Differences between FN-II and GLIS creel data

[ArthurBonsall]

This issue will be used to identify differences between the FN-II and GLIS creel data, which we may want to account for when developing functions.

[ArthurBonsall]

Spatial strata considerations for FR713/FR714 using FN-II vs GLIS

The Great Lakes Information System (GLIS) uses a slightly different format for the STRATUM field to account for a change in how spatial strata are recorded. The 'FN026_Subspace' table was added to enforce referential relationships between SPACE and the associated sites / areas within them. The SUBSPACE field effectively replaces the SPACE component of STRATUM in GLIS creel data. However, functions should be able to filter by SPACE or SUBSPACE.

I have attached a file that contains an example of how we might account for these differences: FN vs GLIS Example.txt.

The following are a few considerations:

1. A function should allow both 'space' and 'subspace' as options when specifying the STRATUM filters.
2. Any function that returns results by STRATUM should first start by checking whether the FN026_Subspace table exists. This can easily be done using if(exists("FN026_Subspace") == FALSE){ Your Code Here }. If this table does not exist, it will default to the standard FN-II filtering by assuming that SPACE == SUBSPACE. If it does exist, it will use alternative filtering consistent with GLIS.
3. The value of some components (e.g., STRAT_HRS in FR713) will need to be adjusted dynamically if a SPACE is provided for GLIS data.

These considerations are restricted to the initial filtering of records. There would only be a single analysis step which occurs after the filtering has been conducted (to ensure that we only have one version).

[ArthurBonsall]

STRAT vs. STRATUM

The sampling stratum field is called STRAT in FN-II and STRATUM in GLIS. Functions that use this field should preferentially accept both naming conventions.

Note: The field STRATUM seems to be the standard for UGLMU creels. I reached out to Rachel H. and their Sport Creel Master database uses 'STRATUM'.