Data Standards in brief
Data standards are simply a pre-defined format and field name for a value or attribute. Using the same attribute fields and formats across the Service increases the re-usability of our data, both internally and externally. For example, when the the date or year is collected in a dataset, the standard field name is YEAR, and the format is YYYY where Y represents a number 0 to 9.
Note
All FWS approved data standards are detailed here.
Some common data standards are listed below.
| Attribute Description | Field Name | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar Date | DATE | MMDDYYYY |
| County Name | COUNTY | |
| County Numeric Code | COUNTYCODE | NNN |
| Dun Universal Numbering System | DUNS | NNNNNNNNN |
| Ecosystem Unit Name | ECOSYSTEM | |
| Ecosystem Unit Number | ECONUM | NN |
| Fire Unit Identifier | FIREUNITID | AAAAA or AAANA |
| Fiscal Year | FY | YYYY |
| Geographic Area Name | GEONAME | see list |
| Geopolitical Name & Code | CNTYNAME, CNTYCODE | |
| Latitude & Longitude | LAT, LONG | |
| Wind Direction | WINDDIR | see list |
| Wind Speed | WINDSPEED | NN |
Where N is a numeric value from 0 to 9 and A is a alphabetical value.