4.10 Examples: ENV-DATA and DNA derived data

Contents

Special data types:

4.10.0.1 Fish abundance and distribution

(example coming soon)

 

4.10.0.2 Hard coral cover and composition

(example coming soon)

 

4.10.0.3 Invertebrates abundance and distribution

(example coming soon)

 

4.10.0.4 Macroalgae canopy cover and composition

In this section we will encode a fictional macroalgal survey dataset into Darwin Core using the ENV-DATA approach, i.e. using an Event core with an Occurrence extension and an extendedMeasurementOrFact extension.

Figure: A fictional macroalgae survey with a single site, multiple zones, quadrats, and different types of transects.

Event core:

First we can create the Event core table by extracting all events in a broad sense and populating attributes such as time, location, and depth at the appropriate level. The events at the different levels are linked together using eventID and parentEventID. As the survey sites has a fixed location we can populate decimalLongitude and decimalLatitude at the top level event. The zones have different depths, so minimumDepthInMeters and maximumDepthInMeters are populated at the zone level. Finally, as not all sampling was done on the same day, eventDate is populated at the quadrat and transect level.

eventID parentEventID eventDate decimalLongitude decimalLatitude minimumDepthInMeters maximumDepthInMeters
site_1 54.7943 16.9425
zone_1 site_1 0 0
zone_2 site_1 0 5
zone_3 site_1 5 10
quadrat_1 zone_1 2019-01-02
transect_1 zone_2 2019-01-03
transect_2 zone_3 2019-01-04

Occurrence extension:

Next we can construct the Occurrence extension table. This table has the scientific names and links to the World Register of Marine Species in scientificNameID. The first column of the table references the events in the core table (see quadrat_1 for example highlighted in green).

id occurrenceID scientificName scientificNameID
quadrat_1 occ_1 Ulva rigida urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:145990
quadrat_1 occ_2 Ulva lactuca urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:145984
transect_1 occ_3 Plantae urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:3
transect_1 occ_4 Plantae urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:3
transect_2 occ_5 Gracilaria urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:144188
transect_2 occ_6 Laurencia urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:143914

extendedMeasurementOrFact (eMoF) extension:

And finally there is the MeasurementOrFact extension table, which has attributes of the zones (shore height), the quadrats (surface area), the transects (surface area and length), and the occurrences (percentage cover and functional group). Attributes of occurrences point to the Occurrence extension table using the occurrenceID column (see occ_1 and occ_2 highlighted in blue and orange). Note that besides NERC vocabulary terms we are also referencing the CATAMI vocabulary for macroalgal functional groups.

id occurrenceID measurementType measurementTypeID measurementValue measurementValueID measurementUnit measurementUnitID
zone_1 shore height ? high ?
quadrat_1 surface area P01/current/AREABEDS 0.25 m2 P06/current/UMSQ
quadrat_1 occ_1 cover P01/current/SDBIOL10 24 percent P06/current/UPCT
quadrat_1 occ_2 cover P01/current/SDBIOL10 56 percent P06/current/UPCT
transect_1 surface area P01/current/AREABEDS 60 m2 P06/current/UMSQ
transect_1 length P01/current/LENTRACK 30 m P06/current/ULAA
transect_1 occ_3 functional group ? sheet-like red CATAMI:80300925
transect_1 occ_4 functional group ? filamentous brown CATAMI:80300931
transect_1 occ_3 cover P01/current/SDBIOL10 8 percent P06/current/UPCT
transect_1 occ_4 cover P01/current/SDBIOL10 24 percent P06/current/UPCT
transect_2 occ_5 cover P01/current/SDBIOL10 4 percent P06/current/UPCT
transect_2 occ_6 cover P01/current/SDBIOL10 16 percent P06/current/UPCT

4.10.0.5 Mangroves cover and composition

(example coming soon)

 

4.10.0.6 Marine birds abundance and distribution

The example for ENV-DATA collected with marine bird sightings/occurrences is based on the dataset “RV Investigator Voyage IN2017_V02 Seabird Observations, Australia (2017)”. In this dataset, seabird sightings were recorded continuously during daylight hours during a voyage to recover and redeploy moorings at the SOTS site, southwest of Tasmania, Australia, in March 2017. Observations were made from c.30 minutes before sunrise to c.30 minutes after sunset, extending to 300m in the forward quadrant with the best viewing conditions. There were 1200 observations from 38 species of birds along with 3 cetacean species and one seal. This example will focus on the ENV-DATA associated with the bird sightings. The most frequently sighted bird species were Puffinus tenuirostris (Short-tailed Shearwater) and Pachyptila turtur (Fairy Prion).

For this dataset, human observation recorded individual bird sightings (thus, each specimen is a single occurrence). The dataset contains abiotic measurements (ENV-DATA) which are related to each individual sighting, instead of an entire sample. Therefore, we can create an Occurrence core with an eMoF extension that contain the abiotic environmental measurements or facts.

