Guidance for GEOTRACES Investigators

How to submit GEOTRACES data to BCO-DMO

Summary of steps

  1. Register your data in the DOoR portal and download the Excel data template(s).
  2. Fill in the template with your data. Do not alter the column headings / parameter names.
  3. Fill out a BCO-DMO Dataset Metadata Form (rtf). Include detailed information on data acquisition, processing, and instruments, as well as column descriptions, units of measurement, detection limits, and quality flags.
  4. Submit the metadata form and Excel data file to info@bco-dmo.org.

More Details

As of December 2019, any GEOTRACES investigator intending to include their data in one of the GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Products (IDP) must first register their data using the Data for Oceanic Research Portal (the "DOoR Portal"). The link to the DOoR portal is: https://geotraces-portal.sedoo.fr/pi/.

The DOoR portal will help you generate and submit the intercalibration documents required by the GEOTRACES Standards and Intercalibration Committee (S&I) and will also provide you with IDP-compliant data templates (Excel files). The DOoR data templates are important for consistency across datasets (as they make use of GEOTRACES naming conventions, recommended units, and data quality flags) and for tracking your data through the S&I and IDP processes. The data template files contain unique barcodes for every parameter that must not be changed.

GEOTRACES submissions to BCO-DMO must include both the data file created using the DOoR template and a completed BCO-DMO Dataset Metadata Form (.rtf file). Data files and forms can be sent as attachments to info@bco-dmo.org.

Please refer to the following GEOTRACES materials for more information on DOoR:

Any other questions about the DOoR portal may be directed to Bill Landing (wlanding@fsu.edu) or Phoebe Lam (pjlam@ucsc.edu).

IDP2021-Specific Guidance

Note: The 2021 IDP has been released and can be found at https://www.geotraces.org/geotraces-intermediate-data-product-2021/. The following information is provided for historical reference.

Datasets previously submitted to BCO-DMO that were not included in IDP2017 must be re-submitted using the DOoR template in order to have them included in IDP2021. This likely applies to any dataset submitted to BCO-DMO after December 1, 2016. Even though your data may already be at BCO-DMO, they must be revised using the DOoR data templates in order to be included in IDP2021. This process is likely to be as simple as copying/pasting your data from your existing BCO-DMO spreadsheets into the DOoR data templates, and we believe that each PI (or their designee) is best suited to do this in order to avoid copy/paste errors. We will then update your BCO-DMO dataset records and submit your data for archive and inclusion in IDP2021.

To submit a revised dataset to BCO-DMO, visit DOoR and register your dataset(s). Download the template, fill in your data, and send this file to info@bco-dmo.org along with a revised BCO-DMO Dataset Metadata Form (.rtf file). Please indicate on the form that this data file is a re-submission.

Deadlines for inclusion in IDP2021: The first deadline for the submission of datasets to guarantee inclusion in IDP2021 is the 15th of May 2020. After this date, we will not guarantee data will be included in IDP2021.

The final deadline for submission of datasets is the 15th of December 2020. After that date, data will not be included IDP2021. Any dataset submitted between 15 May and 15 December will be included in the IDP if time allows.