accessing palmer lter data (instructions for datazoo) · pdf fileaccessing palmer lter data...

Polar-ICEEARTH2016Workshop

ThisprojectisfundedbytheNationalScienceFoundationGrantNo.PLR-1525635.

AccessingPalmerLTERData(InstructionsforDatazoo)

1. Datazooisthenameofthedatacatalog(onlinedataportal)foralloftheavailableonline

PalmerLTERdata.Youcanaccessitvia:http://pal.lternet.edu/data(clickon“GotoCatalog”)ORhttp://oceaninformatics.ucsd.edu/datazoo/data/pallter/datasets

a. Todownloaddatayouwillneedtologinbyselectingthe“LogIn”buttoninthetoprightcornerofthewebpage.

b. Registerasapublicuser,byputtinginyourname,email,andEducation(K-12)

c. Onceregistered,click“ReturntoPreviousPage”atthebottomofthePublicUsers

sectiontobegintosearchfordata.2. Therearemultiplewaystosearchthroughtheavailabledatasources.



a. Ifyouknowaspecificdatasourceyouareinterestedinfinding(e.g.,Adelie,diet,chlorophyll)thenyoucantypetheterm(s)intotheSearchfieldinthecenterofthepageandclick“Submit”

b. Ifyouarenotcertainofaspecificdatasourceyouareinterestedinfinding,youcan

lookthroughthevariouscategoriesalongtheleft-handsideofthepagetoselectfromtheoptions.ClickonanoptiontoselectitandthenclickSubmitintheSearchfeaturesectionatthetopofthepage.

i. DataSource-thisishow/wherethedatawerecollected(rememberthe

PalmerLTERprojecthasscientistsbothonaresearchcruiseoutinthePalmerResearchStation)

ii. LTERAnnualCruise-youcanselectaparticularyearoftheresearchcruisetoaccessdatawhichwerecollectedaboardthevesselfromtheselectedyear(s)

iii. StationSeason-youcanselectaparticularfieldseasonofthedatacollectedbytheresearchersbasedattheU.S.PalmerResearchStationfromtheselectedfieldseason(s)[note-thefieldseasonisduringtheaustralsummer,sofieldseasonspansthecalendaryear,hencePAL0001isthePalmerfieldseasonfrom2000to2001]

iv. Contributor-youcanselectdatacollectedbyaspecificresearcherparticipatinginthePalmerLTERproject



v. LTERCoreArea-youcanselectthedatarelevanttoeachofthe6coreareasofthePalmerLTERproject(disturbancepatterns,inorganicmatter,organicmatter,populationstudies,primaryproduction,signature)

vi. Keyword-youcanselectdatarelevantto68differentpre-selectedkeywordsthatmaybeofinteresttoyou(e.g.,biomass,climate,ecosystem,nutrients)

c. Alloftheseoptionswillautomaticallypopulatealistofrelevant/selecteddatasourcesintheResultssectionundertheSearchfeatureinthecenterofthepage.

3. Selectadatasourcebyclickinginthedatasource’sbluetitle.

a. Youwillbedirectedtoapagewithinformationaboutthatspecificdatasource.“Documentation”willbehighlightedasthedefaultandthatincludes[note-notalldatasetshaveinformationforeveryfield]:

i. Overview-title,abstract,projects,creators,contact,keywordsii. Methods/Protocols-title,description

iii. SupplementalDocumentsiv. AssociatedPublications

b. Toaccessthedata,clickonthe“Data”buttonontheleft-handsideofthepage



i. Thenameofthedatatableislistedatthetopinblue“Datatable:”ii. Byselectingthedownarrownexttothe“Columns”youcanseewhat

variablesareincludedinthedatatable.iii. Byselectingthedownarrownexttothe“Datasources/studies”youcansee

whichdatasources/studiesfromwhichtheinformationwithinthedatatablecame.

iv. Toseethedataclickthegreen“Download”button4. Youwillbetakentoapagededicatedtothemaintableforthedatayouarerequesting.

a. Bydefault,allofthevariablesfromallofthedatasources/studiesareselectedtobe

exported(appearinthemiddleandfarrightcolumns).



b. IfyoudoNOTwantallofthevariablesand/orallofthedatasources/studies,thenyoucanclickonthevariableordatasource/studytoremoveitfromtherighthandcolumnofdatatobedownloadedintothelefthandcolumnofdatanotincludedinthedownload.

c. Whenyouhavefinalizedyourselectionofwhatdatatodownload,clicktheblue

“DownloadData”button.5. Iftherequestfordataissuccessful,agreenbarwith“DataQuerySuccessful”willappear

belowtheblue“DownloadData”button.

a. PreviewData-enablesyoutolookatthedatatableinanewtabwebpageb. DownloadCSV-enablesyoutodownloadthedatatableasa.csvfile(atable

structuredformatofthedatathatyoucanopeninavarietyofsoftwareprograms)i. Ifclicked,thefilewilldownloadontoyourcomputerandyouwillbe

promptedtosaveoropenthefile.ii. Onceyouhavesavedoropenedthefileyoucanaccessthedatainwhatever

softwareprogramthataccepts.csvfiles.



c. DownloadXLS-enablesyoutodownloadthedatatableasa.xlsfiletoopeninMicrosoftExcel

i. Ifclicked,waitforthegreen“XLSReady”buttontoappearandthenclickthebuttontobepromptedtosaveoropenthefile.

ii. OnceyouhavesavedoropenedthefileyoucanaccessthedatainMicrosoftExcel(orothersoftwareprogramsthataccept.xlsfiles).

d. PlotData-pullsupawidgetonthepagethatenablesyoutoselectwhichaspectsofthedatayouwanttoplotwithinthewebpage[note-thisshouldbetreatedasawaytodoaquicklookatthedata,itshouldNOTbeusedasawaytovisualizethedataforanalysis]

i. Thedatacanbeviewedinthefollowingdifferentdatavisualizationformats(ifthedataareappropriateforthatformofdatavisualization):timeseries,scatter,boxplot,contour,mapcontour