Occurrence core:

The Occurrence core is populated with the occurrence records of seabirds sighted during the RV voyages. Occurrence details and scientific names are provided here. All birds were observed above sea level, all minimumDepthInMeters and maximumDepthInMeters values equal zero.

occurrenceID eventDate institutionCode collectionCode basisOfRecord recordedBy organismQuantity organismQuantityType occurrenceStatus decimalLatitude decimalLongitude coordinateUncertaintyInMeters coordinatePrecision footprintWKT
in2017_v02_00998 2017-03-17 01:07:00 Australasian Seabird Group, BirdLife Australia in2017_v02_wov HumanObservation EJW+CRC+TAH 2 individuals present -43.40741 147.45576 200 0.0018 POINT (147.45576 -43.40741)
in2017_v02_01380 2017-03-19 22:26:00 Australasian Seabird Group, BirdLife Australia in2017_v02_wov HumanObservation EJW+CRC+TAH 1 individuals present -45.98644 142.1445 200 0.0018 POINT (142.14450 -45.98644)
in2017_v02_01012 2017-03-17 02:38:00 Australasian Seabird Group, BirdLife Australia in2017_v02_wov HumanObservation EJW+CRC+TAH 1 individuals present -43.40728 147.45549 200 0.0018 POINT (147.45549 -43.40728)

extendedMeasurementOrFact (eMoF) extension:

As shown in previous examples, the MeasurementOrFact extension table contains abiotic measurements or facts corresponding to an occurrence / sighting. Individual sightings and abiotic measurements are linked with occurrenceID. In the example dataset, the ENV-DATA consist of measurements taken during the moorings deployment at the SOTS site, at the time of the marine bird sightings. In addition to NERC vocabulary terms, authors also referenced the Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN) Discovery Parameter Vocabulary for Sea-floor depth (m) and Sea Surface Temperature as measurementType. NERC equivalents to the AODN terms are added as additional MeasurementOrFact (MoF) records.

occurrenceID measurementID measurementType measurementTypeID measurementValue measurementValueID measurementUnit measurementUnitID
in2017_v02_00998 in2017_v02_00998-depth Sea-floor depth (m) http://vocab.aodn.org.au/def/discovery_parameter/entity/574 73.0313 NA Metres http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/ULAA
in2017_v02_00998 in2017_v02_00998-depth Sea-floor depth http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/MBANZZZZ/ 73.0313 NA Metres http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/ULAA
in2017_v02_00998 in2017_v02_00998-air_pressure Air Pressure (hPa) http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/CAPHZZ01 1024.91385 NA hPa http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/HPAX
in2017_v02_00998 in2017_v02_00998-air_temp Atmospheric temperature (deg C) http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/CTMPZZ01 15.3 NA degrees Celsius http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UPAA
in2017_v02_00998 in2017_v02_00998-wov_sea_state Sea state http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/C39/current/ moderate 1.25 - 2.5 m http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/C39/current/4/
in2017_v02_00998 in2017_v02_00998-sea_surface_temp Sea surface temperature http://vocab.aodn.org.au/def/discovery_parameter/entity/97 17.32 NA degrees Celsius http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UPAA
in2017_v02_00998 in2017_v02_00998-sea_surface_temp Sea surface temperature http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/standard_name/sea_surface_temperature/ 17.32 NA degrees Celsius http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UPAA
in2017_v02_00998 in2017_v02_00998-wind_direction Wind direction (deg) http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/EWDAZZ01 283 NA degrees http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UABB
in2017_v02_00998 in2017_v02_00998-wind_speed Wind Speed (knt) http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/ESSAZZ01 5.49 NA Knots (nautical miles per hour) http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UKNT

4.10.0.7 Marine mammals abundance and distribution

In this section we will explore how to encode a survey data set into Darwin Core using the ENV-DATA approach. As an example, sections of the actual data set of CETUS: Cetacean monitoring surveys in the Eastern North Atlantic, is used.

Figure: A representation of the observation events of CETUS: Cetacean monitoring surveys in the Eastern North Atlantic, presenting the route Madeira as a site with three cruises (zones). Each Cruise is divided into different Transects and each transect contains a number of Positions.

Event core:

Create the Event core table by extracting all events and populating attributes. As in the previous example, the events at the different levels are linked together using eventID and parentEventID. As the survey observations were made at locations of cetacean sightings instead of fixed locations, we can populate footprintWKT and footprintSRS as location information. Not all sampling was done on the same day, therefore eventDate is populated at the transect level.

eventID parentEventID eventDate footprintWKT footprintSRS
Madeira 2012-07/2017-09 POLYGON ((-16.74 31.49, -16.74 41.23, -8.70 41.23, -8.70 31.49, -16.74 31.49)) EPSG:4326
Madeira:Cruise-001 Madeira 2012-07 MULTIPOINT ( (-8.7 41.19), (-9.15 38.7)) EPSG:4326
Madeira:Cruise-002 Madeira 2012-07 MULTIPOINT ( (-9.15 38.7), (-16.73 32.74)) EPSG:4326
Madeira:Cruise-003 Madeira 2012-07 MULTIPOINT ( (-16.73 32.74), (-9.15 38.7)) EPSG:4326

