Annotation Database Import Checklist

There are many pieces of data that go together to make a complete import package. Some cruises will not have all of this data available, and some will be complete. Some types of data are dependent on others.

Cruise Metadata

These are items that relate specifically to the cruise itself.

1. Name - the unique name of the cruise, usually something like PAC2023-031.
2. Leg - a cruise can have more than one "leg" or segment, numbered from 1.
3. Start and end date.
4. Objectives - a brief list or statement of the cruise's objectives.
5. Summary - a brief summary of what was accomplished on the cruise.
6. Notes - operational or other notes relating to the execution of the cruise.
7. Crew - the names and roles of the crew members on the cruise. Crew members will be list separately for dives (though the same people may also have had roles related to the cruise itself, e.g., the chief scientist might also be a pilot, etc.)
8. Documents - any tech reports or other cruise-related documents can be uploaded along with the cruise.
9. First Nations contacts - if a First Nation or its members are involved in the cruise in any official capacity they can be listed.

Dive Metadata

There are one or more dives attached to a cruise.

1. Name - the unique name of the dive.
2. Start and end time - these are usually the time the vehicle enters the water to the time it is retrieved.
3. Objectives - a brief list or statement of the dive's objectives.
4. Summary - a brief summary of what was accomplished on the dive.
5. Notes - operational or other notes relating to the execution of the dive.
6. Crew - the names and roles of the crew members on the dive.
7. Site - a name for the dive site, e.g., Bowie Seamount. Shouldn't be too specific or too general.

Ship Configuration

During a dive, the ship will be configured in a specific way (and will probably remain that way for all dives). These configurations usually just state the type and location of the GPS or acoustic transponders, but these are required as the actual position of the ship is attached to these instrument records.

1. The name of the ship.
2. Any configuration information relating to the ship itself.

ROV Configuration

This entity is similar to the ship configuration.

1. The name of the submersible, ROV, drop camera, etc.
2. Any configuration relating to the vehicle itself.

Instrument Configurations

Instruments are attached to both the ship (e.g., the GPS) and the ROV (e.g., the cameras and lasers). The instruments must be listed in order to store information about which instruments produced which data streams. The ship and ROV can each have as many configured instruments as desired; it is not required that all of them have data streams attached.

1. The instrument (brand, name, owner, serial number, etc.)
2. Configuration information -- e.g., where the instrument is positioned relative to the platform, which direction it is facing, etc.

Data Streams

Data streams are collections of similar data produced by an instrument, such as positions, depths, water properties information, etc.

Data can be of any scalar type, in any unit with the exception of spatial positions which must be latitude and longitude in decimal degrees relative to WGS84, or the latter plus depth in metres.

1. The data stream itself, in the form of a readable (i.e., not a proprietary binary format) file.
2. The type of data contained in the stream -- e.g., salinity, depth, etc.
3. The (SI) unit in which the stream is measured.

Annotations

Annotations, like data streams, are attached to the instrument which produced them (generally a digital camera).

1. The annotation data -- presently this will be in the form of a Biigle report (CSV), but may also be in other formats produced by other software (e.g., VideoMiner, in MSAccess).
2. The annotation protocol(s) used to guide the annotation process. A PDF or other document can be uploaded with the annotations.

Note: annotations must go through a "label mapping" step after import.

Events

There are several kinds of "events" that occur during a dive. These can be comments recorded by crew members, machine-generated status updates from the ROV. Status events can be associated with an instrument that produces them, with the dive itself, if they are human-generated. Status events belong to a list of event types (admin access required).

1. A timestamped list of comments.

or

1. A timestamped list of status events.

Transect Metadata

In the database, transects are mainly an accounting feature, used to indicate time spans within a dive when data were being collected, or specific objectives were being served. Transect timing is extremely important because, for example, the absence of observations during the span of a dive could easily be misinterpreted as the absence of organisms when the reality is that the vehicle was not on transect and nothing was recorded.

1. Name - the unique name of the transect.
2. Start and end time.
3. Objectives - a brief list or statement of the transect's objectives.
4. Summary - a brief summary of what was accomplished on the transect.
5. Notes - operational or other notes relating to the execution of the transect.