Selecting columns and fields to download
2024-12-10
Source:vignettes/selecting-fields.Rmd
selecting-fields.RmdIn naturecounts, by default default data is downloaded
with a specific set of fields/columns. However, for more advanced
applications, users may wish to specify which fields/columns to return.
The Bird Monitoring Data Exchange (BMDE) schema keeps track of variables
used to augment observation data. There are different versions
reflecting different collections of variables.
The following examples use the “testuser” user which is not available to you. You can quickly sign up for a free account of your own to access and play around with these examples. Simply replace
testuserwith your own username.
BMDE versions
There are several ways to get more information about these different field/columns sets.
- You can get a list of the different versions with the
meta_bmde_versions()function.
## # A tibble: 8 × 3
## descr shorthand version
## <chr> <chr> <chr>
## 1 BMDE 1.38 NA BMDE1.38
## 2 BMDE 2.0 core BMDE2.00
## 3 BMDE 2.0 (extended list) extended BMDE2.00-ext
## 4 BMDE 2.0 (minimum) minimum BMDE2.00-min
## 5 Banding extension to BMDE 2.0 NA BMDE-BAND-2.00
## 6 Monarch Knowledge Network extension to BMDE 2.0 NA BMDE-MKN-2.00
## 7 Nest record extension to BMDE 2.0 NA BMDE-NEST-2.00
## 8 Nest record extension (visit data) to BMDE 2.0 NA BMDE-NESTVISIT-2.00- You can get a list of the specific fields/columns included in each
version using the
meta_bmde_fields()function
meta_bmde_fields(version = "BMDE-BAND-2.00") |>
head()## # A tibble: 6 × 3
## field_order version local_name
## <int> <chr> <chr>
## 1 1 BMDE-BAND-2.00 GlobalUniqueIdentifier
## 2 2 BMDE-BAND-2.00 DateLastModified
## 3 3 BMDE-BAND-2.00 BasisOfRecord
## 4 4 BMDE-BAND-2.00 InstitutionCode
## 5 5 BMDE-BAND-2.00 CollectionCode
## 6 6 BMDE-BAND-2.00 CatalogNumber- You can see which BMDE versions are used by different collections by looking at the metadata associated with that collection.
meta_collections() |>
head()## # A tibble: 6 × 11
## bmdr_code bmde_version project_id n_locations collection_name_fr collection
## <chr> <chr> <int> <int> <chr> <chr>
## 1 ABATLAS1 BMDE2.00 1042 2209 Atlas des oiseaux n… ABATLAS1
## 2 ABATLAS2 BMDE2.00 1042 5359 Atlas des oiseaux n… ABATLAS2
## 3 ABBIRDRECS BMDE2.00 1042 21962 Observations d'oise… ABBIRDRECS
## 4 ATBANS BMDE2.00 1074 110 NA ATBANS
## 5 ATOWLS BMDE2.00 1011 1932 Inventaire des hibo… ATOWLS
## 6 BBS BMDE2.00 1019 5009 Relevés des oiseaux… BBS
## # ℹ 5 more variables: min_year <int>, max_year <int>, collection_name <chr>,
## # akn_level <int>, n_records <int>Specifying fields by version
By default, the BMDE2.00-min or minimum
BMDE version is used when downloading data, but you can specify other
versions with either the version name, or the shorthand.