Occurrence extension:

Construct the Occurrence extension table with the scientific names and links to the World Register of Marine Species in scientificNameID. The first column of the table references the events in the core table (see Madeira:Cruise-001 highlighted in green).The occurrenceID corresponds to the Position of the observation (see Transect-01:Pos-0001 and CIIMAR-CETUS-0001 highlighted in blue, or Transect-01:Pos-0002 and CIIMAR-CETUS-0002 highlighted in orange).

id occurrenceID scientificNameID scientificName
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01:Pos-0001 CIIMAR-CETUS-0001 urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:2688 Cetacea
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01:Pos-0002 CIIMAR-CETUS-0002 urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:2688 Cetacea
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01:Pos-0003 CIIMAR-CETUS-0003 urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:2688 Cetacea
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-02:Pos-0004 CIIMAR-CETUS-0004 urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:2688 Cetacea
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-02:Pos-0005 CIIMAR-CETUS-0005 urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:2688 Cetacea
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-02:Pos-0006 CIIMAR-CETUS-0006 urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:2688 Cetacea
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-02:Pos-0007 CIIMAR-CETUS-0007 urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:2688 Cetacea

extendedMeasurementOrFact (eMoF) extension:

And finally, the extendedMeasurementOrFact extension table has attributes of the zones (such as Vessel speed and Vessel Heading), the Transects (such as Wave height and Wind speed), and the Positions (such as Visibility and the Number of smaal/big ships >20m). Attributes of Positions point to the Occurrence extension table using the occurrenceID column (see Transect-01:Pos-0001 and Transect-01:Pos-0002 highlighted in blue and orange, respectively).

id occurrenceID measurementType measurementTypeID measurementValue measurementUnit measurementUnitID
Madeira:Cruise-001 Vessel name Q01/current/Q0100001 Monte da Guia
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01 Length of the track P01/current/DSRNCV01 39.75 km P06/current/ULKM
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01:Pos-0001 CIIMAR-CETUS-0001 Visibility 2000-4000 Meters P06/current/ULAA
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01:Pos-0001 CIIMAR-CETUS-0001 Wind speed P01/current/WMOCWFBF 1 Beaufort scale
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01:Pos-0001 CIIMAR-CETUS-0001 Wave height 2 Douglas scale
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01:Pos-0001 CIIMAR-CETUS-0001 Number of big ships (>20m) 3
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01:Pos-0001 CIIMAR-CETUS-0001 Vessel heading P01/current/HDNGGP01 206 Degrees P06/current/UAAA
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01:Pos-0001 CIIMAR-CETUS-0001 Number of small ships (<20m) 0
Madeira:Cruise-001:Transect-01:Pos-0001 CIIMAR-CETUS-0001 Vessel speed P01/current/APSAGP01 16 Knots (nautical miles per hour) P06/current/UKNT

4.10.0.8 Marine turtles abundance and distribution

4.10.0.8.1 Survey and sighting data

This section deals with encoding survey and/ or sighting data of sea turtles into Darwin Core using the ENV-DATA approach. Extracts from the actual data set of Presence of sea turtles collected through Fixed-Line-Transect monitoring across the Western Mediterranean Sea (Civitavecchia-Barcelona route) between 2013 and 2017, are used as an example.

Event core:

The Event core is created by extracting all sighting events and populating the attributes at each event. The events at the different levels are linked together using eventID and parentEventID. In the example dataset, turtle sightings have been recorded since 2007, along a ferry route between Italy and Spain, as part of the monitoring project FLT Med Net (Fixed Line Transect Mediterranean monitoring Network). Turtle sighting locations can be given by populating the fields footprintWKT and footprintSRS with location information. Sightings were recorded at different dates, therefore eventDate is populated at the transect level.

id modified datasetID datasetName eventID parentEventID eventDate eventRemarks minimumDepthInMeters maximumDepthInMeters decimalLatitude decimalLongitude geodeticDatum coordinateUncertaintyInMeters footprintWKT footprintSRS
TURTLE_CBAR_0043 2021-05-05 07:59:08 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/6403 Presence of sea turtles collected through Fixed-Line-Transect monitoring across the Western Mediterranean Sea TURTLE_CBAR_0043 2013-04-03T05:30:00+02:00/2013-04-03T16:00:00+02:00 transect 0 0 41.26179967 4.933265167 EPSG:4326 222970.2874 LINESTRING (7.602633333333 41.24378333333, 2.263897 41.279816) EPSG:4326
TURTLE_CBAR_0045 2021-05-05 07:59:08 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/6403 Presence of sea turtles collected through Fixed-Line-Transect monitoring across the Western Mediterranean Sea TURTLE_CBAR_0045 2013-04-18T05:22:00+02:00/2013-04-18T15:53:00+02:00 transect 0 0 41.30371367 4.936571167 EPSG:4326 225420.0359 LINESTRING (7.636983333333 41.32418333333, 2.236159 41.283244) EPSG:4326
TURTLE_CBAR_0045_0001 2021-05-05 07:59:08 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/6403 Presence of sea turtles collected through Fixed-Line-Transect monitoring across the Western Mediterranean Sea TURTLE_CBAR_0045_0001 TURTLE_CBAR_0045 2013-04-18T05:55:00+02:00 sample 0 0 41.3228 7.4984 EPSG:4326 POINT EPSG:4326
TURTLE_CBAR_0045_0002 2021-05-05 07:59:08 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/6403 Presence of sea turtles collected through Fixed-Line-Transect monitoring across the Western Mediterranean Sea TURTLE_CBAR_0045_0002 TURTLE_CBAR_0045 2013-04-18T08:35:00+02:00 sample 0 0 41.322845 5.995345 EPSG:4326 POINT EPSG:4326

