PNNL

Abstract

Research can be made more transparent and collaborative by using Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) principles to publish Earth and environmental science data. Reporting formats—instructions, templates, and tools for consistently formatting data within a research discipline—are potential approaches to make data more accessible and reusable. However, the immense diversity of data types across different Earth science disciplines makes this challenging. Here, we describe 11 community reporting formats and guidelines for a diverse set of Earth science (meta)data including cross-domain metadata (dataset metadata, location metadata, sample metadata), file-formatting guidelines (file-level metadata, CSV file structure, terrestrial model data archiving), and domain-specific reporting formats for certain data types (amplicon sequencing data, leaf-level gas exchange, soil respiration, water and sediment chemistry, sensor-based hydrologic measurements). These community reporting formats have the potential to accelerate scientific discovery, analysis, and modeling by making (meta)data more interoperable and reusable.