Operation IceBridge File Naming Conventions

This page contains information on the file naming conventions required for Operation IceBridge data files.

  • File name must begin with the IceBridge data set shortname (e.g. ILATM1B). The shortname must be all capital letters.
  • As a general rule, file names contain fields descriptive of the data file.
  • Fields must be separated (delimited) by an underscore.
  • A Date field must be included in the file name. Preferred date formats are: YYYYMMDD or YYYYDOY

Additional information should be included in the filename to uniquely identify the file and provide suitable information to data users, including:

  • Time of data collection.
  • Any additional information that might be needed to uniquely identify the data file. (e.g. sensor type, platform information, etc.).

Filename example:

ILATM1B_20121108_000047.ATM4BT4.qi

Where:

Table 1. File Name Fields and Descriptions
File Name Field Description
ILATM1B Data set shortname
20121108 Date. Format YYYYMMDD. YYYY = four character year, MM = two-character month, DD = two character day
000047 Time. Format HHMMSS. HH = hours, MM = minutes, SS = seconds. May also include hh = hundredths
AAAAA Place holder for additional relevant information to identify the data file
.qi Data file type. For example: .txt, .qi, .bin, .nc, .dat, .h5, etc.

Table 2 provides examples of file name extensions for related files that further describe or supplement data files.

Table 2. Related File Extensions and Descriptions
Extensions for Related Files Description
.premet File created containing metadata extracted from the data file.
.spatial File created with longitude/latitude pairs for the creation of spatial metadata.
.brws Browse data
.qa Quality assurance information
.ph Product history data

Contact NSIDC User Services for more information.