Occurrence extension:

The Occurrence extension contain details regarding the sighted animals and include scientificName and the links to the World Register of Marine Species in scientificNameID. The EventID references the events as in the Event core. This table further provides information on the basisOfRecord and occurrenceStatus.

EventID occurrenceID datasetID collectionCode basisOfRecord catalogNumber recordedBy occurrenceStatus scientificNameID scientificName kingdom scientificNameAuthorship
TURTLE_CBAR_0043 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0001 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/6403 TURTLE_CBAR_13-17 HumanObservation AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0001 Ilaria Campana | Miriam Paraboschi | Erica Ercoli | Erica absent urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:136999 Cheloniidae Animalia Oppel, 1811
TURTLE_CBAR_0045 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0004 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/6403 TURTLE_CBAR_13-17 HumanObservation AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0004 Antonella Arcangeli | Cristina Berardi | Lucilla Giulietti | Claudia Boccardi absent urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:136999 Cheloniidae Animalia Oppel, 1811
TURTLE_CBAR_0045_0001 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0005 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/6403 TURTLE_CBAR_13-17 HumanObservation AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0005 Antonella Arcangeli | Cristina Berardi | Lucilla Giulietti | Claudia Boccardi present urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:137205 Caretta caretta Animalia Linnaeus, 1758
TURTLE_CBAR_0045_0002 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0006 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/6403 TURTLE_CBAR_13-17 HumanObservation AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0006 Antonella Arcangeli | Cristina Berardi | Lucilla Giulietti | Claudia Boccardi present urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:137205 Caretta caretta Animalia Linnaeus, 1758

extendedMeasurementOrFact (eMoF) extension:

The extendedMeasurementOrFact extension (eMoF) for survey or sighting data contains additional attributes and measurements recorded during the survey, such as those regarding the Research Vessel, environmental conditions, and/ or animal measurements. These attributes are linked to the Occurrence extension using the occurrenceID. The example dataset contain measurements regarding the sampling method; speed and height of the Research Vessel as platform; wind force; sighting distance; as well as the count and developmental stage of the biological entity.

id occurrenceID measurementType measurementTypeID measurementValue measurementUnit measurementUnitID
TURTLE_CBAR_0045 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0004 BEAUFORT WIND FORCE http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/WMOCWFBF 0 Beaufort scale
TURTLE_CBAR_0045 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0004 Platform height http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/AHSLZZ01 29 Metres http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/ULAA/
TURTLE_CBAR_0045 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0004 Sampling method http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/Q01/current/Q0100003 visual observation from ferries
TURTLE_CBAR_0045 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0004 Speed of measurement platform relative to ground surface {speed over ground} by unspecified GPS system http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/APSAGP01 23.291 Knots (nautical miles per hour) http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UKNT/
TURTLE_CBAR_0045_0001 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0005 Development stage of biological entity specified elsewhere http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/LSTAGE01
TURTLE_CBAR_0045_0001 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0005 Count (in assayed sample) of biological entity specified elsewhere http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/OCOUNT01 20 Metres http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/ULAA/
TURTLE_CBAR_0045_0001 AdL_TURTLE_CBAR_0005 Sighting distance

In addition to the measurements recorded by the example dataset, other measurements are also possible depending on the scope and aims of the survey project. The example dataset Incidental sea snake and turtle bycatch records from the RV Southern Surveyor voyage SS199510, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia (Nov 1995) for example, contain information regarding the length and weight of the biological entity as follows:

extendedMeasurementOrFact (eMoF) extension:

id measurementID occurrenceID measurementType measurementTypeID measurementValue measurementUnit measurementUnitID
SS199510-001 SS199510-001-length SS199510-001 Length http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/OBSINDLX 1250 Millimetres http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UXMM
SS199510-001 SS199510-001-weight SS199510-001 Weight http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/SPWGXX01 800 Grams http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGRM
SS199510-002 SS199510-002-length SS199510-002 Length http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/OBSINDLX 1630 Millimetres http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UXMM
SS199510-002 SS199510-002-weight SS199510-002 Weight http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/SPWGXX01 1477.7 Grams http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGRM

4.10.0.9 Microbes biomass and diversity

(example coming soon)

 

4.10.0.10 Phytoplankton biomass and diversity

This example deals with encoding phytoplankton observation data, including environmental data, into Darwin Core. Extracts from the actual data set LifeWatch observatory data: phytoplankton observations by imaging flow cytometry (FlowCam) in the Belgian Part of the North Sea, are used as an example. Phytoplankton data should adhere to guidelines by Martin-Cabrera et al., 2022: Best practices and recommendations for plankton imaging data management: Ensuring effective data flow towards European data infrastructures. Version 1.. Specific guidelines for the Occurrence and eMoF tables are documented in this publication, and we emphasize important fields in this example.