cardinals <- nc_data_dl(species = 19360, fields_set = "core",
collection = "ABATLAS2", verbose = FALSE,
username = "testuser", info = "nc_vignette")
names(cardinals)## [1] "record_id"
## [2] "collection"
## [3] "project_id"
## [4] "protocol_id"
## [5] "protocol_type"
## [6] "species_id"
## [7] "statprov_code"
## [8] "country_code"
## [9] "SiteCode"
## [10] "latitude"
## [11] "longitude"
## [12] "bcr"
## [13] "subnational2_code"
## [14] "iba_site"
## [15] "utm_square"
## [16] "survey_year"
## [17] "survey_month"
## [18] "survey_week"
## [19] "survey_day"
## [20] "breeding_rank"
## [21] "GlobalUniqueIdentifier"
## [22] "DateLastModified"
## [23] "BasisOfRecord"
## [24] "InstitutionCode"
## [25] "CollectionCode"
## [26] "CatalogNumber"
## [27] "ScientificName"
## [28] "HigherTaxon"
## [29] "Kingdom"
## [30] "Phylum"
## [31] "Class"
## [32] "OrderTaxon"
## [33] "Family"
## [34] "Genus"
## [35] "SpecificEpithet"
## [36] "InfraspecificRank"
## [37] "InfraspecificEpithet"
## [38] "ScientificNameAuthor"
## [39] "IdentificationQualifier"
## [40] "HigherGeography"
## [41] "Continent"
## [42] "WaterBody"
## [43] "IslandGroup"
## [44] "Island"
## [45] "Country"
## [46] "StateProvince"
## [47] "County"
## [48] "Locality"
## [49] "MinimumElevationInMeters"
## [50] "MaximumElevationInMeters"
## [51] "MinimumDepthInMeters"
## [52] "MaximumDepthInMeters"
## [53] "DecimalLatitude"
## [54] "DecimalLongitude"
## [55] "GeodeticDatum"
## [56] "CoordinateUncertaintyInMeters"
## [57] "YearCollected"
## [58] "MonthCollected"
## [59] "DayCollected"
## [60] "TimeCollected"
## [61] "JulianDay"
## [62] "Collector"
## [63] "Sex"
## [64] "LifeStage"
## [65] "ImageURL"
## [66] "RelatedInformation"
## [67] "CollectorNumber"
## [68] "FieldNumber"
## [69] "FieldNotes"
## [70] "OriginalCoordinatesSystem"
## [71] "LatLongComments"
## [72] "GeoreferenceMethod"
## [73] "GeoreferenceReferences"
## [74] "GeoreferenceVerificationStatus"
## [75] "Remarks"
## [76] "FootprintWKT"
## [77] "FootprintSRS"
## [78] "ProjectCode"
## [79] "ProtocolType"
## [80] "ProtocolCode"
## [81] "ProtocolSpeciesTargeted"
## [82] "ProtocolReference"
## [83] "ProtocolURL"
## [84] "SurveyAreaIdentifier"
## [85] "SurveyAreaSize"
## [86] "SurveyAreaPercentageCovered"
## [87] "SurveyAreaShape"
## [88] "SurveyAreaLongAxisLength"
## [89] "SurveyAreaShortAxisLength"
## [90] "SurveyAreaLongAxisOrientation"
## [91] "CoordinatesScope"
## [92] "SamplingEventIdentifier"
## [93] "SamplingEventStructure"
## [94] "RouteIdentifier"
## [95] "TimeObservationsStarted"
## [96] "TimeObservationsEnded"
## [97] "DurationInHours"
## [98] "TimeIntervalStarted"
## [99] "TimeIntervalEnded"
## [100] "TimeIntervalsAdditive"
## [101] "NumberOfObservers"
## [102] "EffortMeasurement1"
## [103] "EffortUnits1"
## [104] "EffortMeasurement2"
## [105] "EffortUnits2"
## [106] "EffortMeasurement3"
## [107] "EffortUnits3"
## [108] "EffortMeasurement4"
## [109] "EffortUnits4"
## [110] "EffortMeasurement5"
## [111] "EffortUnits5"
## [112] "EffortMeasurement6"
## [113] "EffortUnits6"
## [114] "EffortMeasurement7"
## [115] "EffortUnits7"
## [116] "EffortMeasurement8"
## [117] "EffortUnits8"
## [118] "EffortMeasurement9"
## [119] "EffortUnits9"
## [120] "EffortMeasurement10"
## [121] "EffortUnits10"
## [122] "EffortMeasurement11"
## [123] "EffortUnits11"
## [124] "EffortMeasurement12"
## [125] "EffortUnits12"
## [126] "EffortMeasurement13"
## [127] "EffortUnits13"
## [128] "EffortMeasurement14"
## [129] "EffortUnits14"
## [130] "EffortMeasurement15"
## [131] "EffortUnits15"
## [132] "EffortMeasurement16"
## [133] "EffortUnits16"
## [134] "EffortMeasurement17"
## [135] "EffortUnits17"
## [136] "EffortMeasurement18"
## [137] "EffortUnits18"
## [138] "NoObservations"
## [139] "DistanceFromObserver"
## [140] "DistanceFromObserverMin"
## [141] "DistanceFromObserverMax"
## [142] "DistanceFromStart"
## [143] "BearingInDegrees"
## [144] "SpecimenDecimalLatitude"
## [145] "SpecimenDecimalLongitude"
