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EcoTrends

Datasets: Browse, Search and Explore

Using the menu to the left, datasets can be browsed or searched by Topic, Site, Keyword, or by specifying a variety of criteria in an Advanced Search form. The browse and search tools available in EcoTrends are described in the table below. Please note that you must Log On before accessing any of these tools.

When viewing datasets while browsing or searching, you can explore them further by performing special operations on them. For example, you can plot up to four datasets together on the same graph by selecting (using the checkboxes) between one and four datasets and then clicking the Plot Selected (up to 4) button. You can customize how the plot is displayed by checking or unchecking a variety of plot options such as Data Points, Data Lines, and Moving Average.

Browse / Search Tool Description Examples
By Topic Browse datasets organized by topic and subtopic. Topics are organized by biota (plants, animals, microbes); biogeochemical cycles (nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorous); human populations (density, economy); disturbance characteristics and response to disturbance; and, climate characteristics (precipitation, temperature). Click By Topic, then under the Climate and physical variability topic heading, click Air temperature to see all datasets related to that subtopic.
 
By Site Browse datasets organized by EcoTrends site. The number in parentheses to the right of each site indicates the number of datasets that match that site. Click By Site, then click Florida Coastal Everglades to see all datasets from that site.
 
By Keyword Search for EcoTrends datasets matching a search term that you enter into a text box. Click By Keyword, type a search term such as drought in the text box, then click the Search button. EcoTrends will display a list of all datasets matching your search term. For a more comprehensive (but slower) search, select the Search all fields (slower) option before clicking the Search button.
 
Advanced Search With Advanced Search you can specify a variety of search criteria such as EcoTrends sites, spatial (location), temporal (start and end dates), timesteps (daily, monthly, yearly), and variable names to narrow down your search for datasets.
  • EcoTrends Sites lets you choose one or more EcoTrends sites from a list.
  • Variable lets you specify one or more variable names that the dataset must match.
  • Timestep lets you specify one or more timestep values to match. All EcoTrends datasets will match one of these timesteps:
    • monthy
    • yearly
  • Temporal Criteria lets you specify a start date and/or end date that the dataset must match. Dates may be entered as year (YYYY); year and month (YYYY MM); or year, month, and day (YYYY MM DD).
  • Spatial Criteria lets you search a world map to match datasets based on location. Zoom in to the specific area on the map you'd like to search.
Click Advanced Search, then perfrom the following steps:
  1. In the EcoTrends Sites section, select Baltimore Ecosystem Study LTER in the list box.
  2. In the Variable section, select air temperature (mean).
  3. In the Timestep section, select monthly.
  4. In the Temporal Criteria section, enter "1980 01 01" in the boxes under Start Date, and enter "2000 12 31" in the boxes under End Date.
  5. In the Spatial Criteria section, scroll the map and zoom in to a region of interest, such as the northeastern U.S.
  6. Click the Search button.

After a few seconds, EcoTrends will display a list of datasets matching all of the criteria you specified.

My Data Store

When you browse or search for datasets, you will see a button that lets you add a dataset to My Data Store for future reference. You can view all datasets in My Data Store by clicking the My Data Store menu item to the left.

When viewing datasets in My Data Store, you can explore them further by performing special operations on them. For example, you can plot up to four datasets together on the same graph by selecting (using the checkboxes) between one and four datasets and then clicking the Plot Selected (up to 4) button. You can customize how the plot is displayed by checking/unchecking a variety of plot options such as Data Points, Data Lines, and Moving Average.

You can remove an individual dataset from My Data Store by clicking the button for that dataset. You can remove all datasets from My Data Store by clicking the Remove All Datasets button.