Event core:

The Event core contains events at the different levels and are linked together with eventID and parentEventID. In this example,the dataset contains records pointing to the origin, the in-situ sampling position as well as a record referring to the ex-situ collection of living specimens. In this case, the the event type information is provided in type. The recommended practice for providing the countryCode is to use an ISO 3166-1-alpha-2 country code. If additional information regarding licencing is provided, these can be populated under rightsHolder and accessRights. The remaining Event core fields provide location data including datasetID and datasetName, locationID, waterBody, maximumDepthInMeters, minimumDepthInMeters, decimalLongitude, decimalLatitude, coordinateUncertaintyInMeters, geodeticDatum and footprintSRS.

eventID parentEventID eventRemarks eventDate modified datasetID datasetName locationID waterBody country countryCode minimumDepthInMeters maximumDepthInMeters decimalLatitude decimalLongitude geodeticDatum coordinateUncertaintyInMeters footprintSRS
TripNR3242 cruise 2017-05T13:18:00+00:00/2017-05T22:14:00+00:00 2021-10-21 15:52:00 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/4688 LifeWatch observatory data: phytoplankton observations… North Sea Belgium BE EPSG:4326 EPSG:4326
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781 TripNR3242 stationVisit 2017-05-08T20:44:00+00:00/2017-05-08T20:55:00+00:00 2021-10-21 15:52:00 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/4688 JN17_5 0 30.22 51.0131 1.90562 EPSG:4326 1.11 EPSG:4326
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 TripNR3242TripStationNR16781 sample 2017-05-08T20:50:00+00:00 2021-10-21 15:52:00 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/4688 JN17_5 0 1 51.01203 1.90217 EPSG:4326 1.11 EPSG:4326
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598UW TripNR3242TripStationNR16781 sample 2017-05-08T20:50:00+00:00 2021-10-21 15:52:00 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/4688 JN17_5 3 3 51.01203 1.90217 EPSG:4326 1.11 EPSG:4326

Occurrence extension:

The Occurrence extension contains data of each occurrence with an occurrenceID and is linked to the Event core with the eventID. The Occurrence extension should provide information on the basisOfRecord and occurrenceStatus. Scientific names and links to the World Register of Marine Species should be provided under scientificName and scientificNameID, respectively. Recommended best practice is to always use the term of MachineObservation for imaging datasets derived from imaging instruments like this example, Additionally, the fields identifiedBy and identificationVerificationStatus are crucial to indicate whether the data has been validated, and by whom. While not shown in this example, identificationReferences and associatedMedia are also recommended to document the citation or algorithm software used in identification, and the persistent URL of annotated images, respectively. We know this dataset was validated because of information provided in the abstract and the eMoF table below, “identified and counted by image analysis and normalised to a unit volume of water body, validated by human”.

eventID occurrenceID modified basisOfRecord occurrenceStatus scientificNameID scientificName identifiedBy identificationVerificationStatus
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598occurenceIDTA_105598_(Pseudo-)pediastrum_5 2021-10-21 MachineObservation absent urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:160560 Hydrodictyaceae Flanders Marine Institute ValidatedByHuman
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598occurenceIDTA_105598_Actinoptychus senarius_5 2021-10-21 MachineObservation present urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:148948 Actinoptychus senarius Flanders Marine Institute ValidatedByHuman
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598occurenceIDTA_105598_Actinoptychus splendens_5 2021-10-21 MachineObservation present urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:148949 Actinoptychus splendens Flanders Marine Institute ValidatedByHuman
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598occurenceIDTA_105598_Actinoptychus_5 2021-10-21 MachineObservation present urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:148947 Actinoptychus Flanders Marine Institute ValidatedByHuman

extendedMeasurementOrFact (eMoF) extension:

The eMoF extension contains the environmental and measurement information and data of each occurrence. This extension is also linked to the Event core using the eventID, and linked to the Occurrence extension table using the occurrenceID. The various measurements are populated with measurementID, measurementType, measurementTypeID, measurementUnit, measurementUnitID, measurementValue, measurementValueID, measurementAccuracy, measurementMethod, measurementDeterminedBy and measurementDeterminedDate. In the example dataset, the LifeWatch observatory data was compiled using imaging flow cytometry (FlowCam) to observe and identify phytoplankton in the Belgian Part of the North Sea and recorded a number of measurements including abundance, lifestages, sampling device information as well as environmental measurements such as water temperature, salinity and conductivity with accompanying vocabulary.