## [146] "SpecimenGeodeticDatum"
## [147] "SpecimenUTMZone"
## [148] "SpecimenUTMNorthing"
## [149] "SpecimenUTMEasting"
## [150] "ObservationCount"
## [151] "ObservationDescriptor"
## [152] "ObservationCount2"
## [153] "ObservationDescriptor2"
## [154] "ObservationCount3"
## [155] "ObservationDescriptor3"
## [156] "ObservationCount4"
## [157] "ObservationDescriptor4"
## [158] "ObservationCount5"
## [159] "ObservationDescriptor5"
## [160] "ObservationCount6"
## [161] "ObservationDescriptor6"
## [162] "ObsCountAtLeast"
## [163] "ObsCountAtMost"
## [164] "ObservationDate"
## [165] "DateUncertaintyInDays"
## [166] "AllIndividualsReported"
## [167] "AllSpeciesReported"
## [168] "UTMZone"
## [169] "UTMNorthing"
## [170] "UTMEasting"
## [171] "CoordinatesUncertaintyInDecimalDegrees"
## [172] "CommonName"
## [173] "RecordPermissions"
## [174] "MultiScientificName1"
## [175] "MultiScientificName2"
## [176] "MultiScientificName3"
## [177] "MultiScientificName4"
## [178] "MultiScientificName5"
## [179] "MultiScientificName6"
## [180] "TaxonomicAuthorityAuthors"
## [181] "TaxonomicAuthorityVersion"
## [182] "TaxonomicAuthorityYear"
## [183] "SpeciesCode"
## [184] "TaxonConceptID"
## [185] "BreedingBirdAtlasCode"
## [186] "HabitatDescription"
## [187] "Remarks2"
## [188] "LastModifiedAction"
## [189] "RecordReviewStatus"Basic fields
Note that there are extra fields/columns downloaded in every request, which are in addition to the BMDE fields. These are additional, basic, indexed fields used in the database.
You can figure out exactly which fields these are, by removing all
the fields from the core BMDE field set.
names(cardinals)[!names(cardinals) %in% meta_bmde_fields(version = "core")$local_name]## [1] "record_id" "collection" "project_id"
## [4] "protocol_id" "protocol_type" "species_id"
## [7] "statprov_code" "country_code" "SiteCode"
## [10] "latitude" "longitude" "bcr"
## [13] "subnational2_code" "iba_site" "utm_square"
## [16] "survey_year" "survey_month" "survey_week"
## [19] "survey_day" "breeding_rank"Custom fields
The basic fields will always be included in any data
request. However, you can choose which fields/columns to include in
addition to these basic fields, by specifying
fields_set = custom, and listing all additional
fields.
cardinals <- nc_data_dl(species = 19360, fields_set = "custom",
fields = c("Sex", "SamplingEventIdentifier"),
collection = "ABATLAS2", verbose = FALSE,
username = "testuser", info = "nc_vignette")
head(cardinals)## record_id collection project_id protocol_id protocol_type species_id
## 1 225121054 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## 2 225167193 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## 3 225185535 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## 4 225185857 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## 5 225387824 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## 6 225389502 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## statprov_code country_code SiteCode latitude longitude bcr subnational2_code
## 1 AB CA 12049 53.98632 -111.2793 6 CA.AB.12
## 2 AB CA 45868 53.34350 -114.0790 6 CA.AB.11
## 3 AB CA 45940 53.52760 -113.2996 11 CA.AB.11
## 4 AB CA 45988 53.56476 -113.4267 11 CA.AB.11
## 5 AB CA 15330 53.95000 -115.1361 6 CA.AB.13
## 6 AB CA 45851 53.53472 -113.6407 11 CA.AB.11
## iba_site utm_square survey_year survey_month survey_week survey_day
## 1 N/A 12UVE88 2000 2 3 23
## 2 N/A 11UPV91 2005 5 1 7
## 3 N/A 12UUE43 2005 4 1 4
## 4 N/A 12UUE33 2005 5 2 16
## 5 N/A 11UPV27 2004 12 1 7
## 6 N/A 12UUE23 2005 4 4 26
## breeding_rank Sex SamplingEventIdentifier
## 1 0 NA 5863
## 2 0 NA 92650
## 3 0 NA 92829
## 4 0 NA 92900
## 5 0 NA 11937
## 6 0 NA 92626Adding specific fields to a BMDE version
In a more complex example, if you wished to download data with the
minimum set of BMDE fields, but including a couple of extra
fields, you could combine the core fields with the extras you want, and
pass them on as a custom field set.
