@jessicaaustin @mwengren @ngalbraith @roy-lowry many thanks for all your comments and responses to my questions. This discussion has helped me to understand much better the ways in which quality information is gathered and used.
Regarding the 'non aggregate' names, I think we are all agreed and no further comments have been received. Hence, these names are accepted for publication in the standard name table and will be included in the next update, scheduled for 9th March. (N.B. The three week period that Micah mentioned applies to the process for modifying the main CF conventions document. For standard names it is our usual practice to accept names once all discussion points have been answered and consensus has been reached among those contributing to the conversation). For the aggregate name it seems consensus has been achieved on: **aggregate_quality flag** 'This flag is an algorithmic combination of the results of all relevant quality tests run for the related ancillary parent data variable. The linkage between the data variable and this variable is achieved using the ancillary_variables attribute. The aggregate quality flag provides a summary of all quality tests performed on the data variable (both automated and manual) whether present in the dataset as independent ancillary variables to the parent data variable or not.' This name is also accepted for publication in the standard name table and will be added in the March update. All the names, units and definitions are listed in full in the [CEDA standard names editor](http://cfeditor.ceda.ac.uk/proposals/1?status=active&namefilter=&proposerfilter=Austin&descfilter=&unitfilter=&yearfilter=&commentfilter=&filter+and+display=Filter). I agree that it is important to know where to 'draw the line' between CF metadata and other sources of documentation. I do think it would be useful to use a CF attribute to state which quality control procedure has been used and hence guide data users to the appropriate documentation. This could perhaps be achieved using an existing attribute such as 'comment', which has the advantage of not needing to modify the CF conventions. It could also be achieved by adding a new attribute such as component_tests suggested by Nan. That discussion can certainly be the subject of a separate issue. Whatever is decided ultimately, we could then update the standard name definitions by adding a sentence advising which other attribute(s) to check. For example, we currently have a lot of emissions names such as tendency_of_atmosphere_mass_content_of_alcohols_due_to_emission_from_solvent_production_and_use whose definitions say '"Solvent production and use" is the term used in standard names to describe a collection of emission sources. A variable which has this value for the standard_name attribute should be accompanied by a comment attribute which lists the source categories and provides a reference to the categorization scheme, for example, "IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) source categories 2F and 3 as defined in the 2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories". Perhaps a similar approach would work for quality tests? Best wishes, Alison -- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: https://github.com/cf-convention/cf-conventions/issues/216#issuecomment-585804888 This list forwards relevant notifications from Github. It is distinct from [email protected], although if you do nothing, a subscription to the UCAR list will result in a subscription to this list. To unsubscribe from this list only, send a message to [email protected].