id occurrenceID measurementType measurementTypeID measurementValue measurementValueID measurementUnit measurementUnitID measurementDeterminedBy measurementMethod
TripNR3242 Platform Name http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/Q01/current/Q0100001/ Simon Stevin http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/C17/current/11SS/ Flanders Marine Institute
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598occurenceIDTA_105598_Actinoptychus_5 Abundance of biological entity specified elsewhere per unit volume of the water body http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/SDBIOL01/ 2.24 specimens/L http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UCPL Flanders Marine Institute identified and counted by image analysis and normalised to a unit volume of water body, validated by human
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598occurenceIDTA_105598_Actinoptychus senarius_5 Abundance of biological entity specified elsewhere per unit volume of the water body http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/SDBIOL01/ 1.12 specimens/L http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UCPL Flanders Marine Institute identified and counted by image analysis and normalised to a unit volume of water body, validated by human
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598occurenceIDTA_105598_(Pseudo-)pediastrum_5 Lifestage http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/LSTAGE01/ adult http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S11/current/S1116/ Flanders Marine Institute identified and counted by image analysis and normalised to a unit volume of water body, validated by human
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598occurenceIDTA_105598_Actinoptychus senarius_5 Lifestage http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/LSTAGE01/ adult http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S11/current/S1116/
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 Sampling device aperture diameter http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/Q01/current/Q0100012/ 0.4 meter http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/ULAA/ Flanders Marine Institute
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 Sampling instrument name http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/Q01/current/Q0100002/ Planktonnet Apstein http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L22/current/TOOL0978/ Flanders Marine Institute
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598 Sampling net mesh size http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/Q01/current/Q0100015/ 55 micrometer http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UMIC/ Flanders Marine Institute
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598UW Conductivity of the water body http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/CNDCZZ01/ 3.916 Siemens per metre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UECA Flanders Marine Institute Electrical conductivity of the water body by thermosalinograph, based on the UnderWaySystem of the ship
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598UW Practical salinity of the water body http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/PSALPR01/ 34.295 Grams per kilogram http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGKG/ Flanders Marine Institute Practical salinity of the water body based on water from the UnderWaySystem of the ship
TripNR3242TripStationNR16781MidasTripActionID105598UW Temperature of the water body http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/TEMPPR01/ 11.881 Degrees Celsius http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UPAA/ Flanders Marine Institute Temperature of the water body based on water from the UnderWaySystem of the ship

4.10.0.11 Seagrass cover and composition

The structure of the Event, Occurrence and extendedMeasurementOrFact extensions for Seagrass Cover & Composition is based on community feedback organised through the the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR): Coordinated Global Research Assessment of Seagrass System (C-GRASS). We acknowledge the work that the C-grass SCOR work group has done to develop a proposed scheme for completing Seagrass related extension files.

Here encode seagrass survey data into Darwin Core according to the ENV-DATA approach and using sections of the actual data set of Seagrass Monitoring at Chengue Bay, Colombia as an example dataset.

Event core:

The Event core table is created by extracting all events and attributes. All events are linked together using eventID and parentEventID. eventDate is populated at the transect level with the recommended format that conforms to ISO 8601-1:2019. habitat is populated as a category or description of the habitat in which the event occurred. Additional fieldNotes can also be provided if applicable. The recommended best practice for countryCode is to use an ISO 3166-1-alpha-2 country code. The remaining Event core fields comprise of location data including maximumDepthInMeters, minimumDepthInMeters, decimalLongitude, decimalLatitude, coordinateUncertaintyInMeters, footprintWKT and footprintSRS. Addtionally in the Event core, it is recommended to further include information regarding license, rightsHolder, bibliographicCitation, institutionID, datasetID, institutionCode and datasetName.

eventID parentEventID eventDate habitat fieldNotes countryCode minimumDepthInMeters maximumDepthInMeters decimalLatitude decimalLongitude coordinateUncertaintyInMeters footprintWKT footprintSRS
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral 2019-05-13 seagrass no notes CO 0.8 2 11.32021806 -74.12753684 10 POLYGON ((-74.1273259763024 11.320475512862,-74.1272182449138 11.3200031521579,-74.1277187815195 11.319600402505,-74.1278115962543 11.3205666701908,-74.1274900594943 11.3206860034213,-74.1273259763024 11.320475512862)) EPSG:4326
USBsg-chengue-pastomanglar 2019-05-14 seagrass no notes CO 0.8 0.8 11.31977189 -74.12536879 10 POLYGON ((-74.1273259763024 11.320475512862,-74.1272182449138 11.3200031521579,-74.1277187815195 11.319600402505,-74.1278115962543 11.3205666701908,-74.1274900594943 11.3206860034213,-74.1273259763024 11.320475512862)) EPSG:4326
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-SquidPopTransect1 USBsg-chengue-pastocoral 2019-05-13 seagrass no notes CO 0.8 2 11.32039927 -74.12737404 50 POINT (-74.1273740410759 11.3203992721869) EPSG:4326
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-SquidPopTransect2 USBsg-chengue-pastocoral 2019-05-13 seagrass no notes CO 0.8 2 11.32027662 -74.1273989 50 POINT (-74.1273989021655 11.3202766241445) EPSG:4326