For example, first collect the minimum field/column names.
my_fields <- meta_bmde_fields(version = "minimum")$local_name
my_fields## [1] "GlobalUniqueIdentifier" "CatalogNumber"
## [3] "Locality" "TimeCollected"
## [5] "CollectorNumber" "FieldNumber"
## [7] "Remarks" "ProjectCode"
## [9] "ProtocolType" "ProtocolCode"
## [11] "ProtocolURL" "SurveyAreaIdentifier"
## [13] "SamplingEventIdentifier" "SamplingEventStructure"
## [15] "RouteIdentifier" "TimeObservationsStarted"
## [17] "TimeObservationsEnded" "DurationInHours"
## [19] "TimeIntervalStarted" "TimeIntervalEnded"
## [21] "TimeIntervalsAdditive" "NumberOfObservers"
## [23] "NoObservations" "ObservationCount"
## [25] "ObservationDescriptor" "ObservationCount2"
## [27] "ObservationDescriptor2" "ObservationCount3"
## [29] "ObservationDescriptor3" "ObservationCount4"
## [31] "ObservationDescriptor4" "ObservationCount5"
## [33] "ObservationDescriptor5" "ObservationCount6"
## [35] "ObservationDescriptor6" "AllIndividualsReported"
## [37] "AllSpeciesReported"Then add in the extra fields.
my_fields <- c(my_fields, "Sex", "LifeStage")
my_fields## [1] "GlobalUniqueIdentifier" "CatalogNumber"
