See all standards

Geoscience Data Standard

Overview

The GDR's geoscience data standard focuses on machine readability, reusability, and reproducibility. Rather than focusing on specific file formats, it defines a few recommended formats that are open access, and the specific raw, processed, and supporting data products expected for each geoscience data type. It specifies preferred units and required documentation of collection and analysis methods. It also provides guidance on supporting materials, such as field notes, QC reports, and contractor survey reports.

General Tips

To ensure your geoscience data are standardized, follow these tips:

  • Use open-source, machine-readable data formats whenever possible.
  • Document the coordinate reference system (CRS) for all geospatial datasets, using an EPSG code whenever possible. Projected systems (e.g., UTM, EPSG:326xx/327xx) are often preferred for project- or site-scale data, since they preserve distances and areas in meters; geographic systems (e.g., NAD83 EPSG:4269, WGS84 EPSG:4326) are more appropriate for regional or nationwide visualization.
  • For 3D data, also document the vertical reference (e.g., NAVD88, a specific geoid model, or ellipsoidal height) used.
  • Document units thoroughly. SI units are preferred.
  • Provide both raw and processed data.
  • Provide detailed information on data collection and analysis methods applied to datasets:
    • Project objectives, comprehensive metadata describing survey design and deployment strategy, station locations with a documented CRS, overlaid on topography or geological maps if available.
    • Instrumentation used and its specifications.
    • Data acquisition procedures and protocols.
    • Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) procedures applied throughout the project (e.g., noise analysis, state-of-health monitoring).
    • Discussion of data limitations, dominant noise sources, and any challenges encountered.
    • Summary of key findings, including maps, plots, and initial interpretations.
    • Environmental observations, relevant field activities, and any other information that would be helpful for someone working with the dataset.
    • List tools or provide code used to process data.
  • In general, plots can be a helpful addition, but the primary focus should be on the digitized, machine-readable data products.

