Skip to content

abis-mapping v9.0.1   survey_site_data v3.0.0

SYSTEMATIC SURVEY SITE DATA TEMPLATE INSTRUCTIONS

Intended Usage

This Systematic Survey Site Data template should be used to record data about a Site area where species occurrences have been sampled during a systematic survey.

This Systematic Survey Site template must be used in combination with the Systematic Survey Occurrence Data template and the Systematic Survey Metadata template, and in some cases the Systematic Survey Site Visit template.

Templates have been provided to facilitate integration of data into the Biodiversity Data Repository (BDR) database. Not all types of data have been catered for in the available templates at this stage - if you are unable to find a suitable template, please contact bdr-support@dcceew.gov.au to make us aware of your data needs.

Data Validation Requirements:

For data validation, you will need your data file to:

  • be the correct file format,
  • have fields that match the template downloaded (do not remove, or change the order of fields),
  • have extant values for mandatory fields (see Table 1), and
  • comply with all data value constraints; for example the geographic coordinates are consistent with a geodeticDatum type of the 5 available options.

Additional fields may be added after the templated fields (noting that the data type is not assumed and values will be encoded as strings).

FILE FORMAT

  • The systematic survey site data template is a UTF-8 encoded csv (not Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets). Be sure to save this file with your data as a .csv (UTF-8) as follows, otherwise it will not pass the csv validation step upon upload.
    [MS Excel: Save As > More options > Tools > Web options > Save this document as > Unicode (UTF-8)]
    otherwise it will not pass the csv validation step upon upload.
  • Do not include empty rows.

FILE NAME

When making a manual submission to the Biodiversity Data Repository, the file name must include the version number of this biodiversity data template (v3.0.0). The following format is an example of a valid file name:

data_descripion-v3.0.0-additional_description.csv

where:

  • data_description: A short description of the data (e.g. survey_sites, test_data).
  • v3.0.0: The version number of this template.
  • additional_description: (Optional) Additional description of the data, if needed (e.g. test_data).
  • .csv: Ensure the file name ends with .csv.

For example, survey_sites-v3.0.0-test_data.csv or test_data-v3.0.0.csv

FILE SIZE

MS Excel imposes a limit of 1,048,576 rows on a spreadsheet, limiting a CSV file to the header row followed by 1,048,575 occurrences. Furthermore, MS Excel has a 32,767 character limit on individual cells in a spreadsheet. These limits may be overcome by using or editing CSV files with other software.

Larger datasets may be more readily ingested using the API interface. Please contact bdr-support@dcceew.gov.au to make us aware of your data needs.

TEMPLATE FIELDS

The template contains the field names in the top row. Table 1 will assist you in transferring your data to the template indicating:

  • Field name in the template (and an external link to the Darwin Core standard for that field where relevant);
  • Description of the field;
  • Required i.e. whether the field is mandatory, conditionally mandatory, or optional;
  • Format (datatype) required for the data values for example text (string), number (integer, float), or date;
  • Example of an entry or entries for that field; and
  • Vocabulary links within this document (for example pick list values) where relevant. The fields that have suggested values options for the fields in Table 1 are listed in Table 2 in alphabetical order of the field name.

ADDITIONAL FIELDS

Data that does not match the existing template fields may be added as additional columns in the CSV files after the templated fields. For example, fieldNotes, continent, country, countryCode, stateProvince, georeferencedDate, landformPattern, landformElement, aspect, slope.

Table 1: Systematic Survey Site data template fields with descriptions, conditions, datatype format, and examples.