## [3] "Locality" "TimeCollected"
## [5] "CollectorNumber" "FieldNumber"
## [7] "Remarks" "ProjectCode"
## [9] "ProtocolType" "ProtocolCode"
## [11] "ProtocolURL" "SurveyAreaIdentifier"
## [13] "SamplingEventIdentifier" "SamplingEventStructure"
## [15] "RouteIdentifier" "TimeObservationsStarted"
## [17] "TimeObservationsEnded" "DurationInHours"
## [19] "TimeIntervalStarted" "TimeIntervalEnded"
## [21] "TimeIntervalsAdditive" "NumberOfObservers"
## [23] "NoObservations" "ObservationCount"
## [25] "ObservationDescriptor" "ObservationCount2"
## [27] "ObservationDescriptor2" "ObservationCount3"
## [29] "ObservationDescriptor3" "ObservationCount4"
## [31] "ObservationDescriptor4" "ObservationCount5"
## [33] "ObservationDescriptor5" "ObservationCount6"
## [35] "ObservationDescriptor6" "AllIndividualsReported"
## [37] "AllSpeciesReported" "Sex"
## [39] "LifeStage"Now download the data.
cardinals <- nc_data_dl(species = 19360, fields_set = "custom",
fields = my_fields,
collection = "ABATLAS2", verbose = FALSE,
username = "testuser", info = "nc_vignette")
head(cardinals)## record_id collection project_id protocol_id protocol_type species_id
## 1 225121054 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## 2 225167193 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## 3 225185535 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## 4 225185857 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## 5 225387824 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## 6 225389502 ABATLAS2 1048 NA NA 19360
## statprov_code country_code SiteCode latitude longitude bcr subnational2_code
## 1 AB CA 12049 53.98632 -111.2793 6 CA.AB.12
## 2 AB CA 45868 53.34350 -114.0790 6 CA.AB.11
## 3 AB CA 45940 53.52760 -113.2996 11 CA.AB.11
## 4 AB CA 45988 53.56476 -113.4267 11 CA.AB.11
## 5 AB CA 15330 53.95000 -115.1361 6 CA.AB.13
## 6 AB CA 45851 53.53472 -113.6407 11 CA.AB.11
## iba_site utm_square survey_year survey_month survey_week survey_day
## 1 N/A 12UVE88 2000 2 3 23
## 2 N/A 11UPV91 2005 5 1 7
## 3 N/A 12UUE43 2005 4 1 4
## 4 N/A 12UUE33 2005 5 2 16
## 5 N/A 11UPV27 2004 12 1 7
## 6 N/A 12UUE23 2005 4 4 26
## breeding_rank GlobalUniqueIdentifier FieldNumber
## 1 0 URN:NatureAlberta:ABATLAS2:5863-NOCA NA
## 2 0 URN:NatureAlberta:ABATLAS2:92650-NOCA NA
## 3 0 URN:NatureAlberta:ABATLAS2:92829-NOCA NA
## 4 0 URN:NatureAlberta:ABATLAS2:92900-NOCA NA
## 5 0 URN:NatureAlberta:ABATLAS2:11937-NOCA NA
## 6 0 URN:NatureAlberta:ABATLAS2:92626-NOCA NA
## DurationInHours ObservationDescriptor5 Remarks
## 1 8 NA uncommon
## 2 3 NA <NA>
## 3 3 NA Spotted at the feeder
## 4 3 NA <NA>
## 5 3 NA <NA>
## 6 3 NA <NA>
## ObservationDescriptor6 ObservationDescriptor3 ObservationDescriptor4
## 1 NA NA NA
## 2 NA NA NA
## 3 NA NA NA
## 4 NA NA NA
## 5 NA NA NA
## 6 NA NA NA
## ObservationDescriptor ProtocolCode ObservationCount ObservationDescriptor2
## 1 NA NA 2 NA
## 2 NA NA 1 NA
## 3 NA NA 1 NA
## 4 NA NA 1 NA
## 5 NA NA 1 NA
## 6 NA NA 1 NA
## TimeIntervalEnded Locality SamplingEventIdentifier
## 1 NA All areas within count circle 5863
## 2 NA PK91 92650
## 3 NA Sherwood Park, UQ43 92829
## 4 NA 50st and Ada blvd., UQ33 92900
## 5 NA Mayerthorpe 11937
## 6 NA UQ23 92626
## SurveyAreaIdentifier SamplingEventStructure TimeCollected
## 1 12049 NA NA
## 2 45868 NA NA
## 3 45940 NA NA
## 4 45988 NA NA
## 5 15330 NA NA
## 6 45851 NA NA
## TimeObservationsEnded TimeObservationsStarted Sex LifeStage CollectorNumber
## 1 NA 09:00:00 NA NA 5017
## 2 NA 06:00:00 NA NA 4882
## 3 NA 06:00:00 NA NA 4882
## 4 NA 06:00:00 NA NA 10197
## 5 NA 06:00:00 NA NA 6810
## 6 NA 06:00:00 NA NA 4882
## CatalogNumber AllSpeciesReported ProjectCode RouteIdentifier
## 1 5863-NOCA Unknown ABATLAS2 NA
## 2 92650-NOCA Unknown ABATLAS2 NA
## 3 92829-NOCA Unknown ABATLAS2 NA
## 4 92900-NOCA Unknown ABATLAS2 NA
## 5 11937-NOCA Unknown ABATLAS2 NA
## 6 92626-NOCA Unknown ABATLAS2 NA
## AllIndividualsReported TimeIntervalsAdditive ProtocolURL NumberOfObservers
## 1 NA NA NA 0
## 2 NA NA NA 1
## 3 NA NA NA 1
## 4 NA NA NA 1
## 5 NA NA NA 0
## 6 NA NA NA 1
## ObservationCount2 ObservationCount6 ObservationCount5 ProtocolType
## 1 NA NA NA AT: Breeding Bird Atlas
## 2 NA NA NA AT: Breeding Bird Atlas
## 3 NA NA NA AT: Breeding Bird Atlas
## 4 NA NA NA AT: Breeding Bird Atlas
## 5 NA NA NA AT: Breeding Bird Atlas
## 6 NA NA NA AT: Breeding Bird Atlas
## NoObservations ObservationCount4 ObservationCount3 TimeIntervalStarted
## 1 NA NA NA NA
## 2 NA NA NA NA
## 3 NA NA NA NA
## 4 NA NA NA NA
## 5 NA NA NA NA
## 6 NA NA NA NAGreat!