Data Standards for Atmospheric Science

This presentation was prepared for the iMST Lidar and Radar School associated with the 16th International Workshop on Technical and Scientific Aspects of iMST Radar and Lidar (MST16/iMST3). It was presented on 7th September 2024 at the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) in Kühlungsborn, Germany. The main aim of the presentation is to highlight the importance of appropriate metadata (i.e. data/information about data) for ensuring that scientific data files can be accessed and understood by both humans and computer systems. Such metadata are one of the components needed to ensure that files are compliant with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles. The presentation is informed by the (UK) Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) open-access data policy and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) data activity. These are both relevant to data files archived by the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA). The presentation focuses on the application of the Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Convention to netCDF data files. The same principles can be applied to image files, such as data plots and photos taken by automatic cameras. In such cases, use can be made of the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES) amongst other metadata fields. The presentation concludes with a brief look at the importance of perceptually uniform colour maps. These ensure that data plots are accessible for people with colour vision deficiencies. They also easier to interpret quantitatively for people with full colour vision. A selection of useful online resources is included at the end of the presentation.