The GDR Geoscience Data Standard

The GDR Geoscience Data Standard

Data Type Preferred Units Raw Data Processed Data Maps & Plots QC & Ancillary
Data		 Report
Aeromagnetic Data
Airborne
  • Field intensity: nT
  • Anomaly: nT
  • Gradient: nT/m
  • Altitude: m
  • Raw airborne magnetic data: uncorrected total field along flight/tie lines, with GPS, altitude, time stamps
  • Magnetic base station data: continuous ground total-field recordings, time stamps and coordinates
  • Raw altimeter data: (if available)
  • Aircraft attitude data: pitch/roll/yaw from IMU or AHRS
  • Processed airborne magnetic data: diurnal-corrected, heading-corrected, leveled, along flight/tie lines
  • Grids of residual magnetic anomaly: IGRF and diurnal variation removed; GeoTIFF or CSV; CRS defined
  • Digital Terrain Model (DTM): from processed altimeter data; GeoTIFF or LAS; CRS defined
 Maps of residual magnetic anomaly (map view); flight line and tie line location maps; profile plots comparing raw and processed data along selected lines; DTM/terrain maps. Data quality report, including tie-line leveling statistics (crossover error analysis) and base station monitoring records; metadata files describing CRS, acquisition parameters, processing steps, and data lineage. Flight report covering survey parameters, acquisition, instrumentation, processing methods (diurnal correction, IGRF removal, leveling), QC, and results overview.
Passive Seismic Data
Ground Geophysics
  • Amplitude: counts; or Velocity: m/s, mm/s
  • Time: s, ms
  • Frequency: Hz
  • Displacement: m
  • Velocity: m/s
  • Acceleration: m/s²
  • Continuous raw time series: miniSEED or SAC, all recorded components
  • Station metadata: GPS coordinates + CRS, deployment dates, sensor/digitizer type & serial numbers, sampling rate, gain, orientation, environmental notes
  • Instrument calibration data
  • Field notes and logs: health checks, battery changes, downloads, environmental disturbances
  • Processed time series: timing correction, instrument response removal, filtering, noise reduction (miniSEED, SAC, or ASDF); stacked data if available (SEG-Y or ASDF)
  • Power spectral densities (PSDs): often as PDFs
  • Ambient noise cross-correlations: (if noise tomography performed)
  • Dispersion curves: (if surface waves analyzed)
  • Earthquake catalogs: (if applicable) origin time, hypocenter + CRS, magnitude, error estimates
  • Seismic tomography models: (if applicable) Vp/Vs/attenuation in ASCII grid, NetCDF, or open format, with uncertainty estimates
 Map-view and cross-section plots of processed data; station location maps; noise characterization maps; event location maps. Data availability reports (recovery rates, loss periods); metadata files conforming to relevant FDSN standards (e.g., StationXML for station/instrument metadata and miniSEED for waveform data), describing CRS (i.e., projection, datum), acquisition parameters, processing steps, and data lineage. Survey report covering objectives, array design/deployment, instrumentation, acquisition procedures, processing methodology (time series prep, noise analysis, event detection/location, tomographic inversion), QA/QC, limitations, and summary of findings.
LiDAR Data
Airborne
  • Elevation: m
  • Distance: m
  • Intensity: unitless / relative
  • Point density: points/m²
  • Raw point cloud data: LAS/LAZ, XYZ + intensity, return number, scan angle; CRS defined
  • Flight line data: GPS/IMU trajectory, position/velocity/attitude
  • GPS base station data: RINEX, with metadata
  • Calibration reports: LiDAR sensor and IMU/GPS system
  • Field notes and logs
  • Classified point cloud: georeferenced, classified (ground, vegetation, buildings, water, noise)
  • Digital Elevation Model (DEM): bare-earth, raster, CRS + resolution/accuracy defined
  • Digital Surface Model (DSM): includes natural/artificial features, raster, CRS defined
  • Contour lines: vector, specified intervals
  • Orthorectified imagery: (if acquired) raster, CRS defined
  • Intensity image/grid: raster, CRS defined
 Hillshade/relief maps derived from the DEM; flight line coverage and point density maps; before/after classification comparison images for representative tiles. Accuracy assessment report (vertical/horizontal, RMSE vs. ground control); metadata files (ISO 19115/FGDC); project extent and tile index maps. Survey report covering objectives, flight plan, instrumentation, acquisition parameters (altitude, speed, pulse rate, scan angle), ground control/base station setup, processing methodology (georeferencing, calibration, classification, product derivation), QA/QC, limitations, and final product specs/compliance.
Gravity Data
Ground Geophysics
  • Gravity: mGal
  • Acceleration: m/s²
  • Gravity anomaly: mGal
  • Gradient: mGal/m or Eötvös (E)
  • Raw station readings: binary or ASCII, absolute or relative measurements, time stamps, GPS coordinates, raw elevation
  • Base station occupation logs: coordinates, elevation, time, raw readings, instrument resets, drift records
  • Field notes, daily logs, and station descriptions: instrument serials, settings, environmental conditions
  • Drift-corrected values
  • Tide-corrected values
  • Free-air anomaly values
  • Simple Bouguer anomaly (specified reduction densities)
  • Complete Bouguer anomaly (with terrain corrections)
  • Metadata for all processing steps, parameters, and corrections applied
 Grids of Free-Air, Bouguer, and Total Bouguer anomaly (GeoTIFF, Surfer GRD, NetCDF, CSV; CRS defined) optionally residual/derivative grids. Plots of raw, drift-corrected, Bouguer anomaly, and interpreted data; station location maps; free-air and Bouguer anomaly maps; terrain correction maps. Data quality/repeatability report, including loop closure statistics and base station tie results; metadata files describing CRS, acquisition parameters, corrections applied (tidal model, free-air gradient, Bouguer reduction density, terrain correction methodology), and data lineage. Survey report detailing project objectives, survey design (station spacing, loop design, base station network), instrumentation and specifications, acquisition procedures (including base station ties and drift monitoring), data processing methodology (drift, tide, free-air, and Bouguer corrections; terrain correction approach), QA/QC procedures, discussion of data limitations and challenges encountered, and a summary of results.
