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VegBank Data Dictionary: Tables

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DB Table Name plot
Table Plot
Notes This table stores general, constant information about the a given plot
Description plot contains Plot location, dimension, and similarly constant site data, plus metadata that need be stored only once. Transient observational information (procured during the first or subsequent observation events) are stored separately in observation or its children.
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition
ID PLOT_ID no serial PK no Database generated identifier assigned to each unique plot.
Author Plot Code authorPlotCode required varchar (30) n/a no Author's Plot number/code, or the original plot number if taken from literature.
Reference reference_ID no Integer FK no Link to the source reference from which this plot record was taken
Parent PARENT_ID no Integer FK no Link to the parent plot when plot is nested within another plot.
Real Latitude realLatitude no Float n/a no Latitude of the plot origin in degrees and decimals, datum =WGS84
Real Longitude realLongitude no Float n/a no Longitude of the plot origin in degrees and decimals, datum = WGS84
Location Accuracy locationAccuracy no Float n/a no Estimated accuracy of the location of the plot. Plot origin has a 95% or greater probability of being within this many meters of the reported location.
Confidentiality Status confidentialityStatus required Integer n/a closed Are the data to be considered confidential? 0=no, 1= 1km radius, 2=10km radius, 3=100km radius, 4=location embargo, 5=public embargo on all plot data, 6=full embargo on all plot data. This applies also to region.
Confidentiality Reason confidentialityReason no varchar (200) n/a no The reason for confidentiality. This field should not be open to public view. Reasons might include specific rare species, ownership, prepublication embargo, or many other reason
Latitude latitude no Float n/a no Latitude of the plot origin in degrees and decimals, datum =WGS84, fuzzing applied
Longitude longitude no Float n/a no Longitude of the plot origin in degrees and decimals, datum = WGS84, fuzzing applied
Author E authorE no varchar (20) n/a no Original E-W coordinate as recorded by the author
Author N authorN no varchar (20) n/a no Original N-S coordinate as recorded by the author
Author Zone authorZone no varchar (20) n/a no Original UTM zone reported by the author
Author Datum authorDatum no varchar (20) n/a no Original datum reported by the author
Author Location authorLocation no varchar (200) n/a no Original location as described by author (e.g. Town-Range-Section)
Location Narrative locationNarrative no text n/a no Text description that provides information useful for plot relocation.
Plot Rationale Narrative plotRationaleNarrative no text n/a no Text description about why the plot was placed where it was.
Azimuth azimuth no Float n/a no This element stores the azimuth of the x-axis used to describe the relative coordinate system for plot shape (dsgpoly) and other spatial information about the plot. Typically the azimuth is parallel to the long axis of the plot (in the case of a rectangle).
DSG Polygon dsgpoly no text n/a no This field is a text string containing the points circumscribing a plot area. These points are anticipated to have been collected using tapes, GPS, or calculated from the plot shape and area. Points are X-Y coordinates in m relative to plot origin.
Shape shape no varchar (50) n/a open Shape of the plot area.
Area area no Float n/a no Total area of the plot in m2. If many subplots, this area includes the subplots and the interstitial space. RESERVED VALUE: -1 is used to indicate that the plot had no boundaries.
Stand Size standSize no varchar (50) n/a closed The extent of this community occurrence in relation to the plot size: very extensive (>1000x plot), extensive (>100x plot), large (10-100x plot), small (3-10x plot), very small (1-3x plot).
Placement Method placementMethod no varchar (50) n/a closed Brief description of strategy for determining plot placement within the stand.
Permanence permanence no Boolean n/a no Is the plot monumented so as to assure permanence? If so, this should be described in the layoutNarrative
Layout Narrative layoutNarrative no text n/a no Text description of and the rationale for the layout of the plot.
Elevation elevation no Float n/a no The elevation of the plot origin in meters above sea level.
Elevation Accuracy elevationAccuracy no Float n/a no The accuracy of the elevation in meters.
Elevation Range elevationRange no Float n/a no Meters of difference in elevations of the high and low points in the plot.
Slope Aspect slopeAspect no Float n/a no Representative azimuth of slope gradient (0-360 degrees); if too flat to determine = -1; if too irregular to determine = -2.
Min Slope Aspect minSlopeAspect no Float n/a no Minimum azimuth of slope gradient (0-360 degrees), counterclockwise from representative azimuth.
Max Slope Aspect maxSlopeAspect no Float n/a no Maximum azimuth of slope gradient (0-360 degrees), clockwise from representative azimuth
Slope Gradient slopeGradient no Float n/a no Representative inclination of slope in degrees; if too irregular to determine, = -1.
Min Slope Gradient minSlopeGradient no Float n/a no Minimum inclination of slope in degrees.
Max Slope Gradient maxSlopeGradient no Float n/a no Maximum inclination of slope in degrees.
Topographic Position topoPosition no varchar (90) n/a closed Position of the plot on land surface (e.g., Summit, shoulder, upper slope, middle slope, lower slope, toeslope, no slope, channel bed, dune swale, pond).
Landform landform no varchar (50) n/a open A recognizable physical feature on the surface of the earth, often including consideration of the natural cause of its formation.
Surficial Deposits surficialDeposits no varchar (90) n/a closed Surficial deposits represent the parent material that are the geologic or organic precursors to the soil. They may either have been deposited by geologic (wind, ice, gravity or water) or biologic (organic) activity, or formed in place more-or-less directly from rocks and minerals below.
Rock Type rockType no varchar (90) n/a closed RockType values conform to the lithic types in the FGDC Soil Geographic Data Standards, September 1997. http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/documents/standards/soils/soil997.PDF (pages 56-59).
Accession Code accessionCode no varchar (100) n/a no Code that uniquely references this record, allowing reference to this record for this version of this database. Better than a primary key, which is automatically generated by a database and not globally unique. VegBank Accession codes are only generated by VegBank, and therefore data integrity can be guaranteed, unlike with a primary key (number).
Notes Public notesPublic no Boolean n/a no TRUE indicates that public notes pertaining to this plot exist in "vegPlot.note"
Notes Mgt notesMgt no Boolean n/a no TRUE indicates that nonpublic management notes pertaining to this plot exist in "vegPlot.note"
Revisions revisions no Boolean n/a no TRUE indicates that revisions exist in vegPlot.Revision