific requirements for experimental (meta-)data in section 3 below. If you are dealing with biological experimental data, please also have a look at our specific guidelines for Biology.

Types of experimental data at PANGAEA

Experimental data are collected in a structured trial to test a hypothesis by manipulating variables (treatments) and observing their effects on organisms or environmental samples under (semi-)controlled conditions in natural or artificial settings. Experiments are conducted in multiple research domains, and diverse experimental set-ups exist. The main types of experiments can be summarized as:

a) Field experiments are in situ studies designed to compare the effects of different treatments on organisms or other samples in their natural environment or under conditions that closely resemble it. Conditions are partially controlled and the treatments are set up by researchers, e.g. to investigate the growth of an organism in different microhabitats. This also includes mesocosm studies with an open experimental set-up that is influenced by several external environmental factors.

Example datasets:

b) Enclosed outdoor experiments are set up outside in a closed experimental system, e.g. greenhouse studies or bottle experiments. External factors are better controlled in these systems and therefore the studied sample or organism is less influenced by external environmental factors than in field studies. Relevant environmental factors for these outdoor experiments may e.g. include the natural daily cycle of light or air temperature.

Example datasets:

c) Laboratory experiments are (comparative) studies on organisms/samples under controlled conditions set up in a land-based or mobile (e.g. ship-based) laboratory, e.g. behaviour of fish larvae in response to different treatments of carbon dioxide (CO2) partial pressure.

Example datasets:


The following data are not considered experimental data in PANGAEA:

  • Field observations: Data are either directly collected in the field, or organisms/samples are collected and preserved (e.g. frozen) for later analysis in the laboratory, e.g. to determine the abundance of species in space and time. For the submission of field observation data, have a look at our general and domain-specific templates: Best practice manuals and templates.
  • Computational experiments (e.g. modelling data) are only archived at PANGAEA, if a direct relation to a corresponding environmental study exists. For further details, see our article Model data and PANGAEA.

Template for experimental data

coming soon

Specific requirements for metadata and data

Metadata - Abstract

  • For general guidelines, please read: Abstract.
  • Describe how the experiment was carried out, and include the conditions/treatments before and during the experiment.
  • Specify the type of experiment and the location where the experimental data were collected, e.g. "field experiment in the Wadden Sea at Spiekeroog", or "laboratory experiment at the Marine Biology laboratory at Kiel University".

Metadata - Keywords

It is mandatory to include ONE of the following keywords for experimental data to distinguish them from other datasets with field observations in PANGAEA:

  • Field experiment
  • Laboratory experiment
  • Mesocosm experiment
  • Greenhouse experiment
  • Experiment

Further keywords, such as “ship-based”, “land-based”, the name of the experimental site or the analysed sample/species may be included in addition.

Metadata - Event table

The Event table (see template, coming soon) gives an overview when, where and how the experimental sample, organism or data was collected. Please provide the following event information:

  • Event(s) for the actual experiments including the location and the start and end date/time of the experiments
  • If available, additionally provide the original sampling event of the studied sample/organism in the field prior to the experiments

For general information regarding the event information, please read: Event. Please use one of the following methods for the events of the actual experiments: “Field experiment”, “Laboratory experiment”,  “Mesocosm experiment”,  “Greenhouse experiment”,  “Experiment”.

Metadata - Parameter table

This table summarizes all variables (PANGAEA "parameters") that are included in the data table, specifies units, principal investigator(s) and the methods used to generate the data. Please read our general requirements for parameter information and see our respective template (coming soon). Specific requirements for experimental data include:

  • The parameter name should specify whether the values in a column reflect an experimental condition/treatment or a measured variable. For treatment parameters, use the syntax Treatment: XY, e.g., "Treatment: temperature", “Treatment: light intensity”, or “Treatment: carbon dioxide”.
  • The parameter name may include the type of sample or species name, e.g. “Mytilus edulis, wet mass“.

Data table/files

Prepare your data according to our general requirements for tabular data and binary files. Specific requirements for tabular experimental data include:

  • The first column must be the Event label. The Event label must correspond to the event information of the actual experiments included in the Event table.
  • The second column must be "Type of study" to separate experimental datasets from field observations. Use e.g.  "Laboratory experiment" or "Field experiment" as values, even if all data are from the same type of study.
  • If an organism (e.g. Mytilus edulis) was investigated in the experiment, the species should be indicated in the parameter names. Alternatively, if multiple species were studied, include e.g. the column "Species, unique identification" for the scientific name of the species even if only one species was studied. Please provide a Life Science Identifier (LSID e.g. urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:140656) in a separate column, e.g. “Species, unique identification (Semantic URI)”. We recommend to use WoRMS LSIDs for marine organisms or Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) LSIDs for terrestrial and limnic organisms.
  • Any other type of studied samples (e.g. sediment) can either be indicated in the parameter names or alternatively specified in the column "Sample type".
  • Include the date/time of experiment in ISO-format and as UTC (use e.g. parameter "Sampling date/time, experiment" or "Date/time start, experiment", "Date/time end, experiment"). Start and end date/time must be provided in separate columns.
  • For field experiments, include the parameters Latitude and Longitude in decimal degrees, and the third dimension depth (e.g. parameters “Depth, sediment, experiment [m]”, "Depth, water, experiment [m]"), even if all observations are from the surface (value = 0). When data are from a depth range, minimum and maximum depths must be provided in separate columns.
  • Use "Treatment: XY" parameters, e.g., "Treatment: Temperature, water" to indicate the experimental conditions/treatments for the data.
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