Field # Name Description Mandatory / Optional Datatype Format Examples
1 siteID An identifier for the site. Within the dataset, should be unique per siteIDSource Mandatory if existingBDRSiteIRI is not provided.
Mandatory if siteIDSource is provided.		 String P1
2 siteIDSource The organisation that assigned the SiteID to this Site Mandatory if existingBDRSiteIRI is not provided.
Mandatory if siteID is provided.		 String TERN
3 existingBDRSiteIRI Verbatim IRI of an existing Site in the BDR that new information is being added to. The IRI will typically start with https://linked.data.gov.au/dataset/bdr/sites/. This field should ONLY be used in a delta update workflow where properties of an existing BDR Site need updating. Mandatory if siteID and siteIDSource are not provided. String https://linked.data.gov.au/dataset/bdr/sites/TERN/P1
4 siteType The type of site that relates to its sampling type and/or dimensions. Optional String Plot
(Vocabulary link)
5 siteName A name for the site that may be more descriptive than the siteID. Optional String Plot 1
6 siteDescription The site (plot) description covers important aspects of the site (generally of the land surface). Some overlap in collected information does occur due to the modular nature of the survey processes. The description provides significant background information to gain an appreciation of the plot history, topography, position in the landscape and for understanding the likely relationship between the soils, vegetation and fauna. Optional String Fine woody debris.
7 habitat A collection of habitat types representing the dominant vegetation structural formation class adopted by the National Vegetation Information System (NVIS). Optional List Chenopod Shrubland | Closed Fernland
(Vocabulary link)
8 relatedSiteID Identifier of a related site to the specified site e.g. parent site, same site with different identifier. This site must be included in this dataset. Mandatory if relatedSiteIDSource is provided. String P1
9 relatedSiteIDSource The organisation that assigned the relatedSiteID to the related site. Mandatory if relatedSiteID is provided. String TERN
10 relatedSiteIRI Verbatim IRI of of a related site to the specified site e.g. parent site, same site with different identifier. Optional String https://linked.data.gov.au/dataset/bdr/sites/TERN/P1
11 relationshipToRelatedSite Relationship between the site and the related site. This field can be used to record Site identifiers for the same site from different custodians through the use of URIs. Optional String PART OF
(Vocabulary link)
12 locality The specific description of the place. Optional String Cowaramup Bay Road
13 decimalLatitude The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic origin of a Site. Positive values are north of the Equator, negative values are south of it. Legal values lie between -90 and 0, inclusive for Southern hemisphere. Optional Number -34.036
14 decimalLongitude The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic origin of a Site. Positive values are east of the Greenwich Meridian, negative values are west of it. Legal values lie between 0 and 180, inclusive for the BDR use case. Optional Number 146.363
15 footprintWKT A Well-Known Text (WKT) representation of the shape (footprint, geometry) that defines the Site. A Site may have both a point-radius representation and a footprint representation, and they may differ from each other. Optional WKT LINESTRING (146.363 -34.036, 146.363 -34.037)
(WKT notes)
16 geodeticDatum The geodetic datum, or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geographic coordinates given for the Site are based. Optional String WGS84
(Vocabulary link)
17 coordinateUncertaintyInMeters The horizontal distance (in metres) from the given decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude describing the smallest circle containing the whole of the Site. Leave the value empty if the uncertainty is unknown, cannot be estimated, or is not applicable (because there are no coordinates). Zero is not a valid value for this term. Optional Integer 50
18 dataGeneralizations Actions taken to make the shared data less specific or complete than in its original form. Optional String Coordinates given in decimalLatitude, decimalLongitude, easting and northing have been rounded to 0.1 DEG. The observer name has been changed to a unique User ID.

CHANGELOG

Changes from Systematic Survey Site Data Template v2.0.0

CHANGED FIELDS

CHANGED VALIDATION

APPENDICES

APPENDIX-I: Vocabulary List

With the exception of geodeticDatum and relationshipToRelatedSite, the data validation does not require fields to adhere to the vocabularies specified for the various vocabularied fields. These vocabularies are merely provided as a means of assistance in developing consistent language within the database. New terms may be added to more appropriately describe your data that goes beyond the current list.

Table 2: Suggested values for controlled vocabulary fields in the template. Each term has a preferred label with a definition to aid understanding of its meaning. For some terms, alternative labels with similar semantics are provided.
Note: The values for geodeticDatum and relationshipToRelatedSite must come from one of the Preferred labels or Alternate Labels in this table.

