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cmip6dr / cmip7_forward_look

Collection of documents and issues for CMIP7 data request
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area_fraction #33

Open martinjuckes opened 5 years ago

martinjuckes commented 5 years ago

The standard name area_fraction causes a lot of confusion when used with units of %. Could this be modified to, e.g., area_cover?

martinjuckes commented 5 years ago

Above raised on CF discussion list ... not much appetite for change (or even reading the question .... ): majority view is that it is our problem and people should not be confused by the fact that area_fraction is not a fraction (http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/pipermail/cf-metadata/2019/020736.html ).

martinjuckes commented 5 years ago

There is a related issue that some area_fraction variables use a specific variation of the standard name, while others use the generic area_fraction name and an auxillary coordinate to specify what the fraction/percentage refers to. Discussed here: https://github.com/cmip6dr/CMIP6_DataRequest_VariableDefinitions/issues/388 . This means we have two ways of presenting essentially the same information. Not ideal ... but perhaps clearer presentation is the best way forward.

martinjuckes commented 4 years ago

Marked as a schema issue because we may want to include, for example, the information "it is an area fraction" as a specific citable item in the schema, with a range of implementation options.