Understanding Supporting Data
Supporting data is descriptive information that needs to be added before you can submit any measurements.
What is Supporting Data?
There are four types of supporting data that are required before any measurements can be submitted:
Stem Codes
Personnel
Quadrats
Species
Stem Codes
These are attributes that can be assigned to a stem, and are subdivided into seven statuses:
alive
alive-not measured
dead
stem dead
broken below
omitted
missing
When you add a new stem code, you must specify a unique code, a description of the attribute being represented, and a status from the aforementioned list.
Personnel (and Roles)
Personnel are the people who are involved in the collection of data. They are assigned by census and can be assigned a role depending on their involvement. If their role is not present, you can create it by clicking ont the Roles button, which will open a popup with a new table.
Quadrats
Quadrats are the smallest recorded region of measurement in a plot. They record starting coordinates (and their units of measure), their dimensions (and their units of measure),
their area (and its units of measure), and their rough shape (square, rectangular, circular, etc.)
Species
The taxonomic information for the stems being measured. This can range from as broad as the family designation, or as specific as the subspecies designation. However, at a minimum, the species must be specified.