Occurrence extension:

The Occurrence extension table contain data for each occurrence with an occurrenceID and is linked to the Event core with the eventID. This table should provide information on the basisOfRecord and occurrenceStatus. Scientific names and links to the World Register of Marine Species should be provided under scientificName and scientificNameID, respectively. If a species was identified by an expert, the field identifiedBy can be populated. If the species is well-known by another common name, this name can be provided under vernacularName.

eventID occurrenceID basisOfRecord occurrenceStatus scientificNameID scientificName
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt HumanObservation present urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:374720 Thalassia testudinum
USBsg-chengue-pastomanglar USBsg-chengue-manglar-tt HumanObservation present urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:374720 Thalassia testudinum
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-SquidPopTransect1 USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-fish-001 HumanObservation present urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:158815 Halichoeres bivittatus
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-SquidPopTransect1 USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-fish-002 HumanObservation present urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:158932 Lactophrys triqueter

extendedMeasurementOrFact (eMoF) extension:

The eMoF table contains the measurement information and data of each occurrence. This extension is also linked to the Event core using the eventID, and linked to the Occurrence table using the occurrenceID. The various measurements are populated with measurementType, measurementTypeID, measurementUnit, measurementUnitID, measurementValue, measurementValueID, measurementAccuracy, measurementMethod, measurementDeterminedBy and measurementDeterminedDate. The example dataset of Seagrass Monitoring at Chengue Bay, Colombia recorded a number of measurements and can be used as an example of how to populate the respective fields. Other possible measurementTypes not captured in this example may include percent cover, canopy height, and of course any other biotic/abiotic measurements.

eventID occurrenceID measurementID measurementType measurementTypeID measurementValue measurementUnit measurementUnitID
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-PhyQ01 WaterTemp http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/TEMPMP01/ 29.23 Degrees Celsius http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UPAA/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-PhyQ02 Salinity http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/SSALSL01/ 36 Parts per thousand http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UPPT/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-PhyQ03 Dissolved oxygen http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/DOXYSE02/ 6.58 Milligrams per litre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UMGL/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-T1C1-shoot-01 Shoot Density http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/SDBIOL02/ 128 Number per square metre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UPMS/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-T1C1-leafLenght-01 Leaf Length http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/OBSMAXLX/ 18 Centimetres http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/ULCM/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-T1N1-DryBiomass Total Dry Biomass http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S06/current/S0600087/ 0.32055 Grams per square metre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGMS/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-T1N1-biomassGL Dry biomass of green leaves http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S06/current/S0600087/ 0.05575 Grams per square metre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGMS/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-T1N1-biomassNGL Dry biomass of non green leaves http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S06/current/S0600087/ 0.1469 Grams per square metre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGMS/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-T1N1-biomassSH Dry biomass of the shoots http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S06/current/S0600087/ 0.07625 Grams per square metre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGMS/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-T1N2-biomassR Dry biomass of the roots http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S06/current/S0600087/ 0.0385 Grams per square metre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGMS/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-T1N2-biomassRIZ Dry biomass of the rizome http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S06/current/S0600087/ 0.02725 Grams per square metre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGMS/
USBsg-chengue-pastocoral USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-tt USBsg-chengue-pastocoral-T1N2-biomassOTH Dry biomass of other seagrass species http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S06/current/S0600087/ 0 Grams per square metre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGMS/

4.10.0.12 Zooplankton biomass and diversity

Here we will encode zooplankton observation and environmental data into Darwin Core. Extracts from the actual dataset LifeWatch observatory data: zooplankton observations by imaging (ZooScan) in the Belgian Part of the North Sea, are used as an example. As with the phytoplankton example, zooplankton data should also adhere to guidelines by Martin-Cabrera et al., 2022: Best practices and recommendations for plankton imaging data management: Ensuring effective data flow towards European data infrastructures. Version 1.. These Best Practices indicate that for imaging data like this example, the fields identificationVerificationStatus and identifiedBy are crucial to know whether the data has been validated, and by whom. identificationReferences is used to document the citation or algorithm software used in identification. When possible, associatedMedia should also be populated with the persistent URL of annotated images.

Event core:

The Event core contains events at the different levels and are linked together with eventID and parentEventID. In this example,the dataset contains records pointing to the origin, the in-situ sampling position as well as a record referring to the ex-situ collection of living specimens. In this case, the the event type information is provided in type. The recommended practice for providing the countryCode is to use an ISO 3166-1-alpha-2 country code. If additional information regarding licencing is provided, these can be populated under rightsHolder and accessRights. The remaining Event core fields provide location data including datasetID and datasetName, locationID, waterBody, maximumDepthInMeters, minimumDepthInMeters, decimalLongitude, decimalLatitude, coordinateUncertaintyInMeters, geodeticDatum and footprintSRS.

