Mapping between ACDD and ISO

Recommendation Details: The ESIP Community supports a vast array of systems that are accessed and utilized by a diverse group of users. Historically, groups within the community have approached metadata differently in order to effectively describe their data. As a result, similar dialects have emerged to address specific user requirements. The multi-dialect approach described above hinders interoperability— as it results in different terminology being used to describe the same concepts. By clearly depicting fundamental documentation needs and concepts and mapping to them in the different dialects, confusion is minimized and interoperability is facilitated. Thus, demonstrating connections between dialects increases discoverability, accessibility, and reusability of data via consistent, compatible metadata.

ESIP is furthering the interoperability effort by describing the connections between fundamental concepts in dialects used throughout the ESIP Community – such that effective communication is maintained even when different metadata models are employed.

• The Attribute Conventions for Data Discovery (ACDD) identify important data discovery concepts and provide standard names for those concepts often used in netCDF files.
• These concepts also exist in ISO 19115 and the standard mapping is implemented as part of the ncISO tool that is available as a stand-alone tool and as part of THREDDS.
• The mapping between ACDD and ISO developed by ESIP should be used to translate ACDD attributes to ISO-compliant XML.

We recommend continuing to endorse and support the ESIP effort toward Interoperability. Specifically, ESDIS should stay involved in the ESIP Documentation Cluster where these concepts will be implemented as standard objects (i.e. with groups) in the near future.