Magnetotelluric (MT) Data
Ground Geophysics
  • Resistivity: ohm·m
  • Phase: degrees
  • Frequency: Hz
  • Electric field: V/m
  • Magnetic field: nT or A/m
  • Raw time series data: continuous binary, all Ex/Ey and Hx/Hy/Hz components
  • Field notes and logs: site coordinates, sensor placement, instrument serials, sampling rates, noise sources, anomalies
  • Metadata files: instrument types, sampling rates, sensor orientation, gain, geologic context
  • Unedited frequency-domain spectra / shift files
  • MT impedance & induction vector/tipper data: SEG EDI format
  • 3-D electrical resistivity models: inverted 2D/3D volumes (VTK, NetCDF, OMF, CSV), CRS defined, with uncertainty/sensitivity results. Proprietary project files may be included but should be supplemented with interoperable exports.
 Apparent resistivity and phase curves for all four impedance tensor elements vs. period; MT phase tensors (ellipses) and induction vectors/tippers vs. period; map and cross-section plots of resistivity models at relevant depths/orientations. Metadata files (CRS, acquisition parameters, processing/inversion steps, lineage); processing and inversion parameter files (robust-processing and 3D inversion settings). Survey report covering objectives, site layout, instrumentation, acquisition procedures, processing methodology (robust estimation, noise removal, software), inversion methodology (algorithm, starting model, regularization, software), QA/QC, data-quality discussion, and results summary.
Temperature Gradient Data
Borehole
  • Temperature: °C
  • Gradient: °C/km
  • Depth: m
  • Depth reference documented (MD, TVD, TVDSS, etc.)
  • Raw temperature log data: CSV or logging tool format, per hole, including repeat passes
  • Logging tool calibration records
  • Field notes and logs: borehole ID, coordinates, CRS, total depth, logging date/time, timing relative to drilling and mud circulation, tool specs, logging speed/sampling interval, fluid-bearing zone notes, equilibrium/artifact-correction steps, issues encountered, and any additional core/cutting/logging data
  • Equilibrated temperature profile: XLSX or CSV, corrected for logging artifacts
  • Calculated temperature gradient: dT/dZ vs. depth, XLSX or CSV
  • Thermal conductivity data: (if measured) with depth intervals and methodology
  • Methodology description for noise reduction, smoothing, and equilibration corrections
  • Discussion of data quality, borehole effects, and limitations
 Temperature-depth plots; temperature gradient-depth plots; borehole location map(s). Documented in field notes or logs Digital copy of the Contractor's Logging Report.
Geochemical Data
Geochemistry
  • Concentration: ppm, wt %
  • Ratios: unitless
  • pH: unitless
  • Isotopic ratios: unitless (‰ notation)
  • Raw analytical results: concentrations, ratios, pH, isotopic ratios for each sample, tied to sample ID and location
  • Sample collection metadata: location with CRS, well name (if applicable), collection date/time, field-measured parameters (e.g., temperature, pH, conductivity at time of collection)
  • Derived geochemical indices and ratios: e.g., geothermometry calculations, mixing ratios, saturation indices
  • QA/QC-corrected datasets: where replicate analyses were averaged or combined
 Sample location maps (CRS-referenced, tied to well names where applicable); geochemical plots as applicable (e.g., Piper diagrams, geothermometry plots, time-series trend plots). Documentation of sampling methods and any assumptions made; laboratory QA/QC procedures (standards, blanks, duplicates, detection limits); documentation of any issues (e.g., contamination, degassing, holding-time exceedances) that could impact results. Laboratory analytical report detailing analytical methods, instrumentation, QA/QC procedures (standards, blanks, duplicates), detection limits, and any deviations or issues encountered during analysis.
Tracer Data
Geochemistry
  • Concentration: mg/L, µg/L
  • Time: s, hr
  • Flow rate: m³/s
  • Velocity: m/s
  • Distance: m
  • Raw tracer concentration measurements: at each sampling point and time, tied to well name and CRS location
  • Injection records: tracer type, mass/volume injected, injection location and time
  • Breakthrough curve data: and derived transport parameters where calculated (e.g., travel time, percent recovery, dispersivity).
 Well and tracer-test location maps tied to well names; breakthrough curve plots (concentration vs. time) for each monitoring point. Documentation of sampling methods, tracer type used, and any assumptions made; documentation of any issues (e.g., background tracer levels, interference, incomplete recovery) that could impact results. Tracer test report detailing test design (injection and monitoring locations, tracer type and mass), injection and sampling methodology, analytical methods, interpretation approach (e.g., breakthrough curve analysis), and QA/QC procedures.
Geologic Models
Models
  • Coordinates (X,Y,Z): m
  • Elevation/depth: m
  • Thickness: m
  • Cell size/resolution: m
  • Dip/azimuth/strike: degrees
  • Volume: m³
  • Area: m²
  • Underlying data and observations: used to construct the model (e.g., well logs, seismic interpretations, geologic maps, structural data).
  • Geologic model: machine-readable format preserving model geometry, geologic units/properties, faults, and other structural features, and spatial reference (X,Y,Z with CRS and vertical reference)
  • Open, documented, non-proprietary formats preferred (e.g., CSV, GEOH5, VTK, OMF) over proprietary formats requiring purchased software (e.g., Leapfrog, EarthVision, Petrel)
 Map-view and cross-section plots of the model at relevant depths and orientations, illustrating key structural features and geologic units. Documentation of assumptions made and software used to produce the model; discussion of model uncertainty or confidence, where available. Model construction report describing software used, workflow and modeling approach, input datasets and how they were integrated, key assumptions and interpretive decisions, and any known limitations or areas of uncertainty in the model.
* Note that while some of these metadata attributes are listed as “Not required,” it is highly recommended that you include all that are relevant to your dataset.