eventID parentEventID eventRemarks eventDate modified datasetID datasetName locationID waterBody country minimumDepthInMeters maximumDepthInMeters decimalLatitude decimalLongitude geodeticDatum footprintSRS
TripNR2547 cruise 2013-07-22T06:58:00+00:00/2013-07-22T16:58:00+00:00 2021-06-23 14:54:00 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/4687 LifeWatch observatory data: zooplankton observations… Belgian Part of the North Sea Belgium EPSG:4326 EPSG:4326
TripNR2547TripStationNR9781 TripNR2547 stationVisit 2013-07-22T07:13:00+00:00/2013-07-22T07:26:00+00:00 2021-06-23 14:54:00 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/4687 LifeWatch observatory data: zooplankton observations… 130 0 13.4 51.27083333 2.905 EPSG:4326 EPSG:4326
TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024 TripNR2547TripStationNR9781 sample 2013-07-22T07:22:00+00:00 2021-06-23 14:54:00 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/4687 LifeWatch observatory data: zooplankton observations… 130 0 0 51.2687318 2.901797 EPSG:4326 EPSG:4326
TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024UW TripNR2547TripStationNR9781 sample 2013-07-22T07:22:00+00:00 2021-06-23 14:54:00 https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/4687 LifeWatch observatory data: zooplankton observations… 130 3 3 51.2687318 2.901797 EPSG:4326 EPSG:4326

Occurrence extension:

The Occurrence extension contains data of each occurrence with an occurrenceID and is linked to the Event core with the eventID. The Occurrence extension should provide information on the basisOfRecord and occurrenceStatus. Scientific names and links to the World Register of Marine Species should be provided under scientificName and scientificNameID, respectively.

eventID occurrenceID modified basisOfRecord occurrenceStatus scientificNameID scientificName identifiedBy identificationVerificationStatus identificationReferences
TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024 TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024occurenceIDTA23024_Amphipoda_sub2_130 2021-06-22 MachineObservation absent urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:1135 Amphipoda Jonas Mortelmans ValidatedByHuman RandomForest
TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024 TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024occurenceIDTA23024_Annelida_sub2_130 2021-06-22 MachineObservation present urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:882 Annelida Jonas Mortelmans ValidatedByHuman RandomForest
TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024 TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024occurenceIDTA23024_Anomura_sub2_130 2021-06-22 MachineObservation absent urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:106671 Anomura Jonas Mortelmans ValidatedByHuman RandomForest
TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024 TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024occurenceIDTA23024_Appendicularia_sub2_130 2021-06-22 MachineObservation absent urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:146421 Appendicularia Jonas Mortelmans ValidatedByHuman RandomForest

extendedMeasurementOrFact (eMoF) extension:

The eMoF extension table contains the measurement information and data of each occurrence. This extension is also linked to the Event core using the eventID, and linked to the Occurrence table using the occurrenceID. The various measurements are populated with measurementType, measurementTypeID, measurementUnit, measurementUnitID, measurementValue, measurementValueID, measurementAccuracy, measurementMethod, measurementDeterminedBy and measurementDeterminedDate. The example dataset of LifeWatch observatory data: zooplankton observations by imaging (ZooScan) in the Belgian Part of the North Sea recorded some ENV-DATA and organism measurements the can be used as an example of how to populate the respective fields, including conductivity of the water body; concentration of chlorophyll-a per unit volume of the water body; sampling instrument name; sampling net mesh size; lifestage of the organism observed; and abundance of the organism observed.

id occurrenceID measurementType measurementTypeID measurementValue measurementValueID measurementUnit measurementUnitID measurementDeterminedBy measurementMethod
TripNR3256TripStationNR17157MidasTripActionID106326 Sampling instrument name http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/Q01/current/Q0100002/ Planktonnet WP2 <http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L22/current/TOOL0979/
TripNR3256TripStationNR17157MidasTripActionID106326 Sampling net mesh size http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/Q01/current/Q0100015/ 200 micrometer http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UMIC/
TripNR3529TripStationNR19242MidasTripActionID109631UW Conductivity of the water body http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/CNDCZZ01/ 4.05 Siemens per metre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UECA/ Flanders Marine Institute Electrical conductivity of the water body by thermosalinograph, based on the UnderWaySystem of the ship
TripNR3529TripStationNR19243MidasTripActionID109634 Concentration of chlorophyll-a per unit volume of the water body http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/CPHLHPP1/ 1.42 Micrograms per litre http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UGPL/ Flanders Marine Institute Concentration of chlorophyll-a per unit volume of the water body [particulate >GF/F phase] by filtration, acetone extraction and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024 TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024occurenceIDTA23024_Annelida_sub2_130 Lifestage http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/LSTAGE01/ unspecified http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/S11/current/S1152/ Flanders Marine Institute identified and counted by image analysis and normalised to a unit volume of water body, validated by human
TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024 TripNR2547TripStationNR9781MidasTripActionID23024occurenceIDTA23024_Annelida_sub2_130 Abundance of biological entity specified elsewhere per unit volume of the water body http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P01/current/SDBIOL01/ 0.50 specimens/m³ http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/P06/current/UPMM/ Flanders Marine Insitute identified and counted by image analysis and normalised to a unit volume of water body, validated by human