Template field name Preferred label Definition Alternate label
geodeticDatum AGD66 Australian Geodetic Datum 1966 EPSG:4202
geodeticDatum AGD84 Australian Geodetic Datum 1984 EPSG:4203
geodeticDatum GDA2020 Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 EPSG:7844
geodeticDatum GDA94 Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 EPSG:4283
geodeticDatum WGS84 World Geodetic System 1984, used in GPS EPSG:4326
habitat BEACH Type of Landform Element, which is usually short; low; very wide slope; gently or moderately inclined; built up or eroded by waves; forming the shore of a lake or sea.
habitat BILLABONG OR SWAMP A swamp is a wetland that features temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water, generally with a substantial number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, and covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation.
habitat CAVE The type of habitat representative of a naturally formed, subterranean open area or chamber.
habitat CHENOPOD SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% members of Chenopodiaceae.
habitat CLOSED CHENOPOD SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of Chenopodiaceae.
habitat CLOSED FERNLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of Fern and Fern-allies.
habitat CLOSED FORBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of Forbs or herbs other than grasses.
habitat CLOSED FOREST Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of Forbs or herbs other than grasses.
habitat CLOSED HEATHLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of heath shrubs (e.g., members of Ericaceae, Myrtaceae).
habitat CLOSED HUMMOCK GRASSLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of hummock (e.g., Triodia) grasses.
habitat CLOSED LICHENLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by lichenised tree trunks and rocks.
habitat CLOSED LIVERWORTLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by lower plant groups such as moss, liverworts and bryophytes.
habitat CLOSED MALLEE FOREST Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of tree mallee (e.g., some members of Eucalyptus).
habitat CLOSED MALLEE SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of mallee shrubs (e.g., some members of Eucalyptus).
habitat CLOSED MOSSLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by lower plant groups such as moss, liverworts and bryophytes.
habitat CLOSED RUSHLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of Rushes (e.g., Juncaceae).
habitat CLOSED SEDGELAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of sedges (e.g., Cyperaceae).
habitat CLOSED SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of sedges (e.g., Cyperaceae).
habitat CLOSED SOD GRASSLAND Refers to the type of habitat representative of a characteristic sod-like (turf) grass.
habitat CLOSED TUSSOCK GRASSLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about >80% members of tussock grasses (e.g., Poa).
habitat CLOSED VINELAND Refers to the type of habitat represented by a closed vegetation dominated by stragglers and woody climbers.
habitat COASTAL WATERS Refers to the type of habitat representative of an aquatic body typically characterized by a shallow continental shelf, gently sloping seaward to a continental slope, which drops relatively abruptly to the deep ocean.
habitat CROP LAND Refers to the type of habitat representative of a cultivated land or land on which agricultural crops are grown or land that is set aside or temporarily not being used for crop production.
habitat ESTUARY Type of Landform Element which has a stream channel close to its junction with a sea or lake; where the action of channelled stream flow is modified by tide and waves. The width typically increases downstream.
habitat FERNLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% members of Fern and Fern-allies.
habitat FORBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% members of Forbs or herbaceous plants other than grasses.
habitat FRESHWATER LAKE Refers to the type of habitat representative of an enclosed aquatic body having a relatively low mineral content, generally less than 500 mg/l of dissolved solids.
habitat GRAZING LAND Refers to the type of habitat representative of a land predominantly used for grazing.
habitat HEATHLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% members of Heath (e.g., Ericaceae, Myrtaceae).
habitat HUMMOCK GRASSLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% members of hummock grasses (e.g., Triodia).
habitat ISOLATED CHENOPOD SHRUBS Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% members of Chenopodiaceae.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF CHENOPOD SHRUBS Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of chenopod shrubs.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF HEATH SHRUBS Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of heath or heath-like shrubs.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF HUMMOCK GRASSES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of hummocky grass (e.g., Triodia spp., Spinifex spp.).
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF LIVERWORTS Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of bryophytes, moss and liverworts.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF MALLEE SHRUBS Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of mallee shrubs (members of Eucalyptus spp., multistemmed from base).
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF MALLEE TREES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of tree mallee (members of Eucalyptus spp., multistemmed from base).
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF MOSSES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of bryophytes, moss and liverworts.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF RUSHES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of rushes.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF SEDGES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of sedges.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF SHRUBS Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of shrubs.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF SOD GRASSES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of sod grass.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF TREES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of trees.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF TUSSOCK GRASSES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of tussock grasses (e.g., Poa spp).
habitat ISOLATED CLUMP OF VINES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of vines.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMPS OF FERNS Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0-5% members of Fern and Fern-allies.
habitat ISOLATED CLUMPS OF FORBS Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0-5% members of Forbs or herbs other than grasses.
habitat ISOLATED CLUP OF LICHENS Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated clumps of lichens.
habitat ISOLATED FERNS Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of fern and fern allies.
habitat ISOLATED FORBS Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of forbs or herbs other than grasses.
habitat ISOLATED HEATH SHRUBS Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of heath shrubs (e.g., Ericaceae, Myrtaceae).
habitat ISOLATED HUMMOCK GRASSES Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of hummock grasses (e.g., Triodia).
habitat ISOLATED LICHENS Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated or sparse lichens.
habitat ISOLATED LIVERWORTS Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated or sparse liverworts.
habitat ISOLATED MALLEE SHRUBS Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of mallee shrubs (e.g., some multistemmed individuals from base of Eucalyptus).
habitat ISOLATED MALLEE TREES Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of tree mallee (e.g., some multistemmed individuals from base of Eucalyptus).
habitat ISOLATED MOSSES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated mosses, including bryophytes and liverworts.
habitat ISOLATED RUSHES Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of rushes (e.g., Juncaceae).
habitat ISOLATED SEDGES Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of sedges (e.g., Cyperaceae).
habitat ISOLATED SHRUBS Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of shrubs including cycads, grass-tree and tree-fern.
habitat ISOLATED SOD GRASSES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated or sparse sod or turf-like grasses.
habitat ISOLATED TREES Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of trees including palms.
habitat ISOLATED TUSSOCK GRASSES Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about <0.25% of tussock grass (e.g. Poa species).
habitat ISOLATED VINES Refers to the type of habitat characterised by isolated or sparse stragglers or climbing woody vines.
habitat LICHENLAND Refers to the type of habitat predominated by lichens on rocks, trees or tree stumps, etc.
habitat LIVERWORTLAND Refers to the type of habitat predominated by liverworts.
habitat MALLEE SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% of shrub mallee (e.g., individuals of some Eucalypts multistemmed from base).
habitat MALLEE WOODLAND Refers to the dominant vegetation structural formation, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of Tree Mallee.
habitat MOSSLAND Refers to the type of habitat dominated by mosses.
habitat MUDFLAT Refers to the type of habitat characterised by a wetland that forms when mud is deposited by the tides, rivers, sea or oceans.
habitat OPEN CHENOPOD SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of members of Chenopodiaceae.
habitat OPEN FERNLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of ferns and fern allies.
habitat OPEN FORBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of forbs or herbs other than grasses.
habitat OPEN FOREST Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of trees including palms.
habitat OPEN HEATH Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of heaths (e.g., Ericaceae, Myrtaceae).
habitat OPEN HUMMOCK GRASSLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of hummock grasses (e.g., Triodia).
habitat OPEN LICHENLAND Refers to the type of habitat represented by open or sparse (i.e., 10-30%) hummocky grasses (e.g., Spinifex spp., Triodia spp.).
habitat OPEN LIVERWORTLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by open or sparse lichenised tree trunks and rocks.
habitat OPEN MALLEE FOREST Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% of tree Mallee (e.g., certain individuals of Eucalypts multistemmed from base).
habitat OPEN MALLEE SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of Mallee shrubs (e.g., certain individuals of Eucalypts multistemmed from base).
habitat OPEN MALLEE WOODLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of tree mallee (e.g., certain individuals of Eucalypts multistemmed from base).
habitat OPEN MOSSLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by open or sparse members of lower plant groups such as moss, liverworts and bryophytes.
habitat OPEN OCEAN Refers to the type of habitat surrounded by ocean, i.e., a continuous saline-water bodies that surround the continents and fill the Earth's great depressions.
habitat OPEN RUSHLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of rushes (e.g. Juncaceae).
habitat OPEN SEDGELAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of sedges (e.g. Cyperaceae).
habitat OPEN SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of shrubs (e.g. shrubs, cycads, grass-tree, tree-fern).
habitat OPEN SOD GRASSLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by open or sparse (10-30% ground cover) of a characteristic sod-like (turf) grass.
habitat OPEN TUSSOCK GRASSLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 20-50% of tussock grasses (e.g. Poa species).
habitat OPEN VINELAND Refers to the type of habitat represented by a closed vegetation dominated by stragglers and woody climbers.
habitat OPEN WOODLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of trees including palms.
habitat ROCK OUTCROP Refers to the type of habitat characterised by rocks, which protrudes through the surface layer.
habitat RUSHLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% of rushes (e.g. Juncaceae).
habitat SALTWATER LAKE Refers to the type of habitat representative of an aquatic body filled with water (with high salinity) of considerable size contained in a depression on a landmass.
habitat SEDGELAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% of sedges (e.g., Cyperaceae).
habitat SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% of shrubs (e.g., shrub, cycad, grass-tree, tree-fern).
habitat SOD GRASSLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by mid-dense (30-70% cover) sod or turf-like grasses.
habitat SPARSE CHENOPOD SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of members of Chenopodiaceae.
habitat SPARSE FERNLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of members of fern and fern-allies.
habitat SPARSE FORBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of members of forbs and herbs other than grasses.
habitat SPARSE GRASSLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of grasses.
habitat SPARSE HEATH Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of members of heath (e.g., Ericaceae, Myrtaceae).
habitat SPARSE LICHENLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by very sparse (<10% cover) lichens.
habitat SPARSE LIVERWORTLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by very sparse (<10% cover) liverworts.
habitat SPARSE MALLEE SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of members of shrub Mallee.
habitat SPARSE MOSSLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by very sparse (<10% cover) mosses.
habitat SPARSE RUSHLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of rushes (e.g., Juncaceae).
habitat SPARSE SEDGELAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of sedges (e.g., Cyperaceae).
habitat SPARSE SHRUBLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of shrubs, including cycad, grass-tree, tree-fern.
habitat SPARSE SOD GRASSLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by very sparse (<10% cover) sod or turf-like grasses.
habitat SPARSE TUSSOCK GRASSLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 0.25-20% of tussock grass (e.g., Poa species).
habitat SPARSE VINELAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by well separated or very sparse crown stragglers or woody vines.
habitat STREAM OR RIVER Refers to the type of habitat representative of an aquatic body with a watercourse which is linear and flows across the solid portion of a planetary surface.
habitat TUSSOCK GRASSLAND Refers to the NVIS dominant vegetation structural formation class, with a percent cover of about 50-80% of tussock grass (e.g., Poa species).
habitat URBAN Refers to the type of habitat relating to, located in, or characteristic of a city or densely populated area.
habitat VINELAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by woody climbers/straggling vines.
habitat WOODLAND Refers to the type of habitat characterised by a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade.
relationshipToRelatedSite PART OF When a site is a subset of another site.
relationshipToRelatedSite SAME AS When two sites are the same.
siteType PARENT SITE Parent site.
siteType PLOT Land area selected from within a survey region which abiotic and biotic properties are sampled.
siteType QUADRAT A transportable frame (usually a square made out of PVC tube, metal rod or wood) used to isolate a standard unit of area for study of the distribution of item(s) over a large area (e.g. a plot).
siteType SITE A place in which study/protocol/sampling activities are conducted.
siteType TRANSECT A line along which biotic and abiotic characteristics are sampled

APPENDIX-II: Well Known Text (WKT)

For general information on how WKT coordinate reference data is formatted is available here. The length of a WKT string or of its components is not prescribed; however, MS Excel does has a 32,767 (32K) character limit on individual cells in a spreadsheet.

It is possible to edit CSV files outside of Excel in order to include more than 32K characters.

Multipart geometries (2D) WKT

Source: Mwtoews - CC BY-SA 3.0 - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well-known_text_representation_of_geometry

APPENDIX-III: Timestamp

Following date and date-time formats are acceptable within the timestamp:

TYPE FORMAT
xsd:dateTimeStamp with timezone yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.sTZD (eg 1997-07-16T19:20:30.45+01:00) OR
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ssTZD (eg 1997-07-16T19:20:30+01:00) OR
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mmTZD (eg 1997-07-16T19:20+01:00)
xsd:dateTime yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.s (eg 1997-07-16T19:20:30.45) OR
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss (eg 1997-07-16T19:20:30) OR
yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm (eg 1997-07-16T19:20)
xsd:Date dd/mm/yyyy OR
d/m/yyyy OR
yyyy-mm-dd OR
yyyy-m-d
xsd:gYearMonth mm/yyyy OR
m/yyyy OR
yyyy-mm
xsd:gYear yyyy

Where:
  yyyy: four-digit year
  mm: two-digit month (01=January, etc.)
  dd: two-digit day of month (01 through 31)
  hh: two digits of hour (00 through 23) (am/pm NOT allowed)
  mm: two digits of minute (00 through 59)
  ss: two digits of second (00 through 59)

APPENDIX-IV: UTF-8

UTF-8 encoding is considered a best practice for handling character encoding, especially in the context of web development, data exchange, and modern software systems. UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format, 8-bit) is a variable-width character encoding capable of encoding all possible characters (code points) in Unicode.
Here are some reasons why UTF-8 is recommended:

  • Universal Character Support: UTF-8 can represent almost all characters from all writing systems in use today. This includes characters from various languages, mathematical symbols, and other special characters.
  • Backward Compatibility: UTF-8 is backward compatible with ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange). The first 128 characters in UTF-8 are identical to ASCII, making it easy to work with systems that use ASCII.
  • Efficiency: UTF-8 is space-efficient for Latin-script characters (common in English and many other languages). It uses one byte for ASCII characters and up to four bytes for other characters. This variable-length encoding minimises storage and bandwidth requirements.
  • Web Standards: UTF-8 is the dominant character encoding for web content. It is widely supported by browsers, servers, and web-related technologies.
  • Globalisation: As software applications become more globalised, supporting a wide range of languages and scripts becomes crucial. UTF-8 is well-suited for internationalisation and multilingual support.
  • Compatibility with Modern Systems: UTF-8 is the default encoding for many programming languages, databases, and operating systems. Choosing UTF-8 helps ensure compatibility across different platforms and technologies.

When working with text data, UTF-8 encoding is recommended to avoid issues related to character representation and ensure that a diverse set of characters and languages is supported.

For assistance, please contact: bdr-support@